Continuing the SSSS4SS saga

I have turned the heel of the first Snake Skin Sock. Unlike my usual way of working on both socks in turn (cuff, cuff - leg, leg - ect), I'm doing this pair one at a time. I'm not sure that I can get two socks out of the Koigu and if I'm going to have to get creative with the toes and heels, I'd rather just rip back one sock!

So the decision on the heel flaps came around rather quickly. The pattern designer gave two options: 1) to continue the 'skin' pattern down onto the heel flap. I'm doing this sock in merino yarn and I know that it will pill. It's almost inevitable in a 100% merino. So the long horizontal floats under the heels of my shoes were a no-no. Option 2) was a heel stitch heel, where you slip every other stitch. This is my 'default' heel. I've used it on all but two of the pairs of socks I've knit this year (and those were short row heels). I got about three repeats into this heel and didn't like the strong vertical lines of slip stitches.

So I asked on the SSKAL yahoo group if anyone had done an eye of partridge heel. Several people commented that they had and it looked very good with the leg pattern. For the EoP heel, the slip stitches are offset every other row. In some yarns, you get a diamond pattern, but in this yarn, you get an interesting dappled effect - different from the 'skin' pattern, but still not pooling/striping in any way. The diamond are nearly obscured by the colors in the yarn, but you still have a double thick heel for sturdiness.