The first sock of my third pair knitted since my heart bypass operation in July. This is in a hand dyed Marino and nylon mix which I bought in Boston MA while on holiday. I wish I had made it a bit longer but I was unsure if I would have enough yarn. I have been gradually refining my pattern with each pair. The first two pairs were a little short in the heel I think. I made the heel flap longer for this and used heel stitch instead of stockinette. I have never worn hand knitted socks before but I am now starting to realising how nice they are. One great feature is that the sock actually stays up without feeling tight anywhere - something which bought socks never seem to do.
One design question I have been chewing over is whether and to what extent to use ribbing or even cabling with hand dyed yarns. The second pair I knitted were stockinette (apart from the cuff which was 1x1 ribbing). This showed up the variations in the colour beautifully but the sock is not quite as elastic as a result. Ribbing however seems to distract from the subtlety of the colour. I am wondering if a better compromise might be a 3 x 1 rib rather then the 5 x 3 rib I used in this pair. As for cabling, which I love knitting, I suspect the paler the yarn the better the effect as it will show off the light and shade.
The sock is perfection, Nigel! It looks comfy even in the photo. Such a gorgeous, jewel-like color.
I like the idea of working cables in the hand-dyed. They work very nicely on the instep and don’t seem to fight a subtle color variation.
Oh, I like your sock! I have to leave colors and patterns to others as I’m no good at it. I knit toe up and can use up all my yarn if I want and don’t have to worry about running out on the foot. No picked up stitches on a heel flap either and I like that but I can do a heel flap style heel. All my socks stay up and feel great without rib. I just do some at the top because I like it. You could do a hem with rib on the inside. That way you’d have the rib but it wouldn’t show and mess with your stitches. So you know what I mean - https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+knit+a+folded+hem&oq=how+to+knit+a+hem&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.0i7i30k1l4.19440.21649.0.28490.6.6.0.0.0.0.176.672.2j4.6.0…0…1.1.64.psy-ab…0.6.669…0i13k1.XC1Em0pa6bM
I have now just finished the second sock of this pair and tried them on. I had increased the length of the heel flap from the previous pair I knitted (to 2 1/2 inches) but I think it should be longer as it still pulls a little on the instep. I read somewhere that the heel flap should be as long as the distance from the floor to the ankle bone; if so, my heel flap needs to be closer to 3 inches.
