Socks Education Part 4.2: Taking Your Socks Life in a New Direction

I dropped the ball on getting this posted over the weekend.  But, better late than never and sometimes, with socks, it takes awhile to get there.

Without further ado, lets turn our heels!

Turning the Heel
Row 1	Sl 1 st, k _____, sl 1 st, k1, psso, k1, turn	_____ (heel flap stitches)/2 + 4 = _____
Row 2	Sl 1 st, p 9 sts, p 2 tog, p 1, turn
Row 3	Sl 1 st, k to 1 st before the gap, sl 1 st, k1, psso, k1, turn
Row 4	sl 1 st, p to 1 st before the gap, p 2 tog, p1, turn
Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until all the stitches between the gaps have been eliminated.  End on a purl row.

 

Turning the Heel.  There is something about turning a heel that feels a little uncomfortable, but it’s perfectly natural, I assure you.  What’s different is that you are decreasing stitches in the center of the row, not at the ends.  As you decrease in the center, your work will curve in from both sides forming a comfy cup for your heel.

You will make your decrease at this point.  The stitches on the left will not be used again until we get to the gusset.

The first thing you do on Row 1 is slip one stitch (yes, we are still doing that!), knit half your heel stitches plus 4 more.  At this point, you slip one st, knit one stitch, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch, and knit 1.  You’ll notice that there is a little gap between your stitches where you decreased.  We’ll be using that gap to determine where to make decreases on subsequent rounds.  There are still stitches on the left needle, but we are just going to ignore them for now.  Turn your work and let’s purl Row 2.

Row 2 starts by slipping one stitch, purl 9, purl 2 together, purl one.  You’ve now made your second “gap.”  Again, there are still stitches on your left needle, but we are going to ignore them.  Turn your work for Row 3.

We are now decreasing on the purl side row.  You can see the "gap" on the right needle.

Slip the first stitch of Row 3, then knit to one stitch before the gap.  Slip the the stitch before the gap and knit the stitch after the gap, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and knit one stitch.  The result this is that you’ve drawn up that gap so there won’t be a hole, and you’ve decreased another stitch.  Turn work.

Knit to one stitch before the gap.  This is where we start are next decrease.

Slip the first stitch of Row 3, then knit to one stitch before the gap.  Slip the the stitch before the gap and knit the stitch after the gap, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and knit one stitch.  The result this is that you’ve drawn up that gap so there won’t be a hole, and you’ve decreased another stitch.  Turn work.

Row 4 is essentially the same as Row 3, only we’re purling, not knitting.  Slip your first stitch, purl to one stitch before the gap, purl one stitch before and on stitch after the gap together, purl one stitch.  Again, we’ve drawn the gap together and decreased a stitch. 

Repeat Rows 3 and 4 until you can no longer decrease.  End on a purl row.  Now it’s time to work the gusset.  Look for that post within the next 24 hours!

Your heel will look like this when you are done.

So far, it’s not so bad, is it?