Naruto socks for him

I love how the colors swirl around the cuffs!

After nearly two months, I finished the socks I was making for my boyfriend! It wasn't the size that made it take so much time (although these socks felt endlessly long in the foot compared to the ones I've made for myself), but that I was experimenting as I went, specifically with the heel. I wanted to try a short-row heel, but I knew that that might make the fit a bit tight. So I decided to do the heel over two-thirds of the total stitches rather than half - this is a 72-stitch sock, so I did the heel over 48 stitches rather than 36. I also wasn't happy with the look of my short rows, so after some experimenting and Googling, I settled on the shadow wrap method, as explained here by Alice Yu.

Many attempts and many ripped stitches later, I got the first heel done to my satisfaction, and then it was smooth sailing. I'm satisfied with how they turned out, and have learned a few things that I'll keep in mind the next time I make socks for my boyfriend. And he seemed pleased to have some handknit socks for himself.

The cat approves.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the cuffs, heels, and toes are done in GnomeAcres sock yarn in the Naruto colorway, and the black is Cascade Heritage. The Naruto yarn was leftover from my very first socks that I made last fall, so it seemed fitting that I use it again in my first socks for my boyfriend (it's also fitting because we're both Naruto fans). Now we have cute matchy socks!