Heel & Toe Variations for Top Down Socks
Welcome to Heel & Toe Variations for Top Down Socks course taught by Tabetha Hedrick!
If you’re anything like me, you not only know how to hand knit socks but you’re obsessed with socks. Perhaps you’re ready to up your game a bit to adjust the fit and feel of your finished project.
Well, I’m going to knock your socks off with some fun heel flap and toe variations and modifications you can make to the next pair you knit (see what I did there?)
In this workshop you’ll learn how to knit:
- Four Heel Flap Variations:
- round heel
- Dutch heel
- German heel
- half-handkerchief heel
- Four Toe Variations:
- round toe
- wide toe
- star toe
- French toe
I’m assuming you’re here because you’re already familiar with the traditional heel flap and toe. I will go over the construction techniques for each one and you will find thorough instructions on how to incorporate the heel into your own sock stitch count in the course workbook under the Downloads tab. It’ll have a bit of math (very little, I promise) so you can plug in your own stitch counts for a perfectly custom fit. If you need a refresher, be sure to re-watch Module Two of Custom Top-Down Socks for Beginners course first and you may choose to use the custom top down sock pattern included for members and modify it!
Check the materials tab to download the course workbook, view the supplies list and then meet Tabetha over in Lesson One!
- “Heel & Toe Variations for Top-Down Socks” Workbook (PDF) » Download the workbook for materials list, inspiration & resources.
- Complete Course Transcripts (Zip file) » Download all transcripts for the course.
For any questions, to share your own sock projects and photos, come visit us in the SOS community forums! Plus, tag us on Instagram with #sosknitting and #schoolofsweetgeorgia!
#ProKnitTip :: Wet blocking superwash wool sometimes results in a piece that`s larger than the schematic dimensions. It seems to have stretched or grown. Does this happen to you?.
DON`T PANIC!
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If you swatched properly—and by that I mean …
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✅ knit a large enough swatch (or 2 or 3) to accurately measure your gauge,
✅ chose the right needle size to get gauge (not necessarily the one listed in the pattern),
✅ used the *same needles* that you swatched with,
✅ *blocked* that swatch and got gauge,
✅ got gauge on the *project* and not just your swatch,
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… then as the fabric dries, it will ease back into the right gauge.
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In the photo I`ve pinned out the schematic measurements and placed the wet piece within those measurements. It looks too large, right? Then I gently patted and massaged the wet fabric until it fit. When it was dry, it was the perfect size.
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I was confident that would work because I followed all the swatching rules above AND when I blocked it, I laid it flat to dry *without* pinning it to shape. I picked it up a few times while it was drying and tossed it in the air, then laid it back down again. This allowed the stitches to dry into the shape/size/gauge that they naturally wanted to be in. I didn`t force them to become my gauge. Since I paid this attention to my gauge swatch, I knew that my project would successfully come out to the right size.
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Bookmark this post to refer back to later. My Fundamentals to Finishing Knits schoolofsweetgeorgia course covers blocking and all the other finishing techniques you could need. Tap the link in my bio to check it out.
Join us at the online SOS meetups taking place this week…
• TODAY, May 1st, 10:00 AM PDT: Knit Meetup with Robyn // Bring along any fibre craft project and come enjoy the fun chat on Zoom.
• Wednesday, May 3rd, 12:00 PM PDT: Looking at Twills with Laura Fry // We`ll be meeting on Zoom for the live lecture where Laura will talk about how twill works and how to create designs that work best with your cloth.
All of the information and links to join in can be found at our SOS Event Calendar. We hope to see you online soon!
Top-down vs. bottom-up sweaters is one of the most passionately debated topics in the knitting world. As an avid sweater knitter and designer who loves both constructions, I firmly believe there’s a place for both—but when should you choose a top-down sweater pattern or a bottom-up one?
Continue reading Ruth`s @redearthdesignstudio new article about the Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Breakdown where she shares how there isn’t a simple answer, but hopefully, this article will take some of the mystery out of deciding. Follow our link in bio to continue learning more!
#sosknitting #schoolofsweetgeorgia #knitting #knittersofinstagram #sweaterknitting
The magic of making educational videos… @tabismiles has socks knit to every step of the sock knitting process! Here are all the sock knitting step-outs that Tabetha prepared for our upcoming “two at a time sock knitting” workshop that we have coming out this fall. What is YOUR favourite way of knitting socks?
Have you ever had trouble with a messy long-tail cast-on? One end seems to be getting all kinked up while the other end is separating before your very eyes! What is going on here? Well, every time we make a wrapping motion, we change our yarn. Some projects are fine, but others… well, they just seem to be so difficult! Let’s have a look under the hood to see how and why the twist direction of our yarns can make or break a project.
New at the School is Amanda Buckley`s @mandythephilomath article Twist And Shout: Why Twist Direction Matters In Your Making, arming you with the knowledge of how our techniques can change yarn as we work with it, and how we can choose to compensate for it or even amplify it for effect.
Read the full post at the SOS site (link in bio)!
#schoolofsweetgeorgia #sosspinning #sosknitting #soscrochet #spinningyarn #handspun #yarn #handspunyarn #handspunstagram
The tubular cast on is an invisible cast on that’s great for hems, cuffs, and ribbing edges where you want to have a bit of elasticity. It creates a super stretchy and beautiful edging for your knit pieces, and in Tabetha`s @tabismiles new How to Work a Tubular Cast On post, you can find a step-by-step tutorial on how to work these cast on stitches!
Find the new Tubular Cast On post at the School – link in bio »
Shown in the image is Kristen`s @kristentendyke Drifter pattern, knit in @sweetgeorgia Superwash Worsted.
#sosknitting #schoolofsweetgeorgia #tubularcaston #knitting #knittingtutorial
Lisa Congdon calls it loud quitting: an assertive and unapologetic no to everything in her life she finds draining, feels done with, one-sided, obligatory, without purpose or joy. Sounds cathartic. If project management is a matter of managing our motivation, then loud quitting is the decision to face our setbacks and hang-ups, evaluate the project, and get rid of it completely. It is time to get frogging.
At Amanda Buckley`s @mandythephilomath new article `Frogging & The Art of Project Management`, continue reading about frogging and the anatomy of a quit. We can undo a little bit to fix an error, or we can undo the whole lot and reclaim the yarn. Both options are valuable tools in the art of project management. Find the article link in our link in bio!
#sosknitting #schoolofsweetgeorgia #frogging #knitting #knittersofinstagram #knittersofig
Have you ever wished you knew exactly what yarn to get in a rush order or trip to an LYS, that you could predict the finished drape and feel of your project, or (gasp) could skip gauge swatching? I have some tips and tricks on creating a gauge library to help you with all three of the objectives above. (Okay, you might not be able to skip gauge swatching; Tabetha Hedrick, SweetGeorgia’s guru of gauge, is watching me! But having a gauge library will make that step go by just a little quicker!)
Continue reading Ruth Nguyen`s @redearthdesignstudio new How to Create a Gauge Library article, where we hope you are inspired to start your own. Knowledge is power, and knowledge that is catalogued and easy to access is that much more powerful—especially when it comes to our knitting and crochet projects!
#sosknitting #gaugeswatch #gaugelibrary #gotgauge #knitting #knittersofinstagram #schoolofsweetgeorgia
- “Heel & Toe Variations for Top-Down Socks” Workbook (PDF) » Download the workbook for materials list, inspiration & resources.
- Complete Course Transcripts (Zip file) » Download all transcripts for the course.
Course Content
About Instructor
Course Includes
- 4 Lessons
- Course Certificate
