Ok....so this all started as a joke with a friend of mine. We won't mention a name, but she knows who she is LOL The girl loves a pair of handmade socks, but can't get past the heel no matter what the style! I think she can do it but has lost her heel mojo. How about eliminating the heel?? WHAAAAA??
A little trip all the ways down memory lane, a little further down for me than her, and we're back to the 80's. We wore tube socks! There was no heel in a tube sock...it’s a TUBE! The only way to tell if you were putting it on the right way was the stained side was the bottom LOL
I don't know if it's been tried, and I don't want to know, because for now I think I'm coming up with something original, and I want to stay in this happy bubble for a while! It's so much fun knitting something that you think is totally original, that you can share with others and make them just as happy.
If this works out to be a nice, comfortable sock, there are so many beautiful stitch patterns that it could be knit in. And in Biscotte's self-striping yarn! How adorable would they be?! However, I HAD to knit it like an old school tube sock just because!! It would be wrong not to. What a coincidence that the name of Biscotte's Bis-sock bright yellow yarn I'm using is called FLASH!! It's like it was all meant to be! I'm ALWAYS happy and content when I'm knitting but I've been giggling a little bit more doing this one. I think it's totally rad! I had to knit these on my Nekos as well.....I know they are more of a new thing, but they kind of sound 80's to me, and I love using them.
The cuff is extra long to house those cool stripes I remember so vividly. In order to keep the stripes looking perfect with no jogs here is what I did:
Start knitting with the contrasting color as normal, knit one full round and slip the marker. The trick to a jogless stripe is to work the first stitch after slipping the marker.
Step 1: Pick up the right leg of the stitch directly below the first stitch on your needle.
Step 2: Put that right leg up on your needle.
Step 3: Knit the stitch and the leg together as one.
Step 4: Complete the round as normal, and there will be no jogs in your stripes.
After the cuff I knit a whopping 16 inches long stockinette tube! This is definitely the project to knit while bingeing on that favorite show you can't wait to glue your eyes to! Of course, you can knit your sock as short or long as you like, but I really wanted this one to be old school.
For the toe I chose to do it in short rows. In my opinion, this style is the most commercial-looking of the rest, so it was an easy choice. Of course, any toe can be adapted....it's just a tube!!
I was wondering how they were going to fit and feel and I was so pleasantly surprised!! They are super comfortable and fit really well! At least the heel won't slowly slide down to the middle of your foot if that was ever an issue for anyone LOL
DOWNLOAD THE PDF SOCK PATTERN HERE
I can see eliminating the heel on more socks in my future. Have you ever knit your socks without a heel, or do you think you would try it on your next pair of handmade woolies? - Andrea Yetman
