Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time.  One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock.  So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well.

Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them.

#49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail.

There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep.  Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot.  And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms.  (BTW, thanks to Kid Picture Dictionary for this drawing.)

Last week the Knitting Daily blog posted this photo which I found very informative:

Again perhaps I'm the only one, but before I started knitting socks I'm not sure if I could have identified the heel flap from the heel turn or the gusset?  (The gusset is so much fun to knit.  It's that little diamond shape that helps move the curve of the heel to the relative straight of the top of the sock.  It's like magic to me.)  It wasn't something I really paid much attention to as I put on my socks.  However since I have begun knitting socks I have to say, aside from the tube sock, all socks seem to have these parts.  (And I managed to own and operate them for years not knowing this stuff.  It just goes to show one is never too old to learn.)

I find the most confusing foot-to-sock naming is the instep.  When asked before making socks I would have identified the instep on the bottom of the foot.  But as you can see above, the instep of a sock is located on the top of the foot.  (Am I the only one who thinks perhaps it is mislabeled [OK maybe it is me]).  This handy labeled photo would have certainly made some of my first few socks much easier to make.

Once you have the anatomy of a sock down the next big decisions include:  1) Will the sock be knit from the toe to the cuff or the other way around?  2) Will the sock(s) be knit on DPNs or circular needles using the magic loop?  3) Will both socks be knit at the same time or not? 4) To what extent will the socks be embellished?  You'll remember Paul's birthday pair were done cuff to toe, on DPNs, one sock at a time and since it was meant for a man, not embellished.

Now that I'm better acquainted with the anatomy of the sock I might be motivated to make a few because they are so easy to take on the road, are relatively small projects with quick gratification and are quite functional too.  And that's about all one should expect from any knitting ditty.