Opal Socks for Me

My DS gave me Opal sock yarn for Christmas, my DH gave me "Sensational Knitted Socks". I decided to try the toe up sock with the new to me heel flap/turn/gusset method. I knit the socks up to the point where I would normally start my gussets. (This is my only complaint about the book so far. CS doesn't help you decide where to start your heel flap on a toe up sock.) Then I knit a flap on the sole stitches, only in stockinette instead of the sl1,k1 heel stitch used in a top down sock. I wondered how it would fit, until I remembered that stockinette stitch would make a heel flap that was a rectangle rather than the square you get with the heel stitch. I had 36 sts and did 37 rows of stockinette and ended with a rectangle that was at the right spot for turning the heel.

After the heel turn, I picked up gusset sts and started knitting in the round again, decreasing just as for a top-down sock. It was a bit tricky to remember that my heel stitch needed to alternate plain knit rounds with sl1,k1. I finally got things synchronized by remembering that my sl1,k1 round was the same round to decrease gusset stitches.

My heels are done and I'm back to 72 stitches. Next is to knit up the cuff, in plain k2p2 rib, That fits me very well, and doesn't interrupt the wonderful patterns in the self-striping yarn.

I love this yarn, thanks Jake! (you know who you are)