Heel Post

Thursday 24th May 2018

Tags: Techniques

We love to knit socks, which is why we brought out our own sock yarn – Head Over Heels – just over a year ago.

There are so many decisions to be made when you embark on a pair of socks.  Will you knit it top down or toe up? What kind of pattern brings out the beauty of the yarn?  What kind of toe do you prefer?

When it comes to heels there are lots of different options.

The most popular is the French heel which has a flap.  Sometimes knitters get a bit flummoxed by turning this heel to achieve the shaping but this heel is really very straightforward and the slip stitch on the flap makes it nice and durable.

In parts of Europe, you might see this one called the strong heel or even the Dutch heel.  It is particularly good for people with a high arch and allows you to carry on your patterning across the heel.  The technique involves increasing on every other row before turning your heel and returning to the foot tube.

The after-thought heel is very useful if you are knitting socks for someone that often wears through their heels.  You knit the tube and work in a piece of scrap yarn to mark the position of the heel.  When you have completed the sock, you go back to the heel, pick up the stitches around the scrap yarn and work the heel in the same way as a basic toe, grafting to finish it off.  Some people prefer this method because there is no turning involved.  If the heel wears out, you can simply unravel it and knit a new heel.

There are lots of videos on YouTube that will give you more information about how to work all of these heels. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the new Head Over Heels Allstars – a collection of colour combinations from our very own Blogstars as voted for by you – which launched at the beginning of September.

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