DECISION MADE: I am frogging this and going to make a much more plain sock. Possibly the Dead Simple Lace Socks from the same book. This yarn needs a plainer stitch pattern.

I am going to combine the Basic Gusset Heel Sock pattern (over 36 st on the sole) and the Trilobite Sock pattern over 37 st on the instep. I will increase one st in the centre of the calf after finishing the heel so that I can pattern all the way round the shin and calf on 37 st for each side. I think this might work.

Although, after one false start and frog, I have realised that the instep/pattern halves only really need 36 stitches and not 37 because there is a “fudge” stitch in the 37 stitch instructions that I could just leave out and so the socks will look more symmetrical

I have not decided whether to increase needle size as I go but will keep trying things on. with this heel/gusset style I am less likely to need a larger needle size for the gusset/heel as I did for the Lacy Rib socks but may go up a size or two for the shin/calf.

I am beginning to think, however, that this pattern would look best using a solid coloured yarn. I think that it will meet my purpose, though, because I was getting so bored knitting these socks in plain stocking stitch and so this bot adds some interest and laciness / ventilation to the sock and adds some interest to the knitting process for me. As usual, I am all about the knitting process. A finished object is merely a bonus!

One thing I am having difficulty with is that a YO before a purl stitch comes out much looser (being a YO and then a yarn forward) than any other YO (e.g. before a knit, SSK or k2tog). I expect that blocking might help with this but wonder if there is any other way to initially knit my YOs more evenly and am even tempted to knit the YOs before purls as reverse yarn-overs. This is making the ‘trilobite’ motifs look very lopsided which is a pity.

Another thought/idea would be to not knit the YO before the purl stitches but to pick up the YO/bar on the next row.