Tips and Tricks - An Unexpected Benefit

As mentioned in my previous post, Tips and Tricks - That Gap at the Heel, I basted the front and back of the leg together to eliminate strain.
For this particular heel, I'm adding a bit of duplicate stitch. I learned while knitting my last sock that this is much more easily done before the heel turn.
So here is the benefit of the basting. That piece of heel is now almost completely flat!

Here are photos of the heel front and back. 

My nice flat piece of knitting with the added duplicate stitch

Tips and Tricks - That Gap at the Heel

I've been frustrated by the gap that develops at the heel of my socks. I always do two at a time, magic loop. I feel that the gap occurs as the reserved stitches on the cord at the back weigh down the area between the front and back thus distorting it.

This is my attempt to fix that. To prevent stress at that spot-after about 10 rows of working the heel I basted the two halves of the leg together. We’ll see.

I'll be updating as I go. 

This photo shows the basting from the heel side. Unfortunately, when I came up with the plan I grabbed the waste yarn at hand, and black doesn't show well on dark green. 

Update

I've finished knitting the heel, and I'm pleased to report that so far I see no stretching. This close up of the intersection should show that. 

I have a bit of duplicate stitch to do on the heels now before I turn them. 

I have the gusset nearly completed and am happy to report that I still see no gap. I left the basting in for the entire gusset although I probably would not have needed to.

Top Down Rounded Toe

Top Down Rounded Toe

I prefer a rounded toe in my socks, and most frequently work toe-up for which I found an excellent "how-to."

However, sometimes because of pattern attributes I need to work the socks top down. I was unable to locate a toe I liked. Therefore, I created this one.

Begins with 64 sts (32 per needle in magic loop).

If your sock has more stitches, see the **NOTE** after row 5

                       

Row 1   *K1, SKP, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1* repeat     

60 sts remain

Row 2   knit all sts        

           

Row 3   knit all sts        

                       

Row 4   *K3, SKP, knit to last 5 sts, k2tog, K3* repeat     

56 sts remain

Row 5   *K1, SKP, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1*    repeat

52 sts remain

**NOTE** If you began with more than 64 sts, repeat rows 3 to 5 until 52 sts remain.

Row 6   knit all sts        

                       

Row 7   *K3, SKP, knit to last 5 sts, k2tog, K3* repeat     

48 sts remain

Row 8   *K1, SKP, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1* repeat     

44 sts remain

Row 9   knit all sts        

                       

Row 10             *K3, SKP, knit to last 5 sts, k2tog, K3* repeat     

40 sts remain

Row 11             *K1, SKP, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1* repeat     

36 sts remain

Row 12 *K3, SKP, knit to last 5 sts, k2tog, K3* repeat     

32 sts remain

Row 13             *K1, SKP, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1* repeat     

28 sts remain

Bind off in Kitchener stitch.

Download PDF Top Down Rounded Toe

In Storage

The more I knit, the more I realize that I need a place for the ideas I develop. Whether anyone else finds these useful or not, I hope that I will be able to referrence.
The older I get the more reminders I need!