Sunday Sock Class: The Toe

 

So last week we completed the heel and gusset, and started our way down the foot to the toe.

First things first, let’s rearrange our stitches again so that all the sole stitches are on one needle, and all the instep stitches are on the other. This will make it easier to start our decreases for the toe.

Knit across the sole until you’re 3 stitches from the end. k2tog, k1.
On the instep, k1, ssk, knit to 3 stitches from the end, k2tog, k1.
On the sole, k1, ssk, knit all the way around the sock to 3 stitches from the end of the sole.
Wash, rinse, repeat!

Decrease until you’re down to 13 stitches per needle (or, if you prefer a slightly longer, more tapered toe, 11 stitches). Cut or snap your yarn about an arm’s length from the sock so that you have room to graft the edges of the toe together.

Do yourself a favour right here: Count your stitches and make sure that you have the same amount per needle. Yes, I still make this mistake, and I have grafted many sock toes in my past.

I’m not going to walk you through grafting, at least not at the moment. There are lots of other great tutorials out there that can explain it a lot better, particularly this walkthrough from Knitty (which is the one I refer back to the most). The technical term is called “Kitchener Stitch“, and it does a beautiful job of making the sock look seamless. You can already see this in the picture above.

And here as well.

When you’re finished grafting, draw the yarn through the toe of the sock to the inside and weave in your ends.

Congratulations! You now have a finished sock! If you didn’t cast on a second sock on another pair of needles at the beginning of the month, now is the time to cast on and get cracking on making that sock a friend.