otherwise known as re-knitting...
what do you do when you knit a super secret pair of socks for a happy no occasion surprise and give them to their intended recipient only to have them say "i love them but..."
those dreaded words.
dave's new socks fit like a dream. the toe was not too tight. the foot was perfect the leg didn't slouch. not too tall. not too short. but i knit them with that spiffy new "y-shaped" heel. remember that? well i was thinking he always says socks feel too tight in the toe or heel so maybe if i did this trick they would feel better? apparently not. the heel was too "baggy."
boys.
and then he asks. get this. "can you fix it?" well yes. of course i can re-knit the whole leg of the socks.
why not?
well then i started thinking. i've read about afterthought heels. i never thought i would knit an afterthought heel. why would i? i mean you knit a sock - be it toe up or top down - the logical time to knit the heel is in the middle right? why do it after? so i looked it up again. and i decided. hell why not right? how hard can it be?
famous last words.
before:
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pick up the stitches along the edge of the heel.
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hold your breath
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the heel
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the hole
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the mess after unraveling those bits of string. short rows are not fun to unravel from the wrong side by the way.

get the stitches all even and aligned with the toe
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and repeat.
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these are going in the bad knitting bin for a while. i stared at the cross eyed for almost 2 hours. i don't want to look at them for at least a week.
i'll let you know when i have an after photo for you...
and there had better not ever be another "but..."
what do you do when you knit a super secret pair of socks for a happy no occasion surprise and give them to their intended recipient only to have them say "i love them but..."
those dreaded words.
dave's new socks fit like a dream. the toe was not too tight. the foot was perfect the leg didn't slouch. not too tall. not too short. but i knit them with that spiffy new "y-shaped" heel. remember that? well i was thinking he always says socks feel too tight in the toe or heel so maybe if i did this trick they would feel better? apparently not. the heel was too "baggy."
boys.
and then he asks. get this. "can you fix it?" well yes. of course i can re-knit the whole leg of the socks.
why not?
well then i started thinking. i've read about afterthought heels. i never thought i would knit an afterthought heel. why would i? i mean you knit a sock - be it toe up or top down - the logical time to knit the heel is in the middle right? why do it after? so i looked it up again. and i decided. hell why not right? how hard can it be?
famous last words.
before:

pick up the stitches along the edge of the heel.

hold your breath

the heel

the hole

the mess after unraveling those bits of string. short rows are not fun to unravel from the wrong side by the way.

get the stitches all even and aligned with the toe

and repeat.

these are going in the bad knitting bin for a while. i stared at the cross eyed for almost 2 hours. i don't want to look at them for at least a week.
i'll let you know when i have an after photo for you...
and there had better not ever be another "but..."
Comments
Good luck with the afterthought heel.
Think of it less of reknitting -- more a chance to learn something new. Yeah, that's it. It's an OPPORTUNITY!!!