Gussets, geneses, and gift certificates

The end is in sight for the garter rib sock that it seems I've been knitting for ages. I finished the gusset decrease earlier this evening. I'm concerned that the divided stitches between needle 3 and 1 are too loose, especially for being in the middle of the sole, but I suppose there's nothing I can do about it now.

Do you see what I'm talking about? Should this tighten up once I get the stitches off the needle? If not, any idea what I may have done to create this and what I can do to ensure that it doesn't happen next time?

I also think there's likely to be a hole near the top of the gusset on one side, but there is absolutely no way I'm undoing stitches back to that point. There's always the next sock...

Thanks to those who shared their knitting origin stories. Please feel free to add your genesis tale. It's interesting to read how long you've been knitting and why you started. To clarify, I don't see knitting as being a fad, although I can see it being treated that way in the press, especially when the Julia Roberts knitting movie hits theaters.

The good people at Martingale & Company don't mess around. They responded quickly to my question about what I believed to be a pattern mistake. Today I received a gift certificate for a free book (and complimentary shipping) for pointing out the error to them. Impressive. Anybody have a recommendation from their catalog?