Toe-up, Hell flap

Last night I blocked the final six Lizard Ridge squares, washed the Lotus Blossom Tank, and thought about toe-up socks with (hellish) heel flap snafus.

Toe-ups with Heel Flaps

• About six months ago I tried to knit a pair of toe-up Jaywalkers in this absolutely gorgeous colorway from STR- Azure Malachite. (You know, purchased back when Socks that Rock colorways were actually named after rocks!) They knit up fabulously-- the gusset was perfect, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the heel correctly with a flap. I opted for a short-row post-gusset heel using just 40% of the stitches. It fit well, but the leg number of stiches was astonishing-- and the jaywalker chevron pattern was completly hosed. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.
• Too bad I didn’t refer to Natalia Knit’s Jaywalker Toe-up pattern. (She was using Judy Gibson’s “Your Putting Me On” worsted weight sock pattern as a template.) Elemmaclitur’s photo at Flickr lead me to Natalia's pattern.
• Widdershins , I think, holds another solution to where I went wrong. (Widdershins has a different heel turn than Judy Gibson's original pattern.)
• I'm also planning to try Schurch's solution in Sensational Knitted Socks. Her toe-up, heel flap on the bottom sock might just do the trick. At any rate, it's time to deal with the problem and find a solution.

Here's a sample of further test knits. The Caterpillar socks are back with a little gusset action. They pool similar to the Opal company's pair at 80 to 84 stitches. Certainly this is not the average knitter's number of stitches on a US 0 to 2 needle! I just couldn't resist casting on with the Posh sock yarn-- a gift from a friend-- to try toe-ups with flaps. Junior high eye shadow, no? It's Lucia-- 70% Merino and 30% Cashmere. Man, does it feel great to knit up!

Weekend Party

Over the weekend we held a party to honor little feet that continue to get bigger and bigger. It was a beautiful day, and a fun event.

The wandering boys were hysterical. They ran the toddler 5000 and fought the balloons just like Paco fights with the vacuum cleaner for the duration of the afternoon.