sock, how to continue?

[SimplyKaar]

After finishing my very first pair of socks using Silvers tutorial, I figured I'm ready for something a little more adventurous and I found these

I've done the "shaft" part of the sock and now I'm ready to start the heel and instep with the following instructions:

"Heel Flap:

Divide sts as follows: Work first 26 sts of rnd. Divide these sts onto two needles to be worked as instep, then slide the rem 26 sts onto the first needle to be worked as the heel flap......"

I read this as knitting the first 26 stitches somehow first, then divide them onto 2 needles and put the other 26 stitches on the third needle to be worked into a heel flap following the 2 rows listed.

But work the first 26 stitches how? Also with the first row as written directly below that? (Row 1: *Sl 1, K1*, rep from * to * across row) or do something else to the first 26 stitches first and only start the Row 1 part of the pattern with the second 26 stitches?

[rebecca]

Okay, you put the sts for the instep on 2 needles, then, the 26 sts for the heel on 1 needle and then work the heel back and forth using the heel st pattern...Row 1: *Sl 1, K1*, rep from * to * across row)
Row 2: Sl first st, P across row
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until heel flap measures 2 ½ ". End with a right-side row.
Is this what you are talking about?

[SimplyKaar]

Okay, you put the sts for the instep on 2 needles, then, the 26 sts for the heel on 1 needle and then work the heel back and forth using the heel st pattern...Row 1: *Sl 1, K1*, rep from * to * across row)
Row 2: Sl first st, P across row
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until heel flap measures 2 ½ ". End with a right-side row.
Is this what you are talking about?

yes! thank you That's what I tought at first aswell but then I started to doubt because to me the instructions "Work first 26 sts of rnd." implied that I needed to do something first before putting the stitches on 2 needles for the instep.

Now I'm all set to continue tomorrow; thanks!

[rebecca]

U bet.
I understand your questioning the directions, it's a bit confusing.

[SimplyKaar]

Hey guys I've almost finished the socks mentioned above and I'm quite happy with them actually! I'll take some pictures when i'm completely done.
But for now they'll be on hold because I've had this idea of knitting some socks for my boyfriends cousin who will celebrate his birthday next week. He mentioned a while ago that he missed the knitted socks his grandmother used to make for him so I picked up a skein of proper sockyarn and I'm going to make him a pair
It's just for fun really because they normally don't give gifts for birthdays but just sit around and enjoy the evenings together but for me, going to a birthday without a present is odd. A pair of socks seems like a little something-something which isn't over the top and is a hint to his grannys socks.

I'm going to take Silvers tutorial again but since I don't know what type of yarn this is in american terms (like "finger weight" etc) I figure I might as well figure out my own amount of stitches to start with, following this rule of thumb I found on this forum a while ago. (I think maybe Rebecca posted it?)

Okay, here's what you do..measure the circumference of the foot around the ball of the foot (this is usually the biggest part of the foot); then check your gauge and multiply your gauge by the circumference and subtract 5% for snugness.
For example...if the circumference is 9 in and your gauge is 8.5 in, then multiply 9x8.5=76.5 and if you want your sock to be snug, subtract 5%, - 73 sts...I recommend rounding up or down to the nearest # that is divisible by 4...I say that because I generally use a 2x2 rib...so, the nearest number divisible by 4 is 72...cast on 72 sts (or, whatever # you have when you fill in the blanks for this equation )...you should then have a nice fit.

I understand this part and I think I have it figured out. With a big THANK YOU to IKEA for having those paper throwaway measure thingies which have inches on one side and centimeters on the other

I measured 10 1/2 stitches to an inch and the circumference should also be about 10 1/2 inches.
So, 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 =110.25. 5% of 110 stitches is 5.5 stitches so that makes 105 stitches. But since that's not dividable by 4, I'd cast on 104 sitches instead?

I wanted to check first though because this does seem like a rather high number of stitches to start with?

And my other question is: what do you do when get to the heel? How do you decide how many stitches to use for the flap and how many stitches do you pick up once you've finished knitting the flap?
Maybe this will go without saying once I get to that point, but I'd like to be a bit prepared

Oh and I do have pictures of the yarn I picked for this pair of socks:








I'm loving knitting with this yarn!! It took a bit of getting used to because it's a lot thinner than what I've been using the last couple of projects but it's very smooth and once I got the rhythm going, it knitted up pretty fast

[Denise in Michigan]

Heel flap: Work the flap over one-half the total stitches.

Gusset: Pick up one stitch for every two rows. (If you've slipped the first stitch of each row on the flap, pick up one in each slipped stitch.) Some folks like to pick up a few more or less; if so, space picked up stitches as evenly as possible.

Your math is correct; Rebecca has tons of experience here, so I'd go with her instructions, rounding down as you did to 104.

Only time I'd change would be if he had a big difference between the ball of foot and ankle measurement, with the ankle the smaller of the two. In that case, I'd cast on and work for the ankle, then just work fewer decrease rows in the gusset. If you also have his ankle measurement and it's at least one inch smaller than the ball of foot, I'd go this route.

You are doing a very special thing, you sweetie!

[rebecca]

Looks like you got it
As for the large # of sts. I would recommend using larger needles. Although, 104 sts would be a very sturdy sock...nice and tightly knit making for a good sock fabric But, that's a great many sts to knit for a sock....don't get me wrong, as I said, the sock would be great! But, you may get very tired of those socks knitting 104 sts per round

[SimplyKaar]

Thanks ladies!!

Denise: I'm not sure about his anklewidth, because I haven't actually measured his own foot. It will be a present and I don't want to spoil the surprise, even if it'll be a just a small present

My boyfriend asked the older brother on the phone last night to measure his own foot for me, the younger brother (whose birthday it will be) has aprox. the same shoesize so I figured it'll be alright if I use the older brothers measurements instead.
I do hope he measured it correctly: we all know how most men are, especially when they think it's something silly and they are only doing it to acknowledge yet another strange request from this silly girlfriend :rofling:
We'll see how they turn out.

Thanks for the advice on how to do the heel and the guesset. It's nice to have a general rule on how to make the socks; now, in theory you can basically make them for anyone, which I just might start doing because I am having a lot of fun with them....
My dad has already dropped a hint here and there: my granny (his mum) used to knit his socks all the time and he likes those a lot better than he does storebought socks but unfortunately about 10 years ago, her eyesight got too bad and she wasn't able to see the knitting well enough any longer to continue knitting for him.
But who knows: I might just pick it up again for him :XX:


Rebecca: 104 did seem like a bit much to me as well although I do like the feel of the fabric it makes this way.
But just to be certain, and to compare I will make another swatch using one needlesize larger and see how that turns out.
But the yarn seems pretty thin to me (the saleswoman did say it's summeryarn, the winter collection will become available around September she told me) so maybe it's correct afterall.

I don't want to make it too thin or flimsy since he's a skipper, wears slippers all day long and would otherwise wear out the ball of the foot and the heel part, pretty quickly.

I'm just glad to have confirmed by you two that I have the calculations done right so if I do like the bigger needles better, I now know how to continue from there on.

Thanks again and I will definitely take a picture before I give them to my bf's cousin

[SimplyKaar]

Ok made another swatch, one needlesize bigger and I think Rebecca was right yet again! it feels nicer, I'm just a bit worried that, because I do knit rather loosely with this type of yarn and therefore it may be a bit holey once it's knit up into a sock and being worn.... :thinking:

I guess the only way to find out is to actually knit it up and see what happens.

With this new swatch, I got 9 stitches to an inch so that makes for a cast on of 88 stitches. So I'm off to give that a try!

[rebecca]

Good luck
Please, please don't change the needle sizes just on my suggestion! The socks will be wonderful knit with the 104 sts....very, very nice, actually My suggestion was more for you and having to knit 104 sts in each round :D
I'm so excited, I can't wait to see your socks

You know, other than measuring the foot. In cases when you can't measure a foot you can go by shoe size, too. This chart may be helpful