I am knitting my first pair of socks! I have a pattern that a friend gave me at work, it seems to be the same pattern that is on Silver’s sock tutorial. The only difference is that Silver’s says to always slip as if to purl and the my friend says to slip as if to knit! Does is make a difference and is slipping as if to purl have an advantage? I am following Silver’s tutorial, so i have been slipping as if to purl. I just am wondering what the difference is…
Ginny
It has to do with the orientation of the stitch. When you slip as if to purl, the stitch goes onto the right needle the same as it was on the left needle. So, basically you are just moving the stitch from the left needle to the right needle with no change.
When you slip as if to knit, the stitch is twisted when it goes on the right needle. Does that make sense? I’m not sure if I am explaining it well.
Try to play with it a little and do both and watch it up close to see how the stitch looks when it goes to the right needle.
Some designers say that a twisted stitch can prevent holes and add stability. I’m not experienced enough to say whether or not this is true, so I just follow the pattern!
Congratulations on starting your first pair of socks. How exciting! Socks seem almost magical, especially when you get to the heel turn.
In the two sock patterns you’re discussing, what area are the slips in? For the heel flap edges, most people slip as if to purl. To do the heel stitch on the flap itself, you slip one as to purl, knit one, slip one as to purl, knit one, etc. On the heel turn, gusset decreases, and toes, most people either ssk (both these slips [I]as to knit[/I]) or do the “improved” ssk (slip the first stich as to [I]knit[/I], slip the second stitch as to [I]purl[/I]).
I like the original ssk on my toes and gusset decreases, and the “improved” on the heel turn; that’s just a personal preference, though! 