Turning a heel

This is a back-to-basics kind of post. There is a lot of everyday wholesomeness around here to embrace, so let’s do it.

By the way, Sam was running for county commissioner. And – he won! Surprisingly. He was trailing by a small amount in the morning, with one town left to report. By noon, that town’s votes were in and put him slightly in the lead! He won by 69 votes, 5931 to 5862. This was a bright light in an otherwise very gloomy day.

Turning a heel in knitting socks has been a very mysterious process. I’ve always just followed the directions and voila, a turned heel before I know it. Then I look at the parts of the heel and can’t get a grip on how each was done. I decided maybe photographing the results of each step would help me learn it better. So here goes.

These heel directions come from knitgrammer.com.

First, a gusset is created, that triangular section that broadens the sock over the heel. The increases here are Make-1-left and Make-1-right. At this point, I’m still working in the round knitting both back and front needles.

Next I start the heel, only working on the back needle. A little triangular shape is made with double stitches along the side. I don’t know how the pattern accomplishes the nubbly texture (known poetically as “eye of partridge”). That just seems to happen by alternating slip stitches and knit stitches.

When the right number of double stitches are completed, I knit one row to turn the double stitches back into knit stitches. This process starts incorporating the gusset stitches on the sides into the triangular shape, with the effect of turning the heel.

Below, six of ten gusset stitches are done, and four remain. Each row starts with a slip stitch – visible in a line at the end of the gusset – and ends with a decrease where the next gusset stitch is incorporated. This seems to be the most mysterious part of the heel turn. I’m still not exactly sure how this works.

Here the heel is almost complete. Only one gusset stitch remains at each side of the row. This is a time to be careful with those stitches as they can slide off the end of the needle easily.

Resume knitting in the round, and decrease those single gusset stitches along the way.

Here’s a photo of the completed heel. The reinforced part does not seem tall enough so I can keep that going on the back needle for awhile. The parts are: reinforced heel flap, heel, gusset, top of sock.

And a back view of the heel showing the flap and the triangular part. I like this pattern and I want to learn to do it automatically, without feeling so dependent on the written instructions. If that’s possible. Adventures in sock knitting continue.