Types of Sock Poi
Okay, I admit it, I collect poi. It's a symptom of my search for the fullest possible poi experience. No single fabric is perfect, and I've discovered that certain fabrics are more or less helpful for learning specific skills. Below I'll list the types of poi pictured above, left to right (and then bottom), mention their construction and feeling, and add any notes that are pertinent to their use.
Home of Poi Foxy Sock Poi
These are a stretchy spandex sort of material, and at first I didn't like them at all. They have a stronger elasticity than any other poi I've tried, which means they bounce harder than other poi. Picture a metal spring made out of thin wire--it will have a slight amount of force when compressed. Then picture a spring made out of thick copper wire--it will require a lot more force to compress, and will bounce back a lot harder as well.
Over time I've grown used to the feeling of these poi. I've started to feel like they actually help me with stalls--I have to be more precise in order to avoid the bounce-back caused by their elasticity. Isolations also work well with these. Hyperloops, on the other hand, are slightly trickier because the fabric slides slightly. You have to be quite precise.
The "handle" part of these poi is quite thin, and tire my hands out even with a wrapped grip (and I'm used to gripping fabric poi--my hands aren't phased by other pairs). I had to knot the end to give myself something extra to hold onto. You can see that this makes them shorter than the other poi, which I don't mind so much; lately I spin with shorter poi anyway!
Value Village tights poi
I took a pair of tights and cut them in half. Voila! Poi! These stretch further than any other poi, but their elasticty is much weaker than the Home of Poi pair. This means that less precision is required when working on isolations. In fact, I credit these poi with helping me learn isolations in the first place (along with the following pair of poi).
I don't use these poi for anything else. They stretch too much for general spinning. Weaves and other patterns feel quite sluggish due to the high level of stretchiness.
Soccer sock poi -- my first sock poi!
The other day, while playing with mouth catches, I realized that I haven't washed these poi since I made them three years ago. Scary! I promptly put them down and used something else.
These poi opened doors for me. After my first year of spinning poi and using a tennis ball and chain pair, these were a welcome relief from bruised body parts. I could suddenly do behind-the-back weaves. Neck wraps or under-the-leg patterns or butterfly variations all became a lot simpler. Untangling these was far more straightforward than with chains. A whole new world of poi lay at my fingertips.
You can see how I've added a second weight to the striped end of these poi. I use them for tosses and occasionally for trying my hand at wibbling. This could be done with any poi, of course; these were simply the pair I picked.
They have less stretch than the first two pair of poi, and it feels "just right"--not too little, not too much. Thick enough that they don't tire my hands, they're also a nice relief from the Home of Poi pair. Having a weight in the end does make it harder to wrap them around the hand, however.
My second ever homemade poi - Satin Poi!
I picked a fabric with no stretch and lots of shine for summer spinning. The material is thin, so it requires a wrap or two or easier grip. These have a nice soft, supple feel while spinning. They're too slippery for beginning hyperloop practice (although airwraps have a nice quick snap to them), but great for weaves and other basic patterns. I actually sold my second pair, so I did something right with these, I guess!
The strangest thing about these is the way that they flare a bit and catch the air as they spin. Sometimes they vibrate like a kite while I spin them!
My first homemade poi - Sleeve Poi
These were my first attempt at actually sewing some poi, and I started simple. I cut the sleeves off of a Value Village shirt and sewed the ends closed. These have similar stretch to the soccer socks, and are nice and soft to grip. They have the right amount of grip for practicing hyperloops, and are pretty good for isolations as well.
Tights from the mall
These became my favorite poi for a while because they're incredibly soft, have a gentle amount of stretch, and are groovy to watch. They're made from footless tights. I cut the legs off, first sewed and then tied the ends closed (the ends started to pull open when I loaned them to some students), and off I went! These were probably the key to my recent success with hyperloops. I went from about 5% success to 95% in a few short weeks. (I also credit Nick Woolsey's Playpoi.com tutorials, but that's another story.) They have the perfect amount of grip and stretchiness for practicing hyperloops and anything isolation-related. They're not as good for weaves and other basic spinning patterns--I have to wrap them to limit the amount of stretch.
Dress poi
I made these (yes, one is missing) from scrap fabric from a dress. I don't really use them much. They're too thin for a comfortable grip, and they have minimal stretch. The funny thing is, I think I prefer either zero stretch or slightly more stretch than these have. A student used them to successfully learn several patterns, though, so it's possible that I'm just getting picky in my advanced poi-age.
Home of Poi glow sock poi
I thought these would be the same as the foxy socks but with glow balls added. Wrong! They're a softer, less slippery version of the spandex-style poi, and they feel quite nice. They have a lot of stretch, which takes getting used to, but the elastic force is lower than the other HOP pair. They're also longer, which means that there is more fabric to wrap around the hand for a comfortable grip. Practicing with glow poi in front of a mirror does wonderful things for planes and patterns and timing. I wish I had enough room to do so more often! The glow balls can be swapped out for other things, of course. I don't tend to use these outside. They're dirt magnets!
The perfect poi weight
I learned this trick from Nick a few years ago. These are water-filled balloons--not water balloons, which are designed to break!--just basic 11 or 12 inch party balloons. My preferred weight is 70-85 grams. They've transformed my students' spinning dramatically, and mine as well, simply because they don't hurt. Removing the element of fear does amazing things psychologically when one is learning tricky moves, and I can't imagine I'll ever use anything else in my sock poi (other than glow balls). Tennis balls and rice-bags seem a little crude to me in comparison!
This is a wrap-up
So that's my story of my sock poi collection. Want to add your own? Do you have suggestions for other styles to try? Do you have any questions? Please let me know by contacting me!