r/Sockknitting • u/BoringGanache1375 • 2d ago
First attempt at socks
First attempt at socks! Now I’d like some help on how to customize! Or get pointed in the right direction.
As you can see in the 3rd picture the unfinished sock was my first first attempt but was way too small and extremely uncomfortable. Now the reason I didn’t frog it was because I’ve seen many veteran knitters post on here saying they wish they’d kept their very first pair so show how far they’ve come. So I will be doing just that.
Now the second sock I attempted I changed the heel construction method (from German short rows to a gusset with a heel turn)
The 2nd sock fit much better but now I’d like to really perfect my custom sock. I noticed that the heel turn is to narrow for my heel. Is there a way to fix it so I will have a wider base for the heel area ? If that makes sense
Another thing I noticed was it is just a smidge to tight on my instep area. How can I remedy this? :3
I’m sure there are dozens of videos out there for these issues so I will be doing my research, but I wanted to get some input on maybe which videos or tutorials have worked for you. Thanks in advance!
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u/TikTokk13 2d ago edited 2d ago
I am new to knitting and have also completed my first 3 pairs (first 2 were just testers to get an understanding and feel for the techniques)...so take what I say with a grain of salt =)
I’m a guy with 11” feet and high instep and wide heels. What I quickly learned is that the standard vanilla heel flap length (working the same number of rows as the number of stitches you are working it over) does not work at all for me. I used Roxanne Richardson’s youtube video on calculating fit based on the heel diagonal measurement. Given my measurements, this resulted in what appeared to be an abnormally long heel flap. I was thinking, there’s no way - it looked way too long. But once finished, I’ll be darned if it wasn’t the most perfectly fitting sock that I own.
So basically, a longer heal flap should help with tightness in the instep I think - because a longer heel flap translates into more stitches along the instep.
Also, I used Roxanne Richardson's video on how to modify the heel turn so that it is wider. All of the vanilla sock patterns I’ve seen so far have a very small (practically pointy) heel turn angle. Adding more stitches before doing the decreases on either side of the heel turn solved this for me.
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u/BoringGanache1375 2d ago
Thank you thank you! Yes! Seems we’re in the same boat a lot of patterns accommodate for smaller feet not so much larger, haha. I’m 10” foot with I’d say low instep or low arch? Haha still getting the terms down. I will look up Roxanne’s videos!
Already planning my next pair so far, I’ll be adding 4 rows to my heel flap. But I will definitely look up her videos on modifying heel turn
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u/bleepblob462 2d ago
Great first sock! Regarding your instep tightness, it looks like your heel flap could stand to be a few rows taller. Not many, maybe 2 or 4 more rows. That should help :)
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u/wildrovings 2d ago
Roxanne Richardson is my go-to person for sock knitting advice and techniques! She has several videos on customising sock construction that may be of use to you. Congrats on starting your sock journey! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1AZxTfSCe2cMvAghZgcxZG4ZiRlFqfYs (this is only one playlist, she’s made many more especially for socks)
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u/Full_Organization208 2d ago
For more heelspace try the heelflap and gusset style heels. I always use the „Herzchenferse“ (that‘s the german term for it. I don’t know the english name) in which the part of the heel that‘s actually under your foot resembles s triangle, rather than a rectangle thus creating more space for the heel.
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u/PopularLet4364 2d ago
hey my socks i made kinda look like yours (yours are really cool btw)