LOL… yes.. Heel Forks!
This is kinda a continuation of my last post about the sockknitting machine. A very useful tool we have found is by adapting silver dinner forks into a special weighting device for making the heel and toe portion of the socks. Thus, the dubbed name: Heel Forks!
My darling Steveio found a box of silver dinner forks at an antique shop a while back, and he does the flattening, bending of tines and drilling of holes. Silver dinner forks work much better than stainless steel, as they bend over better in the vice.
Here he is working on a dozen of them to replenish my sales inventory. They are very useful on the sockknitting machine circuit, so I sell them in groups of three to interested sock crankers. I buy 1 pound deep sea fishing weights in quantity for this project.
It’s a sunshiney winter day, and he is being antzy pantzy on wanting something to do, so I sent him out to his workshop in the back of the garage to keep busy and outta my hair!
Those are my rows of tomato cages along the back of the garage… waiting for spring?
After the hole is drilled, I add a split ring key chain hoop and a deep sea 1 pound fishing weight. These are dipped in a rubberized coating multiple times, and allowed to dry in between each dipping. It is known as Tool Dip, and used for re-coating the handles on tools that have worn off. Then the lead of the weights doesn’t come off onto your hands when handling the weights. I can’t handle the fumes of the dipping compound with my damaged lungs, so Steveio does this part for me too.
Now, you ask, WHY go to all this trouble for some dumb socks?
Three forks are used at a time to weigh down the heel section of the sock as it’s being knit on the machine. They are hooked into the knit mesh of the sock and hang down from the inside of the machine for added tension and weight on those particular stitches. These 100 year old machines never came with Heel Forks, they had another device that did not work as well and tore into the yarn on the socks…. we needed a better way---
THE OLD WAY THE NEW WAY
And when the socks are all done, they are tested for Quality Control by the
Doggie Woggie Sockie Wockie Testing Team
Super Bowl night tonight… so I have a big ole pot roast going in the crock pot, then I think i will crank socks during the game, and chat with RV friends about the commercials in the chat room at www.RVDreams.com
Love your Doggie woggie testing team,our Riggs is an inveterate sockie stealer, he doesn't chew them up he just makes you chase for them. We are like you waiting till Donna retires to full time, though we don't have as long to go as it should be before summer for her retirement,then sell the house and set out, now if I could just figure how to start a blog,mmmm. Sam & Donna
ReplyDeleteWhat a Hoot Karen!! You should publish a book! You give such detailed explanations of stuff and good pics, it is even interesting to someone who does not knit!
ReplyDeleteHey Sam and Donna.. go to blogger.com and it's pretty easy. If you can do emails, at attach pics, you can do a blog! Actually I like using the program LiveWriter (free download) so I can work on blogs even if I am offline, and then go online to post them. Set it up to save every minute or two, and you never have to experience the agony of losing a partial or complete blog due to a glitch!
ReplyDeleteCharlie and Peggy.. thanks for the compliment! I realize my sockknitting and weaving stuff might not be so interesting to my RV pals, but it's a part of me and what I do.... and I bring the sock machine along camping as a hobby too. And Steve is always helping me with making, fixing or improving something, just like on our motorhome!
I think the last two days about the sock knitting machines are interesting. My great grandma had something similar.
ReplyDeleteI haven't knitted for years, but I used to make all kinds of things for my family.
Even my sewing machine, still set up and ready, hardly ever sees me these days.
I don't know where the time goes!
Happy Trails, Penny, TX
Fabulous socks and great to see lost arts still alive...
ReplyDeleteAh, you made me smile! Thanks for sharing the photos of your quality control collies. I grew up with collies, and trained one to play hide and seek with socks. Hadn't thought about that for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteWould you please let me know how to purchase your socks? I have large calves and like to have my socks come up to right below my knees. I can't even find decent knee-high socks in the stores anymore.