Hi there. Today I have something to show to my fellow sock knitters – it’s a little trick I do and that I teach in my sock class, so nothing special, unless you’ve had to deal with these pesky holes before and want to try to avoid them. When you knit socks and have just finished the heel, you need to pick up the stitches for the gusset. This requires picking up one stitch into each selvedge stitch you created on the heel flap. I cheat a bit when I do this to eliminate the problem of holes on either side of the heel. Let’s have a look:
I pick up the stitches as usual, except for the last one.
For the last one, I skip the selvedge stitch and look for the regular stitch in the row below – see the beige one with the circle.
See? That’s where you want to pick up the last stitch.
When you have knit the stitches of the top of the foot, it is time to pick up the stitches for the gusset on the other side of the heel flap. Look for the corresponding stitch on this side and pick up there, not in the first selvedge stitch.
See? The arrow shows the little gap that is made by skipping the first selvedge stitch. When you are done that, you pick up the rest of your stitches as you would.
This way, there will be virtually no holes between the the heel flap and top of the sock, and the slightly larger gaps are closed neatly on the next row. This is how I do it!
Dear non-sock-knitters, please forgive the lack of information for you today, yet this is something I have wanted to share for a while.
Happy Knitting, as ever!
– Mona
Espace Tricot Blog 
This isn’t cheating…. it is “perfecting your technique”! I do this as well but not as neatly.
I have to say thank you so simple so effective and I’m grateful you “share” 🙂
Thanks for the tip… Would you use the same process for the underarm of a sweater?
Hi there,
The underarm of a sweater is a bit of a different animal – so to speak.
If you have cast on stitches for the body, I do pick up below the cast-on line
into the ‘v’ that looks like a stitch from the angle I look at it, so you get a
continuous look.
One thing though: no matter how hard I try, I always end up with holes between the
picked up stitches and the rest, so I just tighten those up when weaving in the end.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Mona
Do you pick up both “legs” of the stitch? I am confused with the 2nd and 3rd pictures of the stitch to pick up
Hello Susan,
I pick up into the ‘V’ of the stitch. Then it looks like uninterrupted knitting and it closes the little gap that can appear nicely.
I hope that helps!
Best,
Mona
That’s a very good tip, thanks so much..
I pick up all the gusset stitches, plus one extra where the hole would be, then knit the hole stitch & the first (or last) gusset stitch together on the next round.
Hi there,
Yes – that is another possibility of avoiding holes. There are plenty of variations of this out there, thank you for mentioning this one!
Mona
This is what I do – by instinct. So reassuring to know that you do it too – I always felt I was cheating … now I feel that I am ‘being clever’ Thank you for encouragement!
Hello Gillian,
It is always nice to know that we are not alone in what we are doing! Knit on!
Mona
Thx for the input I like this way better than mine.
Thank you so much for this!!!! I am brand new to sock knitting and those holes were so big and embarassing…. I have just finished my fourth pair of socks ever, and they are completely perfect. You are wonderful Mona 🙂
Does it work the same for toe up socks?
Gilberte
Hello Gilberte,
To be perfectly honest, I am not sure. I have ever knit toe up socks with a short row heel, so there was no need to pick up stitches. I do know there are other heel versions for toe up socks, so it might be something you can use.
Happy Knitting,
Mona
Thx a lot for this, I’m gona tray it next time!
Thank you. I pick up the salvage stitch and twist,knitting in the back of it . I think this will work better. Will do it next time. Thanks
I am a sock virgin, but you’re information on doing the heel looks helpful.
How do you begin the sock?
Do you recommend an easy sock pattern?
Hello Teri,
We have a free sock pattern called ‘Scrumptious Stripes’ available on ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scrumptious-stripes-socks
This is the pattern that we use for our beginner sock class and you can use any 4ply Sock yarn that you want.
I hope that helps get you started,
Mona
Is there a good way to fix that hole after the sock is finished?
Hello Kassie,
Sometimes it works by evening out the stitches below the hole, meaning re-distributing the yarn to make the stitches the same size.
Other than that there’s only taking a piece of yarn and tightening the hole with that, and then weaving in the ends.
Happy knitting, as ever!
Mona