Take a Dip
I know that some people hate pooling…loathe it…devote great amounts of time and energy to stomping it out in all its forms. I get it. Really I do. Under the best of circumstances, pooling is chancy and unpredictable. Any hint of pooling seriously increases the risk of knitting failure and dramatically lessens the likelihood you’ll get two matching socks. And, if we’re being honest there are some really staggeringly ugly examples of pooling gone bad.
But…every now and then…just by chance…it works. And by works I mean works for me. You may think this is the ugliest thing ever to fall off my needles. That’s fine. You’re entitled. I’d take it as a kindness if you didn’t tell me if you think it’s horrifying, but even if you do I’m still going to love it. It’s just so regular and orderly and somehow tidy.
Of course I’m about to send all appearance of order straight to hell by blithely inserting a heel and gusset, but I think the love will continue.
With me, it depends on the yarn and pattern – sometimes pooling is neat, and sometimes it’s hideous. I really like what you’ve got going here, and I have a suggestion about using a heel that might not change the pooling as much as a standard flap and gusset heel. I know that, as I’ve knit more socks, I’ve gotten comfortable with switching out the designer’s heel or toe if I feel a different one would work better for me with a particular yarn. Have you ever done the “Simple Skyp” socks, or looked at the pattern on Rav? I love this heel, and often use it when I want to avoid that horrible jagged pooling that a lot of variegated sock yarns have across the instep. Because you knit the gusset as you continue to knit both the sole and instep stitches, and then do the heel turn on the bottom of the heel, you only increase the total number of stitches by 24, and the increase/decrease is less abrupt. It’s also a pretty fun thing to knit!
This is entirely too funny! I had just determined that I was going to do ‘something else’ to make the heel/gusset.
My plan was twofold, one to try and get a neat look, but also to give me a longer bit worked back and forth under the heel so I can reinforce the area I usually wear out. My plan as it stands now (and I’m only a dozen rows in) is to chuck extra purl stitches in on either side of the heel needles on every other row until it gets big/long enough to go down to the ground, then turn the heel, and knit along until I reach the end of the increased area. (This makes sense in my head, though I fear I’ve described it badly).
We shall see if it works…
Hunter I love this pattern!
I wonder if I’ll get the chance to test knit it 😉
(that means I really want to!!!)
How about trying a peasant/afterthought heel? No gusset to mess up your pretty pooling!
Love, Love LOVE this sock! the pattern is FAB, the yarn and ‘pooly’ stripes are beautiful. Good one!