2 Repeats Done

And already 8 inches knit. The time to start the gusset came and went--

These toe up socks have mini gussets, just a few stitches (10 in total) and few rows (10 again) – will, for me, make all the difference in the world. Humans come in all shapes and sizes, and making custom fitting clothing, even something as simple as a sock, means working out the details, to make a comfortable fit.

It easy to see, the ankle of the foot is the largest part—though, you can test for your self using a measuring tape. For some of us, there is a significant difference, for others,not so much. This is one reason there are so many different style for creating heels—I find simple miters just don't offer enough ease for me.

So a simple short row heel just doesn't work for me. Secondly, when working with self patterning yarn, like this, I like to do an afterthought heel, (and then, slightly obsessively) work the heel so that the pattern remains intact. Of course, I can't match it everywhere, but I can make the back of heel match, (even if the bottom of the heel doesn't.

So, first the gussets. About ½ inch before the heel placement, I start to add some extra stitches, on the “side edge” --working as do, on 2 circs, I clearly have the front of the sock on one circ, and the back of the sock on the other circ, So the increases are place 1 stitch (stitch 2 and stitch nth-1) from each edge, on the front of the socks.

I have experimented, and added them to the sole(under) side, but I didn't like the results as much—neither the appearance or the fit was improved..

One increase ever other row, on each side. Round 1 has 2 extra stitches, R3 makes it 4, R5 bring the count to 6, R7 ups it to 8, R9 and there are 10. Now, generally my gauge for socks is 8 to 10 stitches per inch (These socks are being knit at 9 stitches per inch) so 10 extra stitches creates a full inch of fabric.

R10, I place my row of waste yarn, (the tail of which can be seen. This will be undone later to create the stitches for the heel. Then I reverse and decrease 10 stitches, 2 per round, over 10 rounds, till I once again have the starting count.

I find, 10 extra stitches are not enough to seriously impact on the self striping color pattern. There is a slight change—but not one you can see from 5 feet away. I don't have anyone lying prostrate at my feet, (adoring me)--People who see my socks are doing so, looking down from eye level (or about 5 feet away) and from that distance, no one notices that the self patterning stripes are a few stitches short of a complete round.

There are other solutions I use to add some extra ease--(all of them work!) My choice is often dictated by the yarn as much as anything else!