A foot! 2 of them actually!
Finally the central portion of the sock
is done! The stitches have been divided, (and everything is all a
bit awkward right now) and work has begun on the foot portion of the
sock.
At this point the center bottom of the
sole is 5 inches long, and the instep is 0 inches long (OK, maybe
0.25 inches)--The sole needs to be 9 inches (4 more inches) and the
instep needs to be 7 inches. At the same time, the 80 stitches I
started the foot with need to be decrease—to something closer to 66 or 68- so
there is going to be some shaping going on—short row shaping.

The foot portion (and the leg portion)
started out with 80 stitches each. So step one is decreasing—which
will be done on the center top of the sock. The first few rounds
(that 0.25th's of an inch) were all decrease rounds The
first 3 rounds after joining the top of the foot were worked with 2
decreases per round (80 minus 6) and one set of increases--(the sole
portion of the foot has been increasing 2 stitches every 3rd
round for several inches now, and I want to keep that up (and keep
the bias fabric in place.) But decreasing every round is too steep a
slope. So now the decrease will proceed at 2 every other row.
BUT—If I am going to continue the
bias patterning—with every 3rd round, there will need to
be a set of increase on the sole. So I will be both decreasing (on
the instep) and increasing (on the sole)--but at different rates.
Taken over 12 rounds, there will be 4
sets of 2 increase (8 increases in 12 rounds) on the sole, and 6 sets
of decreases on the instep (12 decreases in 12 round) or a net of 4
stitch decrease—which is not enough.
So I will sneak in a few short rows,
and after 12 full rounds, and 2 sets of short rows, the will be 8
increases on the sole, and 16 decreases on the instep-- a net of 8
decreases
The count now is 76 stitches, which will become first 68 stitches. This will add about 3 inches to the top of the sock (the instep) but only add 2.5 inches of
sole) –Then...
Well I am not exactly sure! 68 stitches is more
than average--(for me, by about 8 stitches) but with a bias knit
fabric, more stitches are needed. The stitch count will be close to
right. I can always omit a short row, or more likely, add
one—depending on how the socks fit.
I will still need 4 more inches of
instep—but only another 2 inches or so on the sole—So a more
intricate set of short rows will be needed for the toe final few
inches and toe shaping!
But the bulk of the foot will be
completed in 12 full rounds—and what lovely rounds they will be.
Rounds that grow smaller and small--(not larger and larger!) and
rounds that will make the socks look like socks (and not like some
sort of strange skull cap!)
It's not likely I will finish the socks
today. I might not even finish the foot part of the sock today—so
these socks are going to be late and not finished until next year.
(NEXT YEAR IS TOMORROW!)
But I can live with that—they are
only socks after all!