Tag Archives: pick up and knit

Design Process Series: Heart and Sole

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Our socks are nearly finished, guys!  And just in time for it to get all hot and summery.  (Nothing better than wearing big woolen socks in the July heat.  Ick!)

Let’s get started!

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With the Main Color, knit back across the heel flap, moving the marker as you go.  Using the same  needle, pick up and knit 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches along the side of the heel flap.

Knit across the next 24 (26, 28, 30) stitches normally (these are the top of the foot).

Then, with your spare needle (the one we set aside at the beginning of the heel flap), pick up another 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches along the remaining side of the heel flap and knit to the marker. Remove marker.

You’ll have the stitches arranged on 4 needles.  Two (the ones on the top of the foot) will have 12 (13, 14, 15) stitches each, and the other two (the ones on the sole of the foot) will have more.  The beginning of the row from now on will be between the two “sole of the foot” needles.  Confused?  This might help.

Now that we’re all set up for the foot, it’s time to start knitting.

  • K to 2 before the end of the first needle, k2tog.  K the next two needles even.  On the fourth needle, ssk, then knit to the end.
  • K all stitches even.

Repeat these two rows, alternating decrease and even rows, until all needles have the same number of stitches (12 (13, 14, 15) stitches each).  You’ve finished the gusset and it’s all easy sailing (er… knitting) from here.

Knit all stitches even until the sock measures 2 inches shorter than desired from heel to toe.  End at the bottom of the sole.  Break yarn and get ready for some exciting toe action next week!

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Sock Week: Pick-up artist

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So, sorry dear readers, but today’s episode of sock week is going to be short and sweet.  I have to go make some emergency cakes*, so my knitting and blogging time is going to be cut short today.  (I know… woe is me, I have to go bake cakes.)

Anyway, today we’re going to do the set-up row for the foot part of the sock.  It’s a little fiddly, but not too difficult.  Much like the rest of making socks.

So, after turning the heel, your sock should look like this:

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I’ve numbered the needles again, for your reference.

Knit to the end of needle 1

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Then, still using needle 1, pick up and knit stitches equal to one quarter of your Sock Number from the side of your heel flap.  My Sock Number is 60, so I will pick up 15 stitches.  If you were careful with slipping the first stitch of each of your heel flap rows, you should actually have the proper number of spaces in which to pick up stitches.  (It’s hard to explain, but once you try it, it will make sense.)

Picking up stitches is just like knitting, only you don’t need live stitches to start with.

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Insert your needle where you want the stitch to go.

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Wrap the yarn around your needle, just like you do when you knit.

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And pull the stitch through.

If you haven’t done tried picking up stitches, this is a pretty good video.

When you get to the last picked-up stitch, pick up both the usual slipped stitch as well as the stitch below, then knit it as normal.  This will prevent your sock from having a little hole on the side.  If you skip this step, it’s not a big deal, but it makes a nicer finished product.

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Then, using your fifth needle, and continuing in the same direction around your sock, pick up and knit the same number of stitches up the other side of the heel flap.  If you want to do the fancy-pants no-holes pick-up, like on needle 1, do it at the beginning of this needle.

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Then, using the same needle, knit the stitches from needle 4 as normal.

So, what you should end up with is:

Needles 1 and 4: A bunch of stitches, but both should have the same number of stitches.

Needles 2 and 3: Both of these should have stitches equal to a quarter of your Sock Number.

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If you fold your sock in half, it should look kind of like this (quite sock-like, I think):

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Next time, the gusset!

*Emergency Cakes-Cakes that one has to make at the last minute when your friend begs you to bring desserts for a fund raiser that is happening this evening.  Stressful, but tasty.