Friday, March 11, 2011

A Sock with Two Toes



It's not like you can wear them either way but in this case the heel is made exactly the same way as the toe, and is also made after the rest of the sock is knit. It is often called an afterthought heel. What makes them so popular and useful is that if in some distant day the heel should develop a hole, replacing it is a snap! I really like this new mitered design because of the matching raised stitches. They form a sort of Y. Plus the striped yarn is angled, instead of just round and round.
Here is the real toe. This pattern of this sock was translated from the Swedish and I had some difficulty understanding the English. It kept me up for hours trying to envision how the toe would be worked out with the combination of increasing stitches and decreasing stitches all on the same rows. Hmmm. But since the designer mentioned being inspired by Elizabeth Zimmermann's mitered mittens, and I had that pattern, I finally cracked the nut of the design. Just stop increasing and the decreases will form the toe perfectly. DUH.
  Here is a closeup of the heel. A nice smooth round bottom, with all the raised stitches on the sides of the heel, so they aren't walked upon. Here's the pattern. http://dodergok.blogspot.com/2010/04/mitered-socks-english-version.html


And here is the alternate way to knit them. In this case, the decreases are positioned in the center of the foot and the increases along the sides. I prefer my way, as mentioned above, because of the connecting raised stitches.
This view shows the increases at the center of the foot, which are a little smoother. Since I have a high instep, I want less bulk.
I think this pattern will be my new standard, because I want replaceable heels.
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I ordered 108" wide backing fabric for my two newest quilt tops and it arrived yesterday. White on white with ferns, O my. My thinking is that this would then provide me with leftover white fabric...which I guess I ''need" when I play around with the idea of Fresh Modern Quilts. Hmmm. Well see where this leads.



Your Daily Dawg.



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9 comments:

  1. So nice to see your daily dawg!

    April

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  2. Irene9:53 AM

    Be sure to wash it first. I ordered some and it shrunk 8 inches in width. Made it too small for my quilt and had to get an alternative and piece the back. Not what I had planned.

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  3. At last! A sock that will fit my foot with the extra toe growing off my heel!

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  4. Amazing what sorts of things will keep one up at night !!! Great looking socks.

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  5. What a great idea for a sock! Thanks for sharing.
    Vicki

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  6. What neat socks! I love the pic of Chumley......he is just so cute...

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  7. I really love these socks. I'm hard on socks, especially on the heels, so shall have to learn that after-thought heel. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Judy Morningstar11:39 PM

    Have you tried dyeing white on white fabric? The design part is paint so it doesn't take much dye. So you can get some cool effects with the dye vs the pattern. Oh, you wanted white. Oh. OK.
    Your socks look lovely. I don't know a knitting needle from a crowbar, so I shall just admire yours.

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  9. the socks look comfy and warm

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