A River in Egypt

There are certain truths in knitting. Truths that I hold to, and which shape the choices I make. Usually. There are certain uglinesses that I avoid unless absolutely necessary. The main truth, one of the first I discovered about myself in relation to my knitting is: The Dutch Heel Is Not For Me. It's not that I find it aesthetically unpleasant. It's not that I find it difficult to achieve. I do not find it sloppy, icky, or dumb. It just plain doesn't fit my foot. I discovered this while doing several sample knitting gigs, making socks with Dutch Heels. They p-u-u-u-u-l-l-l-l-l across my instep, distorting the stitch pattern, making for a tight, difficult fit in one area, where the rest of the sock fits just fine. So, from that moment on, I just threw a standard round heel into any sock knit for me, or the DH. Until yesterday.

A few years back, I knit the New England socks from Knitting on the Road for myself. I knit them at a gauge that was too loose, and, sadly, I knit them out of acrylic sock yarn. I have come to the point where I am wanting to replace these seldom worn socks with some knit from, well, wool. Fair enough. I was plugging along, heel flap knit, on to the heel turn. Wait. It's a Dutch Heel. Maybe you should throw in a round heel. Nah. I'll just follow the directions. What's the worst that could happen?

A-yup. Too tight across the instep. I hear the frogs a-callin' from the banks of Denial. Sigh. When will I really learn?