Heel!

I have a pair of socks here that need some obedience training.


These are the basic toe-up, short-row heel socks I'm knitting for Little E. I've done the heels three times now and now I think I need to frog completely and start all over. Bastard socks!

First of all, these are the first short row heels I've ever done. The first attempt, I was having trouble with the wrap and turn instructions I was following. So I googled, Ravelried, and Knitty-ed and found a few tutorials and suggestions. I decided to use this tutorial from Knit Picks. My second go was much more successful. But when E got home from school and tried them on again, I discovered that her 10 year old feet grew while she was away! I swear I measured twice but they were just a "scosh" too short. Seeing as she is growing a few inches every time she leaves the room, I thought it best to frog and reknit the foot a little longer. My third attempt at the short row heel was quite nice.
Last night she tried them on again. Lo and behold, she grew overnight again. They are much better than they were a few days ago, but still a tad snug. Because I'm a good mother and all that bullshit, I'm going to have to frog them completely and start again. She loves this yarn and colorway and is really looking forward to wearing these socks. That kind of encouragement doesn't come along everyday from our long suffering families. But I am reconsidering the heel. I did the short-row initially because I thought it would be quicker. Ha! I think a flap and gussett heel is a little roomier, we'll see.

In other "knitting for the kids" news: Little E also picked out a ball of Patons Classic Wool in Wedgewood a while back and asked for a shrug out of it. Yesterday after I gave up on the socks and wasn't in the mood for thinking knitting, I picked up the ball and a pair of size 10 needles along with my stitch dictionary and started to swatch.
I really like it but E thinks she'd like something a little more solid. So I may frog this swatch and just do a stockinette stitch shrug on big needles with a 2x2 rib edge for her. But I do like this stitch pattern so I may grab a ball or two of stash yarn and see what I come up with for a bed jacket/shrug in an adult size.