Working things out
Posted by Elizabeth on 02-26-2010 at 9:18 am
My husband has large feet, and you know what they say about men with large feet.
They wear large shoes. And therefore, large socks.
Of course this is about knitting! Where did you think I was going with that? Anyway, yes, large feet. He usually wears about a size 15 shoe, and his feet are actually right at a foot long. As a result, he doesn't get that many pairs of socks.
At least part of the difficulty is that I am constantly afraid of running out of yarn for said socks. The top-down style with a heel flap is my favorite way of knitting them, and they fit his feet the best. However, this requires that you know you have enough yarn for a given length of cuff before you start, which is not particularly certain with a foot of knitting to go after the heel.
Naturally, I started looking for alternative sock patterns. Short-row heels don't fit him well. The gusset is pretty necessary. Now, I know that there are patterns out there for toe-up socks with a heel flap (Widdershins being a good example), so there must be some sort of recipe for this kind of sock, right? They have the same thing for toe up socks with a short-row heel, after all.
But my google-fu availed me not. I did find a toe-up, multi-size pattern from Wendy Knits (the fingeringweight Toe-Up Slipstitch Heel Sock), but again, it's a pattern and not a formula. Long feet are shaped funny, and I need a formula. I was beginning to think that this was some sort of closely-guarded, sock-designer trade secret that was only transported in a briefcase handcuffed to someone's wrist.
Then I found the Toe Up Heel Flap Sock Formula post on Forward Motion, where she discusses the exact same problem, and did enough of the math for me that I can work things out from here.
The thing I am going to change about her instructions is that the gusset on the sock will start about four inches from the end of the sock, not two and a half. Deep heel flaps are a good thing. I am also probably going to turn the heel and add ten stitches instead of eight, since the Husband's heels are also fairly narrow and need a deeper curve than eight stitches would allow for.
What does all this prove? I am better at geometry than algebra, largely.
Anyway, here's the picture of what is done so far:
The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Sweet Pea color. It was the most interesting manly colorway I could find at the store. We'll see how long this takes...
They wear large shoes. And therefore, large socks.
Of course this is about knitting! Where did you think I was going with that? Anyway, yes, large feet. He usually wears about a size 15 shoe, and his feet are actually right at a foot long. As a result, he doesn't get that many pairs of socks.
At least part of the difficulty is that I am constantly afraid of running out of yarn for said socks. The top-down style with a heel flap is my favorite way of knitting them, and they fit his feet the best. However, this requires that you know you have enough yarn for a given length of cuff before you start, which is not particularly certain with a foot of knitting to go after the heel.
Naturally, I started looking for alternative sock patterns. Short-row heels don't fit him well. The gusset is pretty necessary. Now, I know that there are patterns out there for toe-up socks with a heel flap (Widdershins being a good example), so there must be some sort of recipe for this kind of sock, right? They have the same thing for toe up socks with a short-row heel, after all.
But my google-fu availed me not. I did find a toe-up, multi-size pattern from Wendy Knits (the fingeringweight Toe-Up Slipstitch Heel Sock), but again, it's a pattern and not a formula. Long feet are shaped funny, and I need a formula. I was beginning to think that this was some sort of closely-guarded, sock-designer trade secret that was only transported in a briefcase handcuffed to someone's wrist.
Then I found the Toe Up Heel Flap Sock Formula post on Forward Motion, where she discusses the exact same problem, and did enough of the math for me that I can work things out from here.
The thing I am going to change about her instructions is that the gusset on the sock will start about four inches from the end of the sock, not two and a half. Deep heel flaps are a good thing. I am also probably going to turn the heel and add ten stitches instead of eight, since the Husband's heels are also fairly narrow and need a deeper curve than eight stitches would allow for.
What does all this prove? I am better at geometry than algebra, largely.
Anyway, here's the picture of what is done so far:
The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Sweet Pea color. It was the most interesting manly colorway I could find at the store. We'll see how long this takes...
Knitting
