The next GPY sock club sock is the mystery knitalong with Michele Hunter. Well, I don’t do mysteries, so in keeping with the Zauberball theme, I’m going to knit Pucker.

Journal

2016-10-02: Cast on 72 stitches using GTCO (MC). Knit 14 rounds in 2x2 rib. Complete first chart repeat.

2016-10-03: Completed second chart repeat. I can barely get the sock over my heel. Probably should have done this one on a US 1.5.
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Rip out and start leg again on a US 1.5 (2.5 mm).

2016-10-05: Complete 2 repeats of chart plus 2 more rounds so my heel can be in the MC. Complete heel flap. Complete gusset.

2016-10-06: Complete foot.

2016-10-23: I’m back to the second sock; almost done with the second leg when I realized I knit it on a US 1 instead of a US 1.5. Sheesh. So I ripped it back to the cuff.

2016-10-26: Complete second leg.

2016-10-27: Complete second gusset.

2016-10-29: Complete second sock. Blocking now.

Summary

• the fortissima is the MC and Zauberball is CC

• The heel flap is knit across 35 stitches. This means that the sole has 35 stitches and the instep has 37. This comes into play when you pick up the gusset as you now have 1 more stitch than shown in the chart. In addition, the start of the instep stitches is now in the middle of the chart. I drew a “start” line between stitches 17 & 18 in my chart. New start is at stitch 18. So for the instep I knit from the chart as follows: stitches 18-36, 1-17, 18.

• Played yarn chicken with the fortissima. ended up with about 2 feet of yarn left.

Watch Out For

• this is one of the few sock patterns that it actually matters if your gusset pickup counts are the same. Now you can probably adjust the calculation by putting in the correct number of stitches on each side of heel center. Its not really worth the trouble of modifying the calculation.

My Sock

• Knitting a 72 stitch sock.

• Cuff: 14 rounds 2x2 rib on US 1.0 (2.25 mm) needles.

• Leg: Switch to US 1.5 (2.5 mm) needles. 2 chart repeats plus rounds 1 & 2 make up the leg.

• Follow pattern for start of heel. Move 18 stitches from end of needle 1 to needle 2. Move 18 stitches from end of needle 2 to needle 1. Start of round is now in the middle of the heel. Complete heel flap.

• Gusset Pickup: K 10, PU&K 16 stitches, PU&K 1 in gap, knit from chart as follows: stitches 18-36, 1-17, 18, PU&K 1 in gap, PU&K 16 stitches, K 9.

• Gusset Calculation: 90 stitches - 72 cast on stitches = 18 total stitches to decrease.

• Gusset markers: in MC, K9, (start of gusset PU) K 9, PM, K to start of instep, work next round of instep, K until 10 stitches before end, PM, K to end.

• Switch to US 1.0 (2.25 mm) needles and start foot. oops, i only switched out the first needle. the second remained at 1.5. I’ll have to repeat this on the second sock.

• Foot ends after the 4th repeat (total for sock) + 6 chart rounds.

• Toe: follow toe setup rounds; knit round 1. Decrease round knit per pattern directions. Rows are: KKD KD KD KD KD KD KD DDDD…, 9 stitches remain on each side. K4 and shift stitches on needles. Kitchener closed.

Next Time

• Don’t do a PU&K at the gusset. For this one i should just do a PU. The PU&K adds some extra MC at the heel.