Beginning to work on the heel

I've started working on the heel of the first real pair of knit socks. And I've learned a lot.

But first, that is the first photo I've tken that shows the real color of the yarn. All of the others have been too dark or too light. this photo was taken on the kitchen table and I've got a lot of light in the kitchen.

One thing I learned is how to count rows. 61 years ago I taught myself how to knit mostly from a book. I had been taught the knit stitch, Continental style, by my older sister. It never occurred to her to teach me how to purl. I learned that from a book. It wasn't until decades later that a different book explained why I was having problems with following stitch patterns. Like a lot of people who are self taught Continental style my purl stitches were done wrong resulting in them turning the wrong way. Things as easy as slip, yarn over decreases do not work right unless your stitches are sitting the correct way on a needle.

This time I finally learned the correct way to count rows. For one thing the right kind of stitch marker now exists. I haven't been doing much knitting but I'd never seen the kind of stitch marker that is sitting on the sock before this year. And I never knew were to place the marker, and I never knew to count the stitches on the needle as the last row in the count.

I'm 20 rows into knitting the flap right now. 10 more to go and then I turn the heel. I know that doing that with this method means I'm using short rows, which is another thing I've never done before.

One of the things the Internet has given me is the ability to take classes online. And I am learning a lot more than I did trying to locate those few books that can fill in the gaps of what I learned on my own over the last 6 decades. One thing I know I need to address is tensioning the yarn. There has to be a better way.

Take care all.