Pater socks

Basic ribbed socks for my father
Yarn: Lang Jawoll from Springwools (just less than 100g for the pair)
Needles: 2.0mm dpn's
Pattern: none, just basic 4x2 rib

Notes: I did these toe-up, with short row toes. A few new techniques were learned for these socks. 1) Norwegian purl. I've been unhappy with the way my ribbing usually turns out- the knit stitches before and after purls are definitely not uniform. So for this, I used the Norwegian purl, a way of purling that keeps the working yarn to the back, instead of bringing it to the front. It's slower than my normal purling, and hurts my hands a bit after a while, but I really like it for the ribbing. I think it makes the ribbing much more even. 2) Fleegle heel. In my quest to find a good, non-fiddly heel, this time, I used Fleegle's. It's good- it's definitely non-fiddly, and gives a gusset, unlike my so-far-preferred short row heel. It makes a triangle-shaped heel, which looks kinda weird, but looks fine when actually being worn. Here's a closer picture of the heel:
I reduced the number of increases on the gusset, partially because my dad's feet aren't that wide, and partially because it was clear that, by the time I'd increased as much as Fleegle recommends, the sock was going to be waaaaay too long. That's one thing that may keep me from using the Fleegle heel more- not being able to predict exactly when to start the gusset increases. This would improve with practice. 3) Sewn bind-off. I finished up the cuff with 1x1 rib, and used Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn bind-off. I won't be using it again, I don't think. For one, it's not any stretchier than, say, Grumperina's bind-off, and second, it's a bitch to frog! Yes, after I'd finished off the second sock, I realized it was a full 1.5 cm shorter than the first, so undoing the sewn bind-off was adding insult to injury. Lastly, I like toe-up socks because when you're done, you're done. No kitchenering or other fussy finishing. Having to whip out the tapestry needle and sew the bind-off seems like more finishing work to me.

These will go off in the post with my sister's Anna socks, and some HP sauce that The Limey has promised to send.