Customize a Wedge Toe for a Better Fit // Technique Tuesday

[@cindyyeager8627]

You could just slip your varied samples over your friends toes and decide before you even start knitting. This was very helpful. As always, you are the best at explanation and presentation.

[@wendygreidanus8391]

One could almost see the light bulb going off over my head as I watched this video. Very useful tutorial.

[@ManaSong]

I'm a new knitter, just started sifting through patterns to make myself some socks, but I hate the usual long pointy toes. They just never fit me well! This was super helpful for breaking down how the toes are constructed and how they can be altered. Thank you!

[@johnpluta1768]

I have wide feet so this is very good to learn how to make modifications

[@robyn3349]

Thank you! At the time I was knitting my first sock (cuff down), I had a bad dream - my sock toes were squeezing my toes together tightly! Lol, when I woke up I ripped that first toe back and changed the shape to the shape of 'my' foot. I now knit a right and a left footed sock pair. Works a dream, a good dream!

[@aroundtheworldfibers]

This was a great tutorial on sock toes. I will be knitting a pair of socks for my very fussy big brother, first men's socks for me. I do love knitting socks, and have enjoyed so many of your thorough videos about socks! 🥰

[@jenniferrich5292]

As usual, Roxanne, I learn something from you every time. Thank you for the clear explanation. I had no trouble visualizing each toe construction. Not to mention, I might need some Sweet Georgia sock yarn - beautiful!🥰

[@Twinkley1981]

I love how well you teach your love of knitting to other people. Thank you for the information. 🧶 Btw, it looks like you’re going to be hitting 100k very soon! 🥳That silver play button will look fabulous behind you. 😊👍🏼

[@RoxanneRichardson]

It'll probably take until this fall before I hit 100K, since we are heading into summer, when it's slow season for knitting, but I am looking forward to it! :-)

[@pso1391]

I love your video tutorials and always learn something new. I prefer toe up sock knitting and just recently got up the courage to try the afterthought heel. I didn’t like the shape from the regular wedge decreases so after seeing this tutorial, I used the 4321 method and it worked great!

[@lissyperez4299]

I do toe up too afraid to mess up the calculations!

[@vadec5909]

Awesome video!! Roxanne, as usual your work is outstanding.

[@MattVelic]

Video came at the perfect time! I have been holding off on socks as I've been trying to research the different toe options (cause I am not a standard wedge toe fan), so this has been incredibly helpful.

[@Chrisesparkle]

Thank you - this video is really helpful and very clear. I think I will knit some samples to check the fit for my sons.

[@notaclue822]

That was great. Thank you.

[@gailaltschwager7377]

Thank you so much, Roxanne!

[@nicolelafontaine1720]

Thank you so much for all these calculations. I wil try to use this method to make round toes on 48 sts DK socks for my daughter. Isn't it great to try to make a perfect fitting sock for a loved one !

[@laurelstieg9375]

As always a great tecnic..I love the second toe for me..I'll have to try it ,,thx a million.👍🤗

[@elaineenstone6834]

Excellent video. Now off to measure my foot and see if I can get a better fit. Thank you. 🇬🇧

[@athertonca]

Incredibly helpful.

[@maryp1224]

so helpful!!! thank you

[@patchesandrefit]

Brilliant. Thanks so much! ❤️

[@cleokoch2764]

Ver6 helpful video. Great instructions. Thank you.

[@nanettedunham2021]

Love this

[@andreamiller6200]

I am eager to hear what Rosemary and Helen think of their new sock toe fits ;-) I appreciate they offered tracings of their feet for the good of all of us! I have pages and pages of toes I have modeled on graph paper to get an idea of what happens when I bunch the plain rounds vs distribute them equally throughout the toe construction and it has been an eye-opener to see the different shapes that emerge. Two questions: first, is the 4321 toe squatter than the 333 toe (keeps more width as the toe progresses)? I would love to see the 333 toe overlaid on the 4321 toe - I could knit a swatch for myself to see. Second, do you recommend any software for modeling the outcome of the toe shape before it is knit (graph paper is slow sometimes)? Thank you SO MUCH for your always-wonderful content.

[@athertonca]

Thanks!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You're welcome! :-)

[@e3840]

Thank you so much for your videos firstly:) Rox do you or would you consider doing zoom classes on say, sock making ??

[@beepbopboop3221]

With the rounder options available, why are sock patterns defaulted to the wedge? I should make some toes to try on with my scrap sock yarns. I made an ergonomic wedge. The 4th toe on my corrected foit is sensitive to the sock getting hung up on it. My other foot still has 2nd toe longest. I need more angle on that side. I sometimes do short rows on this foot to add an inch on the bunion side if my toes are twisting the sock pattern.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Basic sock constructions go through trends. During WWI, many of the default methods people used to knit heels and toes evolved into techniques that are very common today. A wedge heel is extremely easy to do, because you can divide any number of sts in half in order to work the toe, while a round toe typically involves having a specific multiple of sts, and is therefore more complicated for knitters to remember/alter/instruct. Many knitters knit their socks by formula, not by customizing to the recipient’s exact measurements or preferences. What’s easiest to communicate and execute is what tends to be the default.

[@katarinakopunekova]

very well explained but i don't know why such symmetrical solutions would be chosen as the right fit for any foot. why are so many toe techniques symmetrical? i don't know a person with such shape of their foot. even orthopedic shoes are shaped so the side for the big toe is steeper than the side for the other toes. is this just so the socks can be worn on either foot? i always wanted to make socks for me but with my hallux shaped big toes and almost zero experience in making socks, i just didn't want to waste the time and yarn and be disappointed. would be great if you could show some of the non-symmetrical ways too. :)

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Shoes are made with materials that don't stretch, which is why they have to be constructed to conform to the foot. The stretchiness of knitted fabric is what makes it work so well for socks. When you can wear the same sock on either foot, you can equalize the wear under, say, the ball of your foot. Socks are knit with negative ease so that they stretch to fit and can conform to the various bumps and curves of the foot.

[@susanvanvleck3957]

Do you happen to have a video with details on a toe up 4321, going up it would be a 1234 increase? At the moment my head isn't grasping the math

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Figure it out as for cuff down, so you know how many rounds you'd work consecutively with no plain rounds, then reverse that for toe up, working the consecutive increase rounds with no plain rounds first, and then switching to 1 plain, 2 plain, etc.

[@viviennehayes2856]

I don't understand the pointed toe sock patterns that seems to be the norm on KZbin - who has feet that point in the middle?? I looked up feet shapes on the 'net and there are none that are even close, even the feet with the second or third toe slightly larger than the biggest toe - they are nothing like the usual knitting pattern that I have seen on KZbin!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Commercially knitted sock toes are also knit with symmetrical toes so that they can be worn on either foot. The corners of a wedge toe *will* round out, and the fabric of the toe *will* conform to the foot as the sock is washed and worn. One decrease line rides along the side of the big toe, the grafted edge rides across the first couple of toes, and the other decrease line rides across the tops of the smaller toes. Other types of sock toes will also be symmetrical, but may have different proportions. Different types of sock toes fit different shaped toes when using the formula, but you can modify just about any toe to lengthen, shorten, widen, or narrow it so that it conforms better to an individual foot.

[@viviennehayes2856]

@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you for your explanation. I have since seen a foot (in a sock) that does fit with the wedge toe pattern - and it could be the normal shaped foot/toe!!! My feet are wide - short and wide: my joke is that they are almost square (as is my identical twin sister, my son and some of my granddaughters!) So I am going to use your tutorial to practice doing your third example here. Thanks again 😄👍

[@e3840]

Also do you recommend any apps that help with making patterns??

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Are you asking about something like a sock calculator? There are some calculators out there (I don't know that any of them are available as apps. They tend to be on a website or blog.) Those calculators use the standard formulas, rather than adjusting based on fit issues.

[@e3840]

@@RoxanneRichardson blankets and sweaters mostly. An app or technique to help Make design. Right now I’m just taking together draft paper and filling it in

[@RoxanneRichardson]

@@e3840 There isn't a single app or program to do this. Most designers use a combination of resources to plan their designs, including charting software and spreadsheets (and good old paper and pencil!)