sock help?

[ghoti]

So I'm working on a pair of socks, and I'm still new enough at socks that I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the pattern or if I'm not reading it correctly, or what.

Pattern is "Just Yer Basic Sport Sock" (ravelry link to pattern).

I've just gotten to the part where I want to start the heel flap ... and it says:

The heel flap is worked over the first 24 (28) stitches of your round. The other 24 (28) stitches are the instep stitches, which will be held in place on the needles while you knit the heel flap. When you reach the end of your last round for the leg, continue as follows:
Set-up:
Row 1: Knit across 12 (14) stitches. Turn your work – you’ll knit the next row on the wrong side (purl bumps) of the sock.
Row 2: Slip first stitch purlwise, purl across remaining 23 (27) stitches. (You’ll be working back across the first and fourth needles of your round.) Turn your work – you’ll be knitting on the right side again on the next row.

If I'm reading this correctly, you knit your first needle, then turn around and purl your first and fourth needles. Wouldn't that make the heel just *slightly* imbalanced, having that extra row on needle 1?

Comments

[starfish]

Yeah, that's a little out there ... I had to check the pattern and it seems like a standard flap/gusset heel, and I can't see a reason you wouldn't just knit the full 2 needles-worth and purl back to start the flap.

One thing you can do is ping the designer and ask what her reason was; another is to track down other Ravellers who have knit the pattern and get their FB. Good luck!

[ysobel]

It won't be noticable. Remember that when you're knitting in the round (as you're doing up to that point), you're making a spiral; it's not a series of circles. So knitting needle 1 and then turning and working across 1 and 4 has *exactly the same effect* and exactly the same visual as it would if you just turned at the end of the round and did the heel flap across needles 4 and 3. It just centers the flap across the beginning of the round, which can make it conceptually easier when you then do the gusset and foot.

[domtheknight]

+1

(Also much more elegantly phrased than I would have done... <3)

[ghoti]

I'm going to trust you (and the pattern) and give it a try. *crosses toes*

[ames]

go for it. :D Lots of sock patterns are written this way for various reasons, and it's not going to be noticeable at ALL.

[hugh_mannity]

Flap and gusset heel instructions never make sense to me. Until I knit them. There's just something about them that I am unable to visualise.

Despite that -- they work. Just trust the pattern and follow it exactly. It'll make sense after a few rows.

[ghoti]

that's what i did ... and it worked! i am now knitting the foot!