The Usual Flailing

It's Sock Madness Round One – clang! – and what better day than March 4th to march out my usual flailing progress on the qualifier sock, SlipStripeSpiral by Mylene Pijpers. There certainly has been ample opportunity for flailing.

There was flailing over the choice of yarn. After much fretting over Not Enough Yarn, eventually I settled on leftovers from a Sock Madness past, Simple Side to Side Sock, and a skein of heathered gray...



... although not before essaying a toe in blue and a toe in black. The pattern features an intriguing new-to-me Cat Bordhi cast on and spiral toe. Most spiral toes aren't a good fit on my Frankenfeet, but this one is better than most. I could see using it again.

 

The foot was straightforward, easy slip-stitch colorwork, no stranding. I kept messing up the stitch pattern, but it's simple enough to correct. I worked a 60-round foot. #NoFlailing



There was more flailing over the new-to-me Cat Bordhi Sweet Tomato Heel, with Japanese short rows. It turns out it's easier to work than to explain.



For me, the Sweet Tomato Heel is a big improvement, fitwise, over the standard short row heel, but still not as good a fit on my Frankenfeet as a flap and gusset French heel. YMMV, of course. The Sweet Tomato is definitely worth trying.

On the other hand, I unreservedly loved Japanese short rows! The process may look a bit daunting, but the result is well worth the trouble – far neater and smoother than any other technique I've tried. It's always a special pleasure to encounter something new that works really well. But no time for protracted gushing – this is the qualifying round of Sock Madness, and I aim to place on a team!