Saturday, September 08, 2007

Sock Hole

No, that's not a new swear word, though goodness knows, it could be. Rather, I'm referring to a puzzling event in sock knitting, the unilateral hole between heel and instep.
See here, one side of my second Jaywalker. No hole.


And here, the other side of the same Jaywalker. Hole.


It's always the same. Somehow, mysteriously, I always get a hole on one side, but no hole on the other. Usually, I pick up two extra stitches while I'm picking up to attach the heel, then I knit those together with an instep stitch each. No hole. But with Jaywalkers, this didn't work, because the row where I would knit those stitches together has a slipped stitch in that exact spot. No can do, therefore hole.

But why is it only one? Is it something about the way I slip my stitches? Is it some unalterable cosmic law that will not be broken? Have any of you found other ways around the Sock Hole? Inquiring minds want to know!

And, because we can't not have kitten pictures, I'll conclude with a picture of Morgana with the Snakey. Morgana is smart. We keep the Snakey in the coat closet downstairs, which has a door that opens by folding in the middle. She has figured out how to open the door, get the Snakey and bring it to us so we'll play with her. She's a smart kitty.


The Jaywalkers are almost done, by the way. I'll be posting pictures of them, as well as some pictures of my purchases at Sheep's Clothing, the yarn store attached to Morehouse Farms. I didn't go nuts, but I want to see you walk out of there without buying anything!
Yeah. Didn't think you could, either. ; )

32 comments:

turtlegirl76 said...

Hmm. Would a centered double decrease at that point blend in with the slipped stitches enough to not only combat the hole but not disrupt the pattern?

Bonnie said...

Batty, I haven't made Jaywalkers and so have no suggestions. I hope turtlegirl's suggestion works! I'm sure you will love those socks, hole or no hole.

After a few wearings and washings, maybe the yarn will felt together a little and hide the hole.

It's always fun to see kitten pics! But I have to confess I am very curious to see what you got at Morehouse Farm.

spinndiva said...

It happens to me too... only on one side... very puzzling.. but you could have knitted the extra stitch together with a heelstitch.. no? or knit it in that round and knit it together with the other stitch in the next round... would that have worked? I love the color of your jay's!

Poops said...

I can't help you with your problem, but I do plan on using "sock hole" as a swear word from now on.

cpurl17 said...

LOVE "sock hole" as a swear word!

That happens to me too. I haven't knit Jaywalkers but on regular socks I just pick up that extra stitch and pull tighter. Not much help I know :(

Teresa said...

You know..this might sound a little silly, and I'm not even sure how it would work. But, what if, the stitch that is to be worked (on the side with the hole) is slipped instead of knitted. I, sadly, haven't knitted the socks yet so I wouldn't know exactly what it is that you're doing.

Anonymous said...

I love that colorway! The hole: I get 'em too, often whether or not I pick up extra stitches. My fix? Go back with some extra yarn, when I'm done, and patch the hole. Just run a length of yarn through to close it up, weave in those two extra ends and voila! More work. :) But it gets rid of the hole!

Can't wait to see 'em finished.

Bezzie said...

Hm, I wish I hadn't given away my Jaywalkers--I could check for a sock hole. Maybe TGs suggestion would work. I know the more I knit socks the less holes I seem to get.

Anonymous said...

Bummer about the hole, but no one will notice. They'll look great!

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

no idea on the holes, no sock knitting here. but pretty! :)

Unknown said...

You know, I thought it was just me w/the Jaywalker holes since it was only the second pair of socks I had knit.

I am curious about turtlegirl's solution and will have to try it if I ever get around to knitting another pair.

sharon said...

I wrapped the first instep stitch on each side but still got a slight whole on the one side. Did the run a length of yarn trick to clear it up. Frustrating though!

Lauren said...

I really like the colors!

weezalana said...

I usually lift a bar or stitch one or two rows *after* joining the heel to the instep. I lift it from behind, twist it, then do a k2tog with a stitch on the needle (from the gusset, not the instep) to close it up. I haven't knitted Jaywalkers, but I haven't found a pattern yet that doesn't work with!

That's one smart little kitty! ;)

Maureen said...

I hate that. I forget how I managed no holes with the slip st on mine.... they may straighten themselves out in the wash or you could try pulling the stitches around them to tighten things up. Good luck! They are looking great in that colorway!

Unknown said...

I can't solve the mystery of the sock hole, but I have to say that the colorway of the yarn is lovely!

Larjmarj said...

Same thing happened to me! I love the colors though, prrrrple.
The next time Mr. Larj acts up I'm going to call him a "sock-hole" just to see what his reaction will be! LOL!

Zonda said...

Hehe..I love my new swear word too!! I often have the same problem. No clue why either!!

fleegle said...

I solved the problem in a very silly way. You'll have to see the way I do heels (it's the very first entry in my blog). Basically, I was getting a hole on one side also. So instead of turning to do the last heel row (it would be the purl back), I just knit across the heel as usual, k2 together, k1 at the end of that needle, then just continued knitting around to the second needle. I did the final decrease when I knit around to the heel needle. No holes at all, because the last row of the heel contains no slipped stitches.

And yes, that yellow swatch is yummy. Wish you could feel it!

Jo said...

Do you have a plan for fixing it? I'm paranoid about those holes and end up picking up lots of extra stitches and then decreasing them until I have what I need. The are a pretty purple!

IrishGirlieKnits said...

Sock hole could so be a swear word! Love it!

And isn't Morgana the cutest, smartest kitty!! Bailey does the same thing with her toys (except she doesn't have to figure out how to open a door to get them!).

Ceallach said...

Sock hole is a perfectly fine swear word in my book, right after frack, dren, and bloody.

Anyway, for the current sockhole, I say you take a wee bit of yarn and darn it closed with a stitch or two.

I think also twisting those stitches could help as well.

schrodinger said...

Hate the hole, I get them too - and just darn the bloody things. Can't believe how much the kitties are growing.

Annie said...

Sock hole may be my new curse word. That guy at the DMV was such a f-ing sockhole. LOL! I have no idea why it happens, because I am afraid of knitting socks. But the socks look lovely. Hole and all.

bigevilgrape said...

Does the hole always happen on the same side? (the ssk or the k2tog side) Would it be totally out there to suggest trying to to the opposite decrease on the hole side for the first round?

I"m just thinking outloud.

Anonymous said...

Sockhole! Oh, that's a beautiful word. And, what a timely post... I was just wondering why in the world I tend to get the elusive uneven stitch pickup gusset thingy with my socks. Now to read all the responses! And look at the pretty yarn. And the gorgeous kitty.

Soo said...

Sock holes are a mysterious thing. I can never predict when I'll get one or not. When I do, I have no idea why, and when I don't, I have no idea why I don't.

Not helpful I know. But just to let you know you aren't alone. (I'll be back to check out these suggestions when I'm making my next pair though.)

Elspeth said...

That does seem like a great swear word, though!

Anonymous said...

I so, SO hear you! Same thing happening here all the time - one hole, just one, and I can't figure out why in all the world the second socks don't have these holes too! That's the true sock-knitting-mystery, I'm afraid! Will have to read through your comments now to check out if there's hope/tips/hints/help out there ;)

sgeddes said...

I get those holes sometimes too. I love the sock colors and I think sock hole could be a perfect word!

LadyLungDoc said...

I did a shrt row heel on my jaywalkers, and can't recall if there was a hole or no.

Knittypants said...

No anwers here, I still haven't conquered my sock hole woes.