I wanted to give you an
update on the toe-up socks that I have been knitting, described in my last
post.
One of the learning points
of knitting socks is finding the right length of each part; toe, foot, gusset,
heel, then later the length of the leg, making it all fit correctly. Once you have that worked out you can make
any design of sock using the same size of yarn and needle as long as you keep
to those measurements.
For me the total length of
the foot, heel to toe, must be 10 ½ inches to allow enough room for comfort. I
had attempted a formula to work out the sections on my last post of:
2 inches for the toe
4 ½ inches for the foot
2 inches for the gusset
2 inches for the heel – the
heel to be a short row heel
However this formula turned
out to be incorrect; when I got the heel finished and tried on the sock it
barely reached the back of my foot. So back to the drawing board to figure out
what I needed to change.
I ripped out the stitching
back to the row where I started the gusset and added 2 more inches to the foot
section, then started the gusset over again, but this time I added the gusset
stitches to the sole stitches instead of the instep stitches, placing one
stitch in the 2nd stitch of the 3rd needle (which is
holding half of the sole stitches), and placing one stitch in the last stitch
of the 4th needle (which is holding the other half of the sole
stitches). The increase was worked every other row. By the time the gusset
increases were completed I had added 12 stitches to each needle, or 24
increased stitches, making a total of 30 stitches per sole needle. (18+12x2
needles).
Then I went to work on the
heel. I put the instep stitches onto a holder and worked back and forth on the
sole stitches to create the heel. The instructions for the heel came from the Socks
From the Toe Up book by Wendy D. Johnson, page 38. This type of
heel is more open, was quicker to work, and fit my heel better. When viewed
from the back of the heel the line of decreases resembles a u-shape with the
sides of the “U” pointing towards the ankle bone.
When the heel was finished I
went back to working in the round with the instep stitches, to start on the
leg. I did about one inch of plain stockinette stitch on the leg, then started
on the ribbing. The ribbing design I chose is a spiral rib; work 4 rows of knit
two, purl two, then shift the rib by one stitch on the 5th row.
Start that row with purl one, knit two, purl two, continue in the pattern for
another 4 rows, then shift again, this time starting with purl two, knit two.
Four more rows, shift again on the 5th and start it knit one purl
two, knit two. If you have a larger leg like mine you can go up one size of
knitting needle when you get to the larger part of the leg for easier sizing. I
went from a size one needle to a size 2 (U.S. sizes)
Keep going until you have the length of leg
that you want. For the last 2 inches at
the top I did a straight knit two, purl two ribbing.
This is where my sock
project is now; I have to decide on how best to bind off the top. I’ve read
about a tubular bind-off so as to keep the top stretchy. This may be what I do
to finish the sock.
More updates to come.
Edey
