Knit Along Day 5: The Toe!

We’re in the home stretch, knitters!! Today I’m going to show you all how to do a toe decrease, which, surpriii-iiise!, is way easier that the parts of sock knitting you’ve already mastered. Aren’t you excited? :)

The Day 5 Pattern

Reminder: for all of the pattern sections of my Knit Along posts, you’ll find 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.

Knitting the foot

Knit every round until the sock is about 2 inches from end of your toes.

Decreasing for the toe & finishing 

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

Keep working rnds 1 and 2 until there are 32^ sts left (needle 1: 8 sts, needle 2: 16 sts, needle 3: 8 sts). Now work just rnd 1 until 8 sts remain. Break your yarn and sew it through the last 8 loops using a yarn needle. Weave in ends.

^or 50% of the total number of CO sts.

******CONGRATULATIONS, YOU JUST KNITTED ONE SOCK, OMG!!!!******

Tips & Tricks for the Toe Decrease

I have bronchitis right now, so I decided to throw my hands up at the universe and demo the toe decrease on a swatch like I tested my gauge on during day 1 of the knit along. So if you’re wondering what happened to the rest of my sock in the photos today, that’s your answer. Next week, I’ll post shots of my finished socks, most likely knit on sick days stuck in bed. Wish me a speedy recovery, please – I’m totally sick of being sick, you guys!

You should by now have knit all the way around each round, stopping about 2 inches before the tip of your toes. Try the in-progress sock on, needles and all, to measure them. When you’re ready for the toe decrease, knit the first needle until there are 3 sts left.

Then knit 2 sts together (k2tog) and knit one. The first needle is knitted.

On the second needle, knit 1 stitch, then ssk (check out the heel turn tutorial and gusset tutorial for tips on making ssk’s).

Keep knitting across the second needle until there are again 3 sts left. Knit 2 stitches together (k2tog) and knit 1 stitch. The second needle, the one with the most stitches on it, is now knit.

Knit needle three, starting with knitting 1 stitch and then an ssk like before. Knit the rest of the stitches on needle three.

For the second round of the toe decrease, simply knit around. Then alternate round 1, the round with the decreases (k2tog & ssk), and round 2, the knit round, until there are 32 stitches (or 50% of the number of stitches you cast on) left. At this point, I like to switch to knitting on 4 instead of 3 needles, but you can continue knitting on 3 needles if you find that preferable. :)

This is what the sock toe should look like when you’ve got just 50% of your initial stitches (or 32 sts) on it.

Now just knit round 1, the round with the decreases (k2tog & ssk), each round until you’ve got 8 stitches left. And this time, no matter how many stitches you cast on, you KEEP DECREASING* until there are 8 stitches left.

*sorry to shout there ;)

Then, break (cut) your yarn, leaving a few inches of tail to work with. Thread a yarn needle and slip each stitch just like you’re knitting until they’re all on the yarn needle.

Pull the yarn tail through until the last stitches are touching each other. Weave in the tail, which just means sewing it through the sock for a few inches.

Then… THEN… THEN!!!! Holy crap, you’ve just knit one sock! Now go do it again and you’ll have a PAIR of socks that you made with your own hands!

(I may or may not be on strong cough medicine, which may or may not inhibit my ability to convey words good.)

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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 / KAL Day 4: The Gusset / Tune in next week for the full pattern and a look at my finished socks. 

If you’re stuck now, or even if you’re stuck a year from now because you finally had time to get around to knitting your socks, don’t hesitate to comment. I’m always checking and happy to help.

When you’ve finished your socks! (Or even just one sock!)

I’d love it if you tag pics or tweets with #handsoccupiedkal so I can see your awesome work! I’d love to also feature every single sock you make in the Hands Occupied Reader Gallery if you’ll let me too. You can mention it online or drop me an email at handsoccupied-at-gmail-dot-com to let me know you’d like to participate.

And if you want to grab a Knit Along badge, here’s the code:

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