sock knitting: afterthought heels

Heels are often the unsung hero of socks, after yarn and gauge considerations. Most knitters (myself included) fall into a rut if we’re just knitting simple socks. We have a go-to recipe and we follow it time and time again.

What do I do? I almost always knit toe-up and I alternate between Cat Bordhi‘s architectures (flap & afterthought leg) and my standard short-row heel.

I wanted something different when I was knitting a pair of self-striping socks over the summer. I wanted them to be simple as I was knitting them during travel time to various hospitals to see mum. I wanted to do something different from what I normally do just to keep it interesting.

Over a year ago I assisted Heather in writing up her sock summit sock heel course so she could publish ebooks of the techniques and also prepare revised teaching materials for her classes. We’re now working on a new and improved format for the ebooks, so these heels was bouncing around my brain. Could she offer for a toe-up that I hadn’t done before?

With six heels to choose from I knew there should be something.

Yes! Afterthought heels came to my rescue.

Did I really need a pattern? Honestly, at this point in my knitting career, no. Was it nice to have Heather’s worksheet and instructions?

Definitely.

Why? I knit these socks while traveling under stress. The socks were shoved in my bag as I sprinted for one transfer or another. I did not need to think much about these socks as my brain was more concerned with making sure my mother got the proper care that she needed. The notes and worksheet were a nice reminder for my coffee-deprived brain when I paused to look. They reminded me where I should place the heel, and believe-it-or-not I needed the reminder on how to place the waste yarn.

How are the finished socks? A perfect happy fit.

Ravelry project

• Category: handmade
• Tag: knit, knit socks