@monstreline I use this way. It’s incredibly strechy
@monstreline I did tubular bind off on my earlier socks and it's so beautiful, but getting the tension right (and having a reasonable amount of yarn to finish the grafting step) was too much trouble for me, and I've switched to https://knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php
But also, having just taken Kate Atherley's custom socks class, I've confirmed that I have an unusual fit issue and maybe you do too: the diagonal measurement around my heel and instep is thicker than a lot of people's, so I have to have a larger cuff and bind off than what my leg needs in order to get my foot into the sock. When knitting in sock yarn, I need to have between 4-8 extra stitches in the ankle compared to the foot (depending on the pattern). (My sport weight socks usually don't have this problem, I think my tension isn't as tight compared to the diameter of the yarn- the fabric is slightly less bulletproof.)
I've also been thinking lately about maybe increasing 2-4 sts in the last rounds of the cuff (at the end of the cuff ribbing, just before the bindoff) so that I'm casting off more stitches, because sometimes my feet swell quite a lot and then socks that are normally fine become difficult to put on.
@freerangefatty increasing the cuff for an increased number of bind of stitches is a strategy I’ve considered pursuing.
I haven’t actually considered my instep because it’s SO LOW but your remarks have made me realize that I don’t think I’ve ever calculated it proportionally to the rest of my foot, just discounting it out of hand because I know it’s low compared to average. But in all of this I’ve ignored that my feet are also very narrow, so the cuff may just need to be bigger to accommodate my heel due to the smaller circumference socks I tend to make for my silly feet!
Thanks for mentioning Kate Atherly! It reminded me that I do have a copy of her Custom Socks book and I’ll dig it out and do some more comprehensive measurements and analysis before I cast on my next pair!
@monstreline Oh yeah if your feet are narrow that might be part of the issue!
I'd be interested to hear what you come up with, too- I definitely think that sock fit has been a little neglected in knitting conversations and I always want to hear how other people are doing.
I do Jssbo as my normal cast-off for toe-up socks, now. And I too have a high instep, so need more space from the heel up; I like the Fleegle heel, it can be 'shoehorned' (ha ha!) into almost any toe-up pattern, and fits my foot shape better. But also, when doing Fleegle, you end up with 2 more stitches on the 'back' needle than you started with; I've found that for me, casting on 30 stitches for the sole and 32 for the top of the foot works nicely, I can do a pattern based on a multiple of 4; & then I simply DON'T decrease the 2 extra stitches away, so I end up with 32 on the back as well ... ready for that pattern if I need it, I have a little extra space, & can do a 2x2 rib at the top.
@Knitronomicon @freerangefatty JSSBO seems to be the popular solution and I’m definitely trying it next!
Thank you for solving my fleegle heel mystery…I always wondered what I’d done wrong to have two extra stitches…apparently nothing!
Sadly after many a fleegle heel, I’ve given up on them. They are the socks that always slide off my foot and bunch up in the toe of my shoe or boot no matter how I adjust them.
My instep is really quite low actually but what I’m realizing is that my heel projects quite far out from the back of my ankle which seems to equate to needing a roomier heel as one would for a high instep, but I’m a different shape.
I really never thought I would ever spend this much energy analyzing the shape of my feet!
@Knitronomicon @freerangefatty a traditional short row heel is usually too shallow for me but the next pair I’m making use a nifty adapted short row heel that can be made deeper if needed and I’m excited to give it a try!
@monstreline @Knitronomicon
Feet have so many shapes and varieties and in the era of off the rack shoes, we basically know nothing about them and it's been frustrating to me basically my whole life ( shoe fitting problems, etc). Learning to make my first pair of handknit socks took years because of the prevalence of short row heels (convenient for designing, but not for most shapes of feet) and because I didn't know any sock knitters and had never seen a handknit sock. 🙃
I found this video by Nicole Rudolph about shoe fitting really interesting to compare with the stuff I've learned from knitting socks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mNzIjDuD5Q
@freerangefatty @Knitronomicon Cool, thanks for the link.
It’s so true, we have so little understanding of fitting in general…clothes, shoes. When I started to try to sew some of my own clothes, I finally learn d that there is so much more to fit than just short, tall, fat, and thin.
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