My ultimate goal on the knitting journey was to knit a sock. I considered these to be so difficult that they were not possible to make by human endeavour alone. The blackest of arts were also required and at the very least, divine help. The fact that my Mum seemed to be able to manage them did not get in the way of my theories.
So imagine my surprise at myself when I knitted a sock. And it fit! It was still only a tube sock but still. I had shaped the toe and that shocked me so much that I needed a lie down in a dark room.
So the next thing to do was to wear them. I was happy. Well I was happy a bit. Okay then, there was this little voice niggling away in the back of my mind that this sock was good, great even (for me anyway) but it wasn’t finished. A REAL sock must have a heel. Back to the dark arts then…
An Instagram friend mentioned an Afterthought Heel so I went off to explore the various ways of making these so that I could bring all of the information together. I listened to tales of woe about gaps and the different ways to achieve this minor miracle of knitting and I have simplified the process so that even I can understand it.
There are two ways to make an Afterthought Heel in a sock – with and without waste yarn. After looking for some time, I have decided on the no waste yarn method. This seems simpler to me and it is the way that I will be focusing on here.
The first thing to do is to decide where on your tube sock to put the heel. There is a bit of a useful formula which states that you measure your foot and then subtract 2″ from the length and that is where the heel starts working from the toe. I have found that subtracting 2 1/2″ – 2 3/4″ is more accurate for me. Bear in mind that the socks will stretch a bit when they are worn.
For example, my foot measures 10″. Subtract 2 3/4″ from your foot length. That would be 7 1/4″. So I need to measure 7 1/4″ from my toe tip to a point along the sock like this
Put in a marker. You will need to move the marker in the next step and in smaller knit (like sock yarn) it is better put in on the side.
Now spread your sock out flat. The way to put the heel in is to use half the total stitches. So if you have 44 stitches in total, you need to pick out 22. So for the Aran or DK sock in my size, for example, we have 40 stitches all together. We need 20 of them. You need the smaller needles now and pick up the left hand side of the knit stitch right across the row
Now skip a row and do the same one row up. When you have finished, it will look like this
When you are finished, you should be able to see the row in between quite clearly. You can also see (in this lovely friendly chunkier DK yarn) that I have not strayed onto the other rows
Do make SURE that you have not strayed off the row though! Double check because the next bit is scary. We need to cut a stitch…..take a moment if you need to….
Pull a stitch up in the middle (or close to it) and make sure that you have the stitch and nothing but the stitch. Put your hand into the sock to make sure
Now cut
Use a small needle (I love these little bamboo pins) and undo the centre stitching until only two stitches are left. The live stitches will be kept safe on the needles
The two stitches that are left on the needle either end will be used to eradicate the hole that can form on the side of the heel.
The reason that we cut the centre stitch and then leave the yarn tails long is that we need to weave these in afterwards. So now you have two stitches left and a long bit of yarn
Tuck the yarn in and transfer the stitches back onto the knitting size needles (whatever you knitted the body of the sock with) being careful not to twist the stitches. Now we knit and decrease in alternate rows. It is essentially the toe again but backwards. I like to begin with 4 rows of knit just to give me a deeper heel.
When you knit, include the two stitches either end even though the yarn wasn’t unraveled all the way because this is the trick to not having a hole at the side of the heel. You are welcome!
On your next row after the fourth knit row, decrease by using SSK (slip, slip, knit) on one end and k2tog (knit two together) on the other. This gives you a left and right leaning decrease. So your pattern would read, k1, ssk, k until 3 stitches remain, k2tog, k1.
Keep doing this and alternating each knit row with a decrease row until you have about 10 stitches left on each needle. Ten is ideal but if you have larger or smaller feet, your increases on the toe may be different. Whatever you end up with, it must be the same number of stitches on both needles so count and check often
Join them with Kitchener Stitch. For this you will need more magic and an even more thorough knowledge of the dark arts.
Only kidding….you will need a darning needle and some concentration time because it is not easy the first time you do it. But it is worth learning and, here again, there are some great YouTube videos to show you how to do it. My job is to give a written instruction because some people find that easier.
Cut your yarn leaving a generous tail (about 12″ will do the trick) and thread your needle. Set up the Kitchener Stitch by taking the needle through the first stitch on the front needle purlwise
Then knitwise through the first stitch on the back needle. Leave BOTH stitches on the needles.
Now we have some repeats and you just keep doing them until you have only one stitch left.
Take the darning needle through the first stitch on the front needle knitwise and slip the stitch off the needle
Take the darning needle through the next stitch on the front needle purlwise and leave the stitch on the needle. Gently pull the yarn so that it is firm and not gaping.
Now take the needle through the first stitch on the back needle purlwise and slip the stitch off.
Finally, the darning needle goes through the next stitch on the back needle knitwise and the stitch stays on the knitting needle.
Repeat this until you have one stitch left and then repeat steps 1 and 3. There is a little chant (which almost every knitter, no matter how experienced uses). It is front knit off/front purl on/ back purl off/ back knit on
Phew! Right well if you are still with me, well done. I have written my Sockstar pattern out and you can find that here (link coming very soon) and it is about as simple as a sock can get. I do hope that you enjoy it and I will warn you, sock knitting is addictive! Have fun!
‘Till next time!
Debbie xx