Sock Surgery

My new sock is too short in the foot.  This is the third time I’ve tried to knit up a sock and I’ll be damned if I’m going to frog yet another sock!  The first sock was too busy for the cable.  The second sock was too tight.  This sock was knit up too short because I used the width of the foot instead of the length to get my total rows.  You can see from the picture that the heel is sliding under my foot.

I’m opting for sock surgery instead of frogging.  I’ve heard about this method but haven’t tried it myself.  If the sock is destroyed, the yarn can be salvaged for another project.  Right?!?

First things first, I need to cut my yarn.  I’m selecting a spot above the toe increases and below the gusset increases.

Then I’m unraveling my cut yarn to expose stitches both above and below and will pick these stitches up on smaller needles.

Once the stitches are all picked up, the toe is completely separate from the rest of the sock.

And since this sock was knit toe up, I’m grabbing a fresh yarn and beginning to knit in pattern for the full inch that was needed to lengthen the sock on the now removed toe of the sock.  It’s fortunate that one pattern repeat in the lacy cable is one inch so there shouldn’t be any disruption in the pattern.

Next is grafting.  I used Kitchener stitch.  The tricky part are those purls in the pattern.  I discovered that if you reverse the Kitchener stitch, it creates a purl.  So, instead of knit off and purl through, you can purl off and knit through to get the purl stitch.  The sock actually looks like it was never cut in two!  Yay!

This is my first time cutting into the middle of my knitting and I hope to never have to do it again.  But, it’s nice to know that this method actually works!  🙂  And, my sock fits!!!I think it even saved me some time.  It took about 2 hours to complete the surgery.  I’m pretty sure it took more than double that time to knit up to the cuff.

And, if you read my previous post, you’ll see that I’ve modified my sock design again.  I’ve downsized the cable for a more delicate look.  I think I’m finally happy with this thing.  It’s only taken 3 tries and a surgery, but it’s a keeper.  Now, to cast on for the second sock.