| Archive for Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns The Friendly UK Board that invites Knitters, Crocheters, Dressmakers, Quilters, Patchworkers, Jewellery makers and Paper Crafters to join in our chat about Craft |
| pictish |
Toe Up Socks KALJust been discussing this here so thought I would start this. There's a pattern in the current Interweave mag (plus a little tutorial) for a basic pair in 2 by 2 rib with short row heels but I am sure there are other patterns if you haven't got that. They are done in Colinette Jitterbug in 2 lengths and about 5 sizes. I'm going to give them a try I think there's some sort of funny cast on tho  
|
||||
| n |
Okay me too, not sure what pattern yet, but I'll give it a go.... is there a frog emoticon?
Got to finish a pair first though, so I may be a day or two. n |
||||
| pictish |
There's this Wendy Knits free pattern here - it actually looks easier than the IW one 
|
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
ok i'm in...can we just practise toes before completing a whole sock? (I have plenty of itty bits but I aint wasting a whole ball  ) lol
Only kidding...i'll give the toes a go and post what i may have achieved...then i'll progress. juat one question are short row heels done in the same manner as the toes? so if you master one you can do the other? |
||||
| YarnAddict |
My 'Falling in Love' socks in February's MagKnits are toe up too with a choice of short row heels or heel flap and the next Sockamania socks will probably be toe up too. | ||||
| Dawn |
Followed you from the other thread. The pattern I gave up on a couple of weeks ago was by the same lady. The instructions for the toe look different on this one - none of those wrapped stitches I couldn't get to grips with. When i have finished the sock I have on the needles and wound my yarn for Kiri I will join you on this one. | ||||
| pictish |
These are horrendous I'm about to throw in the towel already I can't understand the Eastern Cast On AT ALL  I don't know whether I'm upside down or inside out or what. I'm sure your Falling in Love pattern is better Anni *runs off to look*
|
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
I've looked at Anni's pattern in more detail...I definately think this is more do-able.
Don't give in now pictish...you started this lol |
||||
| pictish |
It's all wrapped stitches I'd no idea toe up was SO hard
|
||||
| n |
KL, I am going to do the toe, and then immediately do the heel.
And then I'll keep it to refer to. n |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
you mean you are going to join a heel to a toe?....oh my, this ain't gonna be easy....I now own a book on this ....wish me luck lol |
||||
| n |
I saw it in the Twisted Sisters book as a way of doing heel practice but not on an actual garment.... they called it the push-me pull-you I think.
You just practice the elements you need, but don't actually knit the garment, like practicing buttonholes with a new sewing machine on spare fabric. I know I have never done a short row heel nor a bottom up flap heel, so I want to try the techniques before I commit to a whole sock... don't want to knit one and then think Uh-oh don't like that and still have to knit it the same or frog a whole sock! n |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
ok...i feel better now....i will do this....i couldn't do lace but i know the pattern for kiri off by heart now.....there's hope lol | ||||
| Aknita |
This is more than I could possibly cope with. | ||||
| KnittingLadybird |
I'm gonna have a go tomorrow...no honest I am...expect a pic even if it turns out to be spagetti 
|
||||
| n |
Aknita, I have had mogiebear sitting next to me showing me how to cast on, and I STILL stuffed it up!
If I have a go... go and chum me? n |
||||
| Aknita |
I suppose I have to learn some sort of provisional cast on thingy for Kiri don't I. I might have a quiet little play tomorrow - I have IK.
eta - sorry that sounds a very grudging sort of reply doesn't it - it's not meant to be, thanks, n, I WILL have a go tomorrow .
|
||||
| blueadt |
Keep trying Pictish. The Eastern (or Turkish as I know it) is tricky until you get the hang of it & then it's really simple. I used it first for my Oriel socks & had help from a friend but also used this tutorial. To finish try this (scroll down to text in red) cast off as it's brilliant. Have fun
|
||||
| pictish |
Thanks blueadt - the tutorial is good  . It's just that in the IW pattern you do those 2 first rows then have to transfer your 8 stitches onto 3 needles 2,4,2 and I got all mixed up and the stitches twisted and I was probably upside down and inside out as well
I think the best thing is as n suggested - ie to practice the cast-ons with spare wool eg this Turkish or Eastern one or the wrapped one and then maybe the heels so you've got the main tricky bits mastered first before launching into a sock as I did I wondered why people talked about them like they did. I just fancied a pair of nice ribby socks - no idea it was such a fiddle faddle doing them that way - but I think they do look nice.
And your Oriel socks are gorgeous Blueadt
|
||||
| Piglottie |
I tried to search youtube for you Ali as Mogie found me a wonderful video for the Old Norwegian cast on. Unfortunately, it just came up with a lot of videos that seem to involve toe licking fetishes
|
||||
| pictish |
That's ok PL - thanks for looking for me
|
||||
| donnac1968 |
I've made 2 pairs of toe ups so far, and I use the magic c ast on from Knitty.com
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html then I use this for the heel http://www.socknitters.com/toe-up/lessonfive.htm Both pairs worked out great. One was fingering weight and the other was DK. Donna |
||||
| n |
I know this is a bit naughty, but I was thinking, as I am on the home straight with the first merino sock, top down.... that I might do the other one toe up!
It would be a very good comparison. Almost scientific research. Wonder if there are any grants available.... What do you think, is this allowed? n |
||||
| gilraen |
Isn't anything allowed so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else
|
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
Well....i've had a go... piccies to follow soon. I am getting the idea of how the way i've done it works (don't ask me what i've done, i've just followed instructions from simple socks, plain and fancy book)
My toe looks very pointy, so that'll need some adjustment. lol |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
the blue was my first attempt...done in DK and on 4mm....the other is 4ply and pointy ?)
|
||||
| Wildpurl |
In SKS there is a thing called Easy toe for toe up socks, you basically knit a little rectangle then pickup stitches at the sides and then increase, it works a treat and is incredibly straightforward... | ||||
| Nevisknitter |
Have any of you started yet, I will join in once I get my current socks out of the way, Im doing short row heels for the first time but still on the first leg. | ||||
| Binty |
I'm currently making two pairs of toe up socks using the short row toe and heel. I have found them really enjoyable to do - all I have to do now is complete the second sock for each pair
|
||||
| n |
I have tried the Turkish cast on and just ended up with a twisted mees using dpns, so I tried 2 circs instead and BINGO! It works...
But how do you do the increases for the toes, I am trying M1 by lifting the loop below and all I'm getting is a beautiful row of symmetrical holes.... or rather four rows. Holes a lace knitter would be proud of.... how do you do the increases? n |
||||
| blueadt |
I M1 by lifting the bar but knit into the back of it so that the stitch is twisted & the hole is closed up. |
||||
| n |
So you lift front to back at both ends and then twist?
I think my addi's aren't helping, I am so used to the super sharp pointy boyes.... Off to have another go. I feel I'm ALMOST there, it's very cross-making! n |
||||
| blueadt |
I lift it with the right hand needle & place it on the left hand needle & then slide the right hand needle under the bar & knit into the back of it. I'm using Knit Pick Classics at the moment which are lovely & pointy
|
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
I haven't done any of the methods mentioned ?)...the way i'm doing the toes is by placing a yarn over at the beginning of each, not knitting to the end of the row and turning before you get to the end....then after this you then yarn over and knit or purl 3tog at the other end of the rows....geeze now i've confused myself...but it did work..I just did it too many times lol | ||||
| Alice |
I do a Make-One leaning to Right on the right side ie beginning of row and Make-One leaning to Left on the left side ie end of needle.
Make-One leaning to Right: lift bar front to back, place loop on left needle and knit through the front. Make-One leaning to Left: lift bar from back to front, place loop on left needle and knit through the back. This is how PGR describes it in Simple Socks and is what I do if I'm not doing short-row toes. I start with 12 wraps(sts) and do two rounds increasing at each end (16sts each needle). Then I increase alternate rows until I have 30 sts on each. |
||||
| blueadt |
I got this book for my birthday & still haven't opened it
|
||||
| n |
Yippee!!!!
Well, I have done it.... All my M1's are the same, nothing so glam as right or left leaning yet, but I'm on the way. At one point there were 16 sts on one circ and 19 on the other, but with a bit of fudging it's even again now, and no-one will be that close to my toes anyway. Part of the problem was that I was trying to use the merino which is a bit fatter and I just couldn't see what I was doing. So now the toe is half done in my very first Club yarn leftovers, and this will be a scrap sock, so expect something bright and multi-yarned. I am SO CHUFFED! Thank you for getting me there everyone. Pics tomorrow. n n |
||||
| Alice |
Blueadt, it's p58 if you want a quick look. |
||||
| blueadt |
Thanks I will do tonight. |
||||
| n |
Here you go...
more on the blog. Sorry in a rush this morning. n |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
mine looked nothing like that ...well done n
I don't think I can do this....what book is the simple socks? and I need PGR to to tell me lol although I have a feeling I have this book and i'm reading the wrong bit 
|
||||
| Alice |
Knitting ladybird your socks are fine and the yarn overs at the beginning are just one way of avoiding holes when you do a short-row toe which is what you're doing. It always gives a slightly more pointy toe but I think it adjusts beautifully on the foot. Until my last 4 or 5 pairs of socks I always did short row toes....atm I've got a preference for the extra flexibility in the shaping that you get with this Turkish Cast on and Make One increases. |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
aw thankyou alice....I won't give up just yet then
What book or pattern are you all following btw? |
||||
| Alice |
I do my own thing and I'm going to try and write it out on my blog this weekend but it's made up of bits from everywhere.
A good starter is this short row toe up one here from Wendy. http://www.wendyjohnson.net/blog/sockpattern.htm Sorry it's not properly linked. And this is Wendy as well and gives different types of toes with pictures http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter02/FEATtiptoptoes.html |
||||
| KnittingLadybird |
Thankyou Alice ...i'll definately give those a try.
|
||||
| n |
Mine are a bit cobbled together to be honest.
I've finished the toe - which I like... I have quite broad Birkenstock-y feet with square-ish toes (toes-as-a-complete-set) so I like the non-pointy-ness I created. I did my ten or so straight rounds and now I've done the first half of the yarn-over heel from the IK article. I have just had a large G&T to go with The Apprentice, so I've stopped now, but I'm ready to increase for the second heel section... wonder if I'll get holes? The toe is pink, the straight bit is green and the heel is blue.... but doing it all as a non-sock, just as a technique sample has taken all the pressure off, I can frog with a clear conscience.... I have considered a lifeline though.... pic tomorrow. n |
||||
| Dawn |
i had a few hours to spare yesterday so I printed off the pattern from pictish's link on the first page and away I went. I found this pattern a lot easier than the toe up sock I failed on a few weeks ago. Not a wrapped stitch in sight I have worked the foot and just about to start the gusset heel shaping. Not quite sure from reading the pattern how this heel works though.
|
||||
| Dawn |
The gusset heel was easy peasy. Half way up the leg now so will post a pic soon. | ||||
| blueadt |
I've finally put details of my latest pair of finished Toe Up socks on my blog. Started in February they got interrupted as we moved house in March & were finished in May. Knit two at once with a Turkish cast on, reverse heel flap with a slip stitch heel & a stretch bind off. I sort of made the pattern up with a lot of help from SKS. | ||||
| Dawn |
Have just looked at your blog blueadt, well done, I have Sensational Knitted Socks but haven't tried anything out of it yet. I must study it before I try my next toe up pair. | ||||
| blueadt |
Thanks Dawn. I was trying to incorporate all the bits from the book that I liked & had to fudge the heel with the help of a calculator. It was a bit nerve racking at times! |
||||
| Piglottie |
Right, am joining you all!  I have just frogged my first attempt  I am knitting Anni's Falling in Love socks from Magknits in the Yarn Yard December club yarn (for a friend's birthday but not sure I will be able to part with them). Anni's instructions are great and I have done OK, except I have holes with the short row wrap. Am off to search the net to see if there is a solution and start again
|
||||
| Dawn |
Sorry Piglottie, can't help you as I couldn't get to grips with the short row/wrapped stitches. The pattern I used had gusset shapings and then you turned the heel, like you do at the end of the heel flap on a top down sock. Was surprised that it worked out as I couldn't see how it worked until I actually did it. The short row heel should be my next challenge when I have finished this pair. | ||||
| Dawn |
I have printed Anni's pattern off and thinking of having a go at it. I have startitis or second sock syndrome quite badly at the moment, the toe up sock I have nearly finished is plain so boring and I don't like the yarn either so am in no rush to finish it. This one looks more of a challenge. I have some Yarn Yard in Stonewash that I am itching to use. | ||||
| Piglottie |
Dawn - its a lovely pattern, and I think the Yarn Yard yarns really suit it. I have now figured out how to do the short rows (on the toe, not at heel yet ) without any holes. See this link which also works for the heel:
http://misocrafty.squarespace.com...9/21/short-row-heel-tutorial.html If you don't know how to do the provisional crochet cast on, Eunny has a great tutorial here: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/03/majoring_in_lace_part_iv.html Scroll down to Invisible Crochet Cast On II. Good luck! |
||||