Skip to main content

NGKG Toe-Up Sock Knit Along, part 2

If you are doing the sock knit along, hopefully you finished the toe and foot of your sock and are ready for the heel turn. I'm using a short row or hourglass heel. You can work this using whatever short row method you like. I'm using twin stitches, sometimes called shadow wraps or dopplegänger stitches.

I haven't had time to run a proper short-row sock experiment. There are several parameters:

Do I use clean up rows between the top and bottom of the hourglass or not?
Which type of short rows do I use — wrap & turn, Japanese, German, or twin?
Plus, I think there might be a couple different ways to work wrap & turn — one way throws the wraps to the private side of the work and the other leaves them as a decorative line.
That looks like at least 10 different heel turns.

For the moment, I think I will continue to work on the socks.

By the way, I spent 2 months swatching for pattern. I cast on Monday and turned the heel Thursday. This is a good reminder to me that I am a fast knitter. What is slowing my production is the design process.

Edited to add:

Turns out I ought to have watched Heather Storta's sock heel session at this year's The Knitting Guild Association Next Level Knitting Conference much sooner than I did. Heather showed many different sock heel turns. She mentioned the short-row hourglass heel can sometimes be tight across the bridge of the instep. That happened to me. Thus, here is another video discussing what do to about it.

Basically, rip back (duh). But before you do, observe how much fabric you need to add. Get a diagonal measurement across the heel and instep. Observe how much the sock needs to stretch to fit. After that, it is simply a matter of math.

How many stitches do you need to get that amount of extra fabric? Gauge will tell you that.
●  stitches per inch/cm × desired distance = # of stitches

Because you are likely to work increases in pairs:
●  # of stitches ÷ 2 = # of increase rounds

How many plain rounds do you want between increase rounds? I like a gradual increase for the instep, so I make my increase every 4th round.
●  # of increase rounds × spacing = total # of rounds needed for increase

A caveat about the "total # of rounds needed for increase" number. Let's say I work my increase round and then work three rounds plain. Technically, I'll finish the increase three rounds sooner than the "total # of rounds needed for increase" number. Those extra plain rounds are nice to have before going into a heel turn. Know you have design leeway on that last set of plain rounds. It may help in terms of pattern placement.

An example:
Let's say gauge = 6 stitches per inch.
I decide I want to add 1½ inches to raise the bridge of the instep before the heel turn.
1.5 inches × 6 stitches per inch = 9 stitches needed
Since I want my increases in pairs, I need an even number. I'll round up to 10, as a little more space won't hurt.
10 increases ÷ 2 = 5 increase rounds.
I want those increases every fourth round — i.e. one increase round followed by 3 plain rounds.
5 increase rounds × 4 = 20 rounds total for the increase.
Realistically, if round 1 is the first increase, I'll reach my desired number on round 17. Rounds 18-20 are plain rounds at my goal number.
When I rip back, I need to go back at least 17 rounds before the heel turn. But, I could rip back much farther, depending on when I want to reach my goal number and how I want the stitch pattern to align on the instep.

Comments