Category: sweet tomato heel

A pair of handknit socks. A blue streak spirals down the gray legs and feet. The cuffs, toes, and heels are a dark navy blue.

sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Finishes New Socks.

After I finished the rainbow socks, this skein of Cascade Heritage Paints in the “Thunder” colourway was the next sockweight yarn in my stash that was meant for mindless stockinette during knit nights and football games. It seemed fitting to knit Thunder socks right next to Rainbow socks, so here we are :) I used Cat Bordhi’s Sweet Tomato Heel for these – I...

A pair of rainbow-striped socks. The colours are more like jewel tones than actual primary rainbow shades, but the effect is still that of a rainbow.

design / sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Knits a Rainbow.

New socks, new socks! I really had hoped to have these done in time for Pride Month, but hey – there’ll be another one next year. Yarn is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in the “Rum Raisin” colourway, which I bought in Lake Tahoe in 2019. Pattern is… just a plain ol’ 64 stitch sock. I kind of wish I’d thought of knitting...

A pair of red socks with blue toes and heels, and a band of skulls and crossbones at the cuff.

colourwork / machine knitting / sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Finishes the Pirate Socks.

These socks have been an absolute journey. My first attempt was too small, and I didn’t realize it until after I’d knit down past the heel. My second attempt, after recharting the skull and crossbones section to have eight more stitches in it, was upside down – and I still wasn’t happy with my fine gauge colourwork on DPNs. (Uneven. Puckery. Not nice.) I...

The cuff of a handknit sock, with a skull-and-crossbones motif in white on a blue background. There are red and white stripes setting off the section with the skulls.

colourwork / sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Gets Piratical.

I’ve had the Buccaneer’s Booty Socks pattern in my queue since, no joke, 2008. That is a long, long time to want to knit a pair of socks without actually knitting them. So… There’s just one problem: The colourwork section is too tight to get over my ankle. And I’ve already knit down to well past the heel. (I swapped in a Sweet Tomato...

A striped pair of handspun, handknit knee socks with calf shaping.

sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate is Exceedingly Pleased.

Back in May, I started a pair of toe-up socks using some chain-plied merino yarn that I’d spun up about five years ago. I had eight ounces but I wasn’t sure how far it would go, so I wound it into two cakes and started knitting. As the sock grew up my leg, it looked like I’d be able to make knee-highs – and...

One and a half knee socks in burgundy stripes, and half a ball of yarn.

design / sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Makes Sock Progress.

These two socks have been stuck at the heels for a few weeks already, and they were holding me up. I like to turn heels when I’m by myself and can keep track of where I am in the process, or inevitably something goes wrong and I have to rip back. I decided that I’d just buckle down and get them both back to...

A half-knit toe-up sock on a blocker, with half a ball of yarn next to it.

sock / sweet tomato heel

In Which the Pirate Knits with Handspun.

As I made progress on the handspun sock, I started to think (as you do) about heels. What kind of heel would I use? Would it be deep enough? A typical short-row heel would definitely not fit, unless I did some increases first. So I did some research and decided to try the Banded Expanded Heel technique, which is a modification of Cat Bordhi’s...