The Good Enough Short Row Heel

I can't let something as small as a short row heel stymie me. This self striping Vesper yarn is just calling for a short row heel so I took the advice of Kathy and tried the short row heel from "Priscilla's Dream Socks".

Yesterday, while a storm brewed overhead, I warned the boys to stay well out of my way, sat down with the sock and the Favorite Socks book and was determined to master the short row heel. I even put on my glasses which I can never seem to find. It took me 2 hours but I never needed to rip it out and I never swore. In the end I had a short row heel. It's not perfect - far from it - but I'm putting perfectionism aside and calling it Good Enough. Yup, I'm accepting that Good Enough will do.



Here are the pros and cons of this Good Enough Short Row Heel.
Pros:

1. The directions are very clear.
2. I was able to tell where I needed to turn without any problems.
3. There is no wrapping or picking up of wraps.
4. The purl side of the heel came out quite nicely. Well, mostly.
5. There are no gaps on the knit side of the heel.

Cons:

1. The k3 together does not make nearly as neat a row as the p3 together (what would happen if I did the k3 together through the back loop?)
2. I had holes on one side of the heel where it meets the leg.
3. It took me about two hours to complete the heel and I never felt I could really put it down during that time. This isn't really practical for me most of the time.

Here is the purl side which looks very neat except for those holes where the heel meets the foot.


Here is the knit side which looks wonky but has no holes where the heel meets the foot.


It needs some work but I'm not ripping. They're good enough and I'm sure I can improve with practice.