South Beach socks help!!

[kaycrochay]

Okay, I've been working on the South Beach Toe-Up Socks (http://members.aol.com/Sbaycgoa/patsock.htm) pattern and am having a heck of a time with the heel :bang . I get the short row decreases fine, but am totally lost on the increases... This is what the pattern says:

Turning the heel -- Short Row Decreases and Increases (For a firmer heel, hold 2 strands together for heel.) Decreasing: Ch1, turn. Sc1 in same dc. Dc1 in next sc. **Sc1 in next dc. Dc1 in next sc.** Repeat from ** to ** to marker. Remove marker. This is the first short row. *Ch1, turn. Sc1 in same dc. Dc1 in next sc. **Sc1 in next dc. Dc1 in next sc.** Repeat from ** to ** ending with dc1 in 3rd st from end of row. Repeat from * until the short row section is half as tall as it is wide; the whole piece should measure desired foot length. Doing okay so far

Increasing: Next row: Chain 1, turn. Cont in patt across row, ending with dc1 in last sc. Insert hook in sc row-end below current stitch. Yarnover and draw up loop. Draw up loop in next dc. Yarnover, pull through all 3 loops. Dc1 in next sc. Repeat this row until all decreases have been increased back, ending with a wrong side row.

Now, I can see in my mind how this should work, but applying it has really thrown me off. If earning my crochet stripes means tearing out a lot of work, I've earned them !!

After the short row decreases are done, there is a piece that looks like a pyramid that has been crocheted from the foot body, and it's just a matter of getting that pyramid attached not just at the heel, but up to the top of the foot (on the foot body) which is where the increases come in, but I don't get it!!!

Any HELP??:help

[pfirsch]

I tried those socks and everything went fairly smoothly until I tried the heel. It drove me crazy. I ended up using a short row heel from one of the patterns in <a href="http://ssl2.adhost.com/patchwork/merchant.cfm?pid=568&step=4" target="_new">Crocheted Socks</a> because I just couldn't get it.

A new crochet friend of mine just put up <a href="http://www.cs.unc.edu/~mantler/misc/fun_stuff/art/crochet/heelinstr.html" target="_new">instructions for the heel</a> on her site. She used the same sock pattern, but changed the heel to make the holes created by the short rows less pronounced.

I'm sorry that only help I can be to you with that part of the pattern is to tell you, "Use a different pattern!" <img border=0 src="http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v84/crochetville/cutewink.gif" />

Good luck and post pictures, if you can, when you're done!

[rebeccav]

i'd help if i could... but socks hate me :shrug :cry

[Donna]

Thanks for the link, pfirsch! I couldn't get those heels to look right either. I wound up using the heel from another pattern as well. I can't remember which one, though. It was a heel that was added at the end after the sock was finished.

[kaycrochay]

Thanks all for the help, I'm flubbing the pattern by using the heel instructions from a cuff-down pattern, and it's actually working up great, just made some adjustments (like increasing the amount of decreases to make the ankle smaller than the foot) and it's looking good so far. Once I actually get them done, I'll post the changes.

[woolandflax]

I'm so glad to know I'm not crazy. I worked on this sock pattern yesterday and can't figure out the increases on the heel either!!

~Rebecca

[noricum]

I'm the one who wrote the modified heel instructions... if you let me know what they are, I can try to improve the confusing parts. I'll take photos of the next pair I do, so that I can have photos rather than sketches, if you think that will help. :frog