Alternative Sock Toes...

Hello my fellow sock knitters :) Today I am going to chat about the options to customize your sock toes. In the previous post, I knitted a sock toe that I like for my socks. I prefer a wider sock toe as I don't like feeling my toes squished together, but if your feet are different (narrower, toes more pointy etc), then you will want to change the shape of your sock toe...

As a quick aside note...there are countless ways to knit the toes of a sock, including Short Row toes, Star toe, as well as a bunch of provisional cast-on based toes... I don't use these , so I am not going to talk about them...suffice to say that my way is not the only way :)




If you look at the toe in the pic above, you'll see that the toe is broad and the width of knitting required for the foot (full number of stitches needed for the foot circumference), starts close to the point of the sock. This type of toe is good for people with broad +/- flat feet. Also, it's good for people who like room for their toes, whether they have broad feet or not. If you have worn a sock that has a bit of knitted fabric hanging off the point of your foot, then this would be the better alternative toe shape. This toe was the one from the previous post, where the increases were made on every row, first and last stitches of each side of a round.

What kind of toe would be good for people with very pointy feet?

The broad toe above would hang loose and wide on the foot that is narrower and perhaps pointier. The better alternative would be the shaped toe, seen below. Again, the same number of required stitches are cast-on, and then on the first round you just knit, next round increase first and last stitch (both sides of the round), then knit a round and so on. You are making the increases every alternate round, until you have the total required number of stitches for the foot. This results in a longer, sharper toe shape, which when pulled over your foot, will " hug" your toes :)



In addition, you have the option to knit toes that conform to the anatomical shape of the front of your foot. This would require a " half-half" series of increases, combining the two techniques explained above. It's easiest to read the increases on a chart (see below). Decide if you are knitting the right or left foot first. Remember that you will end up with mirror image toes, so don't get confused...do one at a time :) On one edge of the toe , you will increase every round, on the other, every alternate round and so on... this might work better for you if you prefer the shaping to be over your big and second toes, tapering sharply over the outside toes).


I have drawn a little schematic chart , illustrating these ideas. On the bottom left of the chart, you have the "alternate round" increase toe, on the right the "every round" increase toe (only one side of the knitting is shown). On the top, you have (again only one side shown), the left and right feet toes for the anatomically shaped toes. On the inside side, where the big toes are , the increases are made every round, and on the outside edge, every alternate round.

By changing the increase placement, you can shape the toes according to what works best for you...

A short post today...hope your socks are coming along nicely...

Lots of Love,
Heidi :)

Designing a basic sock...Part 2

Welcome to the second part of designing a basic knitted sock! I hope that you are feeling a bit less daunted by the prospect , and are going to have a go at knitting your first sock :) . I am also going to answer a question about the beginning round of Magic Loop knitting. So here goes...

In the last post, you had measured your foot circumference and worked out your stitch gauge. You are now going to work out how many stitches you will need to knit your basic "tube", in order for it to fit comfortably.
Using your calculator (or if you happen to be a math genius...work it out in your head ;) ), subtract 10% of the circumference measurement of the ball of your foot, from the total measurement. So in my example, my foot circumference was 9 and 3/4 inches. 10% is equal to 0.975in, so my math will look as follows:


Since I have 6 and a half stitches in an inch for my gauge, I need to multiply 6.5 stitches, by 8.775in (the needed inch circumference of my foot). This gives me 57.04 stitches, which of course
is not possible, so I have to round this number to 57 stitches.

However, you want to have an even number of stitches , so that you can do a Judy's cast-on, so you have a choice...either round UP to 58 stsitches, or DOWN to 56 stitches. I am going to (arbitrarily), round down to 56 stitches for these sock posts.Right....you have determined how many stitches you need for the sock, but obviously you need to START your sock with fewer stitches...to make the toe. So, how many stitches are you going to cast on? A very general rule is to use ONE QUARTER the total number of stitches required for the sock, as the cast on number of stitches to make the toe.
So, if you need 56 sts in total for your sock, one quarter is 14 sts. Remember that you are going to use Judy's Magic cast-on, and this means that your 14 stitches are evenly cast on over the two needles....therefore you will end up with 7 stitches on each needle.

So lets recap...

Total number of stitches needed to knit the sock = 56sts
Number of stitches needed for the toe cast-on = 14 sts
(you will have half on one needle, and half on the other)
For this KAL, I am using a DK weight yarn, so I have relatively fewer stitches per inch than say someone who is knitting with proper sock yarn (will probably have somewhere between 8 and 10 stitches per inch for gauge). Remember, the formula....don't be concerned if your gauge doesn't match mine. Follow the steps above, and even if your results are different...your sock will still be right for you!

Tomorrow, we'll cast on and do the toe increases...so whip out your measuring tape and start your calculations :)

Magic Loop Revisited...

I wanted to do a quick recap of the first round of the Magic Loop knitting. You will use Judy's Magic Cast-On as the basis for the first round.



When you have cast on the required number of stitches, your needles will still be pointing to the left hand side. Remember to bring your tail yarn towards you and to the right across the working yarn.

Keeping your tail yarn in this position, rotate your needles clockwise to your right.


The pic above is what your work should look like...Now if you look closely, the side of the cast on facing you is actually the knit side....no purly bumps seen...


If you twist your needles over you'll see the purly side with little bumps...remember that the purl side will eventually be on the "inside" of your work as you knit in the round, and all the lovely knit stitches will be facing you (because you are just making "knit"stitches all the time...)


Remember that the needle that the working yarn (the yarn that comes from the ball of yarn) is coming from, is the needle that will be pulled to your right , being the one you use to start your knitting with. Once you have knitted several rounds, a little "pocket" will start to form, with all the purl stitches facing in and all the knit stitches facing out. But...at the beginning of your first round, you haven't yet gotten "sides"of knitted fabric to form the little pocket, so all you have, to guide you as to where you will insert your right hand needle, is the look of the cast on stitches, ie the "knit"vs "purl" sides, as seen above...

In order to insert your right side needle into the "knit" side of your first stitch, you will need to slightly twist your work , so that you are looking square onto the "knit " side of your cast on.


Things should look like the pic above...


Here, in the pic above, I have now knitted two stitches, and you can see that the "knit" side of the cast on is still facing me.

Once you have done enough rounds to form the pocket of knitting , it will be obvious where you need to knit into...but in the first few rounds it may be a little confusing, so just walk through the pics above step by step...if you start seeing purl and knit stitches on the SAME side of the fabric, you have gone wrong somewhere...

I hope that makes things a little clearer...

Have a good evening folks!
Lots of Love,
Heidi :)

Anatomy of a Sock

Howdy friends!

Today was a warm day in Johannesburg. Winter here has been really cold and unpleasant...although nothing compared to some of the snowy/icy countries, we are not really geared for very cold weather, as central heating is very, very uncommonly found in houses here.
So, the girls and Mr P and I went off to have a brunch at a small cafe nearby. It was a lazy Sunday...not a lot of productivity... We had supper with some close friends last night (a rarity as Mr P seldom has time off from the hospital :( ), and we had a wonderful time, catching up, chatting, laughing... The girls and their friends were so involved in their own discussions, we almost didn't notice them... all in all , a lovely evening!This week was also a fantastic learning week...my dear friend Dana, taught Linda and myself how to hand-dye/handpaint yarn! I feel like a whole world has opened up for me...suddenly all I want to do is DYE! Morning, noon and night...the kitchen smells like vinegar all the time ;) It's like painting with watercolours...addictive :) Thank you Dana ♥ If anyone is interested, Dana has her tutorials on how to dye, available on her website...


I have decided to do a series of posts on how to knit a sock. When I first became interested in learning how to do this, I was overwhelmed by the variety of ways there are to knit a sock...top (cuff) down, toe up socks, countless ways of casting on, using double pointed needles, two circular needles, one circular needle, numerous options for knitting the heel...it was truly confusing and I struggled to find information that took me through the process step by step. I am quite sure that there are probably MANY references that I just didn't come across, that you may be aware of, but it was a long journey, learning and adapting what I found , to what worked for me.So, I will be doing a bunch of "walk-you-through-a sock-KAL" posts, specifically in the way I like to knit a sock. By no means is this the only way...just the way I like to do it :)

I am assuming that you are able to do Judy's Magic Cast-on, as well as Magic Loop knitting. Really friends, this is essential...you must be comfortable with these techniques if you are to reach the end of this quest...I knit my socks from the toe up, using a Magic Loop technique, and I prefer the look of a short-row heel. OK, if you haven't ever knitted a sock, this will all sound Greek...never fear friends! All will become clear as we go along... I will stick to the kind of sock I like in terms of explanations, and if there is any interest, I can do some posts later on the other options for heels, toes etc.

Firstly, let's look at the anatomy of the humble sock (Mr P's cycling sock ;) ).

The toe is ...well...the toe! This is where I start my socks, as I find the advantages of working "toe-up", outweigh the "cuff-down" method. At the end of these sock related posts, you will be able to knit two sock at the same time, on one circular needle, toe-up, with short row heels) Wow , you might say...me? Yes, you will be able to do this magical thing!

This way of knitting socks, allows you to measure the sock on your own foot (or presumably the foot of the intended recipient) so you end up with socks that actually fit properly, you will have the same tension throughout your socks, as you are creating both at the same time, you will not suffer from the dreaded "second sock syndrome" , and you will be able to use up your yarn to the last bit...because you just keep knitting up to where the yarn starts running low...then you cast off! Voila, socks a-la-deux!So, (I get easily distracted...) the sock starts at the toe (1), you then get the sole and the upper foot (2), the heel (3) , the leg section (4), and finally the cuff (5).



We will be knitting the sock in the order shown in the pic above. First the toe (1), then the sole and upper foot (2), then the whole of the heel (3), then the leg (4) and finally the cuff (5).

Let's break it down a bit...

I use Judy's Magic Cast-on method for casting on for the toes. If you are unfamiliar with this technique, you can find a tutorial here. (In this post, I am merely giving you an overview of the process...the details will follow in the subsequent posts). This method of casting on, will give you a set of stitches on the one needle of your circular needles, and stitches on the other needle. The number of stitches will be the same on the two needles.


If you look at the pic above, you will see that I have divided the sock into two coloured halves...the rose coloured part which will be knitted on the back (or farthest-away-from-you) needle, and the turquoise coloured part which will be knitted on the front(or closest-to-you-needle). If you are unfamiliar with Magic Loop knitting, look here.

Because of the nature of Magic Loop knitting, you will work a round of knitting in the following order:


-knit all the stitches forming the sole-side or underside of the toe (1a), then knit all the stitches forming the upper-foot side of the toe (1b) until the toe is complete (ie alternately 1a, 1b, 1a, 1b etc in a continuous spiral, until the toe is the desired length)

-then stitches forming the sole of the foot (2a), alternating with the stitches forming the upper foot (2b), in the round (2a, 2b, 2a, 2b etc again, in a continuous spiral) until the sole and upper foot sections are the correct length.


Up until this point of knitting , you are essentially creating a long tube, with the number of stitches on your front and back needles being the same (you haven't any need to shape your sock with decreases and increases for this part of the foot...it will fit :) )


-then you will knit the whole of the heel on the front (closest-to-you) needle, starting with section 3a (you finish knitting this completely before you move onto section 3b...this is different from the previous sections of the sock where you are alternately knitting " a " and " b " in a continuous spiral ), then knit section 3b .

During this heel knitting adventure, the back needle stitches go into hibernation..they're quite happy..don't worry about them :) .



Once the heel is completed, you will have ended section 3b at the point where section 4a starts. This is the beginning of the lower leg part of the sock. Once again, you will knit the leg sections in the round, alternating the stitches of sections 4a and 4b in a continuous spiral, until the leg part is the desired length. You are now again basically knitting a tube in the round, as you did for the foot part...

Finally , you will do the cuff and when that is finished, bind off.



Let's take a closer look at the heel business...in the pic above, I have coloured the spiral arrows in two colours: red for the part of the sock facing you, and lighter blue for the part of the sock facing the table. These are meant to schematically represent the knitted rounds as you would do them. As you can see, the direction of the knitted rounds form the oft' mentioned continuous spiral up the length of the sock...

However when you get to the heel, you are no longer working in the round, you are knitting and purling back and forth (firstly section 3a, then when that is completed, you knit and purl back and forth on section 3b).

This back and forth knitting creates so called short-rows, ie you are not knitting all the stitches on the front needle when you do section 3a, you are actually knitting less and less of them, each time you turn your work around to knit or purl. This shapes the heel section 3a into a triangle. When you start knitting section 3b, you are (totally my own words...) essentially making " long-rows", the opposite of short rows by " picking up " the un-knitted stitches ( left out in section 3a, every time you did a short row.)

I will do a post devoted entirely to the short row...don't worry about scary words, like wrapping etc that will all come later :)

Ok, once the heel is finished, you continue knitting the long tube, just as you did before when you made the foot section, all the way up the leg to the desired length.

Easy peasy....

If there is anything in this little post that doesn't make sense, please let me know...it's late and it's been a long post...I am off to bed now...

The next post will be how to custom design a sock pattern that will give you a perfectly fitted sock!

Have a good evening,
Lots of Love,
Heidi :)