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Welcome to Page 3!
You're doing so great! You've made the leg, worked the heel flap, and turned the heel. The next step is to pick up stitches on the side of the heel flap and then, working in rounds with all the needles again, decrease along those picked-up "gusset" stitches back to your original number of stitches. It's easy (you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?!).
First, following your pattern, pick up the stitches. Because you slipped the first stitch of each row while doing your heel flap, it has made a nice little edge of loops that make it easy to see where to pick up the stitches. Basically, you are knitting these new stitches onto your needle.
Here's a closer look at the side of the flap where you are picking up the gusset stitches. This photo was taken as I paused, with the needle through the loop, waiting for me to "throw" the yarn around it, and pull the new stitch back through and onto the needle.
After you've picked up the first set of stitches, work across your "top of foot" stitches (continue in pattern, if you are working a pattern. I've done the K3xP1 rib here).
Now you are ready to pick up the stitches on the other side of the heel flap. Don't worry that you have all four needles full of stitches after you have finished this:
Now you can adjust the stitches back onto three needles. It's easier in the long run if you leave the "top of foot" stitches as they are (should be 50% of your total) and adjust the two side needles to evenly take on the extra stitches from the fourth needle. This frees up the fourth needle to be your "working" needle once again.
You have adjusted the placement of your stitches and your sock should look something like this.
Now you're ready to start working the gusset decreases. Click here to go on!
Copyright © 2000 by Terri Lee Royea. All Rights Reserved. Images, text and html coding belong to the author. These pages are intended for your own personal use and may be distributed FREELY as long as proper attribution is made.
