Sock heel flap and gusset problems

How-to Questions
1

Hello, I’m hoping someone here can help me.

I knit my first socks recently, using The Super Simple Knitwit Sock Pattern.

My heel flap didn’t seem quite right, it curved around the heel, and then the “heel turn” was actually halfway under the heel, rather than at the edge. It looked that way even before the sock was tried on.

There’s a picture here of that first sock’s heel: http://www.andfam.net/kimblog/blogpix/heelprobs/flapcurls.jpg

the socks overall weren’t too bad, I just didn’t think the heel was right.

I decided in my own little (perhaps faulty) logic that the 10 stitches picked up along the sides for the gusset were too few for the length of the 2.5" heel flap, and that was why it curved around?

So then I started a sock for my 4 year old, making it essentially the same pattern but just a little smaller … but when I knit a 2" heel flap, I picked up more stitches along the side trying to ‘fix’ the problem of the curled flap on the previous socks.

But then I had SO MANY STITCHES because I’d picked up so many on each side, that the whole gusset and decreases looks fat and bloated.

You can see that sock in progress here: http://www.andfam.net/kimblog/blogpix/heelprobs/gussetbloat.jpg

I’m considering frogging back to the heel turn, but I’m not sure what to do to make the flap nice and square like other pictures seem to show, and not have a bloaty-fat gusset zone.

Any advice? Is this a common problem that I just can’t track down online, or am I doing something crazy-wrong?

:pout:

thanks for any advice,
Kim

2

First of all, I think that this is something that gets easier with each sock. I’m working on my fourth or fifth pair, and this is the first one where I don’t have holes and the gusset actually looks right. I know that some people advocate actually picking up extra stitches to prevent holes. This is what I do, if possible. If not, then I adjust accordingly…either decreasing a bit more frequently or making extra stitches to cover.

Hang in there, and don’t stress about it too much. If the sock feels good, then just go with it. Each sock gets a bit easier.

3

The pattern I use is basically the same except it picks up 12 sts on one side and onlt 11 on the other. This created that little hole near the top on the one side.
I solved this by picking up the 12th stitch anyway, and since the next row was K around, I just did a SKP (that’s what side it was on) after the first stitch I had picked up to get me back to the right # of sts.

Mine also had the “bloated” look, but I was glad for the extra space. When my YDS tried it on, it fit perfectly. The puffy part was the area that went over the top part of his foot, near the ankle. (measured from about the middle of the heel over the top of the foot)