How to Work a Toe-Up Gusset Heel

Sock construction is endlessly fascinating to me. That you can choose from which end of the sock you start at (or even somewhere in the middle!), as well as selecting from myriad heel options means that there should be a well-fitting sock for everyone.

I generally knit socks from the cuff down, simply because that’s how I learned to knit socks, and I can make that sock, to fit me well, without having to look up a pattern. However, there are times when working from the toe-up is preferable:

  • With a new to me yarn, I can guesstimate the needles to use and then increase until the sock fits me

  • When the yarn is special and I want to use as much as possible

  • Just for a change!

This month’s Boost Your Knitting technique is a toe-up heel with a gusset. A gusset is a series of increases that gives more space at the upper foot, and the construction used in Wendy D. Johnson’s cute Alcedo Socks is nifty, since it avoids any need to pick up stitches.

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The Alcedo Socks and Toe-Up Socks with a Gusset

It’s hard to believe, but it’s time to dive into the penultimate Boost Your Knitting project! Here are the Alcedo Socks, designed by sock knitter extraordinaire Wendy D. Johnson. These deliciously textured socks will be teaching us how to work a gusset when knitting a toe-up sock!

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July: It's all about the socks!

I remember clearly casting on for my first pair of socks. I was sitting on a sofa at Get Knitted, on a meet-up with a group of knitters from all over the UK, on a morning in January 2008. I worked through that first sock, but it never got a pair as I knitted the first so tightly it wouldn't fit my foot! Since then I have made countless pairs, gradually understanding the construction in more detail, and now I can happily pick up needles and yarn and set off on a sock adventure without requiring a pattern. It is my hope that working through the heel turn tutorial on this month's pattern will set you off on that same adventure.

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