Gentleman's Fancy Sock

Remember this little cuff?


Progress has been made, and I turned my first cuff-down heel! ("Alert the media", as Wendy would say).

And here it is:


For all the trouble I've had with short-row heels, which I thought would be easier, I had no trouble at all with this flap-and-gusset heel, which I thought would be harder. Just goes to show you. But I'm still enamored of toe-up socks, so I still want to try the Sherman heel and the Widdershins sock from Knitty.

And here it is on (remember it's a man's sock and is a bit loose on me):


I made no mods to this pattern at all (at least not intentionally), and the pattern is very clearly written (although it was written for 4 DPN's [why??], so I had to translate to Magic Loop). It is the "Gentleman's Fancy Sock" from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush, in Lang Jawoll fingering weight, on a 40" US #1 Addi. This is for my BIL for Xmas, and although I'm very pleased with how this is coming out, it is taking me a darn long time. (What's that you say? Duh, a man's sock on a #1 takes forever, and I should have known? Oh.) Must hurry up with my Xmas knitting. I'm a bit tempted to start a different first sock, to keep it more interesting, and since I didn't modify this one I don't have to remember the mods. And per several good recommendations in blogland, I have taken to writing down the specs of my projects in my li'l knitting notebook that lives in my knitting bag:

This is only an inexpensive notebook from the drugstore, but I like having the particulars written down for future reference, especially since I am experimenting with different sock heels and so on.

The knitting and blocking is all done on the Best Friend Bag from Knitty, now I must put the beads on and sew it up. Besides these, I have 1 or 2 more hats, a scarf and 3 more pairs of socks (one of which is partly done, I will post that one soon). Yipe! Can I make it? I signed up for Socktoberfest, since I'm surely going to knit a pair of socks in October.