Knit Along Day 4: The Gusset

This is a gusset. While is has one of the weirdest names in knitting, the gusset isn’t all that weird.  Gussets actually appear in other parts of clothing to help make them fit over the many curves of the human body. In socks, the shape being addressed is just the part of the foot that gradually narrows from where your ankle meets your foot to the size it should be to fit your arch.

In case you’re interested, I’ve always liked this Knitty article on sock knitting anatomy/vocabulary.

 The day 4 pattern

Reminder: for all of the pattern sections of my Knit Along posts, I’ll include all of the previous days’ sections of the pattern for your reference.

Abbreviations

sl – slip
st – stitch
k – knit
p – purl
CO – cast on
RS – right side
WS – wrong side
k2tog – knit 2 sts together
ssk- sl 1 st as if to k, sl 1 st as if to p, k2tog
p2tog – purl 2 sts together
turn –  turn your work over and work on the other side (even if you aren’t at the end of a row/round!)
rnd – round

CO 64 sts, join into a circle with DPNs and begin working a knit 1, purl 1 rib stitch all the way around. Continue working in k1 p1 until your sock is 7 inches from the cast on edge, or as long as you want the ankle to be on your leg.

Heel Flap
Divide half of your stitches* onto 1 needle (or 2 if you like my method of starting on more to avoid stretching). Leave the other stitches on 1-2 needles, untouched.

row 1. (WS) {sl 1, p1} across
row 2. {sl 1 as if to p, k1} across

*If you’re working with 64 stitches, that means you’ll be working 32 sts.

Turn Heel

row 1. sl 1, k 16**, ssk, k1, turn
row 2. sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1, turn
row 3. sl 1, k4, ssk, k1, turn
row 4. sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn
row 5. sl 1, k6, ssk, k1, turn
row 6. sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn
row 7. sl 1, k8, ssk, k1, turn
row 8. sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1, turn
row 9. sl 1, k 10, ssk, k1, turn
row 10. sl 1, p 11, p2tog, p1, turn
row 11. sl 1, k 12, ssk, k1, turn
row 12. sl 1, p 13, p2tog, p1, turn
row 13. sl 1, k 14, ssk, k1, turn
row 14. sl 1, p15, p2tog, p1, turn

For a heel turn starting with 16 sts, the heel turn is complete. There should be 18 sts on the needle now. If you’re working with more or less sts, your heel needle will have 2 more sts than you began the turn with.

**or whatever number is half of the stitches in your  heel flap, a.k.a. 25% of the total number of stitches CO

Beginning the Gusset

Next row: k 9 (half) of the heel sts
k 9 (the other half) of the heel sts with another needle.
Pick up and knit 17 sts*** along the side of the heel with the same needle.
k across the instep sts.
Pick up and knit 17 sts*** along the other side of the heel with a new needle, and use the same needle to k 9 (half) of the heel sts.

*** 25% of the number of CO stitches plus 1.

Shaping the Gusset
The beginning of each round is (again) the center of the heel. If you’re working with 64 sts, there will now be 26 sts on the first and third needles, and 32 sts on the second.

rnd 1. k around
rnd 2. first needle: k until 3 sts from end of needle, k2tog, k1
second needle: k across
third needle: k 1, ssk, k to end of needle

Keep working rnds 1 and 2 until there are 25% of your CO sts on the first and third needle. If you CO 64 sts, there would be 16 sts on needle 1 and 3, and 50% of your CO sts on needle 2.

Tips & Tricks for the Gusset

After the heel turn, this is what we’re working with. I find it useful to have a stitch marker and a full set of 5 DPNS on hand for working on the gusset, although the stitch marker and fifth needle are optional. You can knit the gusset (and the whole sock, actually) with just 4 needles.

Knit half of your heel stitches (in my case 9 sts). Use a second needle to knit the other half of the heel sts.

Using that same needle, pick up  and knit 17 stitches (25% of your CO sts plus one) along the first side of the heel. I’ve always only picked up and knit through one loop when picking up and knitting stitches, which is pictured below. I should note that the proper technique is to go through two loops – here’s a great video tutorial showing proper technique for picking up and knitting stitches. 

And here’s a still close-up of how I pick up and my single loop gusset. In my experience, both techniques do, in fact, result in a successful sock in the end. ;)

Next, knit straight across the second needle, a.k.a. 32 sts, a.k.a half of your CO sts, of the instep of the sock.

Pick up and knit another 17 sts (or 25% of CO sts plus 1) along the other side of the heel.

Shaping the Gusset

Round 1. For the first round, knit all the way around. Note: you’ll be knitting around all odd rounds as you shape the gusset.

Round 2: First Needle

Knit down the first needle until there are 3 sts left.

Then, knit 2 sts together (k2tog), then k1.

Round 2: Second Needle 

K across the instep/ second needle.

Round 2: Third Needle

Knit 1 st, then ssk (slip 1 as if to knit, slip 1 as if to purl, knit the two together), and then knit across the rest of the needle.

Continuing the Gusset

Just keep alternating between knitting one round and doing a round with the k2tog and ssks, until there are just 16 sts on needles 1 and 3, and 32 sts on needle 2. If you didn’t cast on 64 sts, that means that needles 1 and 3 will have 25% of your cast on sts, and needle 2 will have 50% of them.

–

Other posts in this knit along series

KAL announcement / KAL Day 1: Testing Gauge & Casting On / KAL Day 2: Heel Flap / KAL Day 3: The Heel Turn / we’re almost done!

The next, and nearly our last, Knit Along day is Tuesday, May 13 – it’ll be super easy. We’ll be knitting the foot and shaping the toe!

If you get stuck on the gusset or any of the previous sock knitting stages, please leave a comment, I’m checking in regularly. As always, you can tag pics or tweets with #handsoccupiedkal, you can embed the KAL badge with the code below, or  join our Hands Occupied Knit Along Ravelry Group to connect with other folks making socks. Happy gusseting!

<a href=”https://www.handsoccupied.com/knitalong”><img src=”https://www.handsoccupied.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/april2014kal.jpg”></a>