I’ve just joined. Looks like a wonderful forum. I’ve been knitting socks recently. Have probably done 5 pair, some better than others. Lots of taking out and re-doing.
I’ve read everything I can about avoiding gusset holes, and picking up an extra stitch or 2 seems to be the commonest fix. When I’m picking up stitches, it always seems that to pick up 3 extra would really pull the sock together, but 3 seems like a lot. Will this affect the fit of the sock to have 3 extras?
In other words, the gap between the last picked up slipped stitch and the instep needle is big enough to accommodate 3 extras.
Is it best to pick up both sides of the slipped stitch? That’s what I saw in the video, but I’ve not read that in other books.
I usually only pick up one stitch in that gap where the instep and heel meet…I think 3 in that one hole would be to much…but picking up 3 extra sts in other spots wouldn’t be…just remeber when you do your gusset decreases that you will need to do a few more to get the count back to match the patterns (of course you can custom size a sock and not do as many sts nothing against that either)
Invention’s mother really [I]is[/I] necessity, so if it seems for you that picking up three stitches would eliminate a gusset hole, try it and see what happens; it can always be ripped back and redone. However many stitches you pick up, I think it would be neatest to pick them all up on the gusset side of the slipped stitch.
Six extra stitches in one round seem like a lot, but remember that they are doing work for you in that round. Six stitches in worsted is a lot extra; six stitches in fingering weight at the widest point of the sock isn’t all that much. You can eliminate four of them right off the bat on the next round using a raised double decrease. (Insert the right needle knitwise into the first two stitches as if you were doing k2tog, but don’t knit them–just slip them to the right needle. Knit the third stitch and pass the two slipped stitches off the needle over it. (It’s sort of: slip 2 together knitwise, knit, pass 2 slipped stitches over knit stitch.) Because this doesn’t slant in either direction, you can use the same decrease on both sides of the gusset on this round.
For me, just two extra stitches work, then double decreases at those points on the next round. I pick up the two stitches at the junction between the instep and the heel flap by finding the horizontal yarn between the instep and flap then picking up one stitch in each stitch [I]in the row below [/I]on each side of the horizontal yarn. (For a better explanation of this and great diagrams, check out [I]Sensational Knitted Socks[/I] by Charlene Schurch, ISBN 1564775704.)
Have you tried knitting the picked up stitches in that gap through the back loop? By knitting it twisted, on your next round, you should be able to fill in the hole created. That is what Cat Bordhi suggests, and I also heard Kemp discuss it on her podcast.
Thank you all so much for the time you took to reply. Very helpful. I’m sure this topic has been beat to death here! I think I’ll try a couple of the ideas. I’ve copied your replies to save.
