Heelix: Teaser photos!

I have finished my first three working samples of Heelix and felt it was time to give folks a sense of what to expect at the Sock Summit next month. So, without firther ado...

On the left is a Heelix made with 2 variegated yarns from Prism. On the right is a Heelix made with 2 semisolid yarns from Smooshy. Both these socks were cast on at the heel, then the 2 strands divide at the ankle to make the leg and the foot, respectively.

These two socks show the wide range in color effect you can get depending on your yarn choices. The two Prism colors I picked (Alpine and Cabernet) overlap just a little bit in shade, making for a subtly-spiraling heel design with intermittent color convergence. The one on the right (the "manly" sock, so dubbed because my husband said to me, "hey, I'd actually wear that one." Harrumph.) is made with 2 shades of Smooshy: Grey Tabby and Black Pearl. In real life, the contrast is a little more evident than it is shown here.


Next we have here something a little different. And this begins to show the versatility of Heelix: did you know, you can use the Heelix cast on to make a helix toe, not just a helix heel? This gives you a helix all the way up the foot, then the 2 strands divide at the ankle to work heel and leg.

I knit this particular one using ToshSock in Citrus, and ShibuiSock in Pagoda.

So, Heelix used in combination with a sock construction worked entirely in the round is incredibly flexible. I am having a great time mixing and matching the colors in my yarns and my sock configurations. I hope this post will get my students psyched for what they will learn at the Sock Summit this July!

Interlock Bindoff: the Back Story

Have you seen the latest? In April 2011, Interlock Bindoff was published on knitty.com. Here’s a video I just put together as a demo.


Some of you might be wondering, what gives? Why is Jeny so obsessed with stretchy bindoffs?

A couple of years ago Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bindoff was published in in knitty.com. I've been thrilled with the response, for the most part. But for the most part is a key caveat. Some people hated it, which kindof kept me up at night.

The folks I know who have more publications to their name tell me not to sweat it. "No one can please everyone," they say. Which is true. But since I make my living seeing the world through the eyes of others (my clients, my students, my 2 year-old, etc.), and since I am an insatiably curious person, I decided to examine the point of view of these knitters who didn't have great experiences with JSSBO. Maybe I could learn something from this?

My primary finding of interest was that some folks disliked JSSBO's appearance.


I think it's pretty, but that's a subjective opinion. However, it's a fact that JSSBO is quite visually prominent, so I wondered if I could come up with something that was just as elastic and snapped back just as well as JSSBO, but blended into the fabric more organically. Achieving high elasticity without flare was the real challenge here.

Since most cast ons don’t seem to have the same issues as bindoffs, I approached this challenge via reverse-engineering. Deconstructing the simple loop cast on is what ultimately led me to Interlock Bindoff.


I discovered a few months ago (ironically, just a couple days before Interlock went live) that I was not the first person to explore this topic. Those of you who are familiar with the brilliant Skew sock pattern will recognize the other intrepid explorer as our very own Lana Holden, who apparently is my evil twin in many respects, not just knitting.

All this said, I hope you’ll give Interlock a try. It’s a bit more fussy than JSSBO, given that it’s sewn. But for things like socks and cuffs that don’t have a ton of stitches, it’s the one I always use now!

On to Sock Summit!

Look, look! Hey, that's me!


This summer at the Sock Summit, I will be teaching a class called "Heelix," which covers two topics:

1. Cast on and knit a heel using helix knitting,
and,
2. Knit a sock from the heel-out.

The helix heel maps a double Archimedes Spiral to a heel shape, resembling a configuration something like this.


Heel-out socks follow this sequence of events (bearing in mind that you can switch the order of #3 and #4).


Stay tuned for upcoming posts containing more detail on some of the techniques used in this class. Although I won't be posting any class content, I will share some related fundamentals that will come in handy with all kinds of knitting projects, socks and beyond!