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Foot and Heel

Knitalongs » June 2020 Toe-Up Socks » Foot and Heel

Lesson 17 - August 19, 2020

Foot and Heel

Huzzah! Time for the Heel

Yay! It's finally time to start knitting your heel. This will be the second most-challenging piece of your socks after the cast-on. But it will be a lot of fun.

Finish the Foot and Gusset Sections First

Toe-up sock ready to start Fleegle gusset increases (knitting reaches front of ankle)Just to make sure you're ready to start the heel, follow your pattern and your Toe-Up Sock class video instructions in knitting the Foot and Gusset sections of your sock.

For the foot you will have knit a plain tube until the knitting reaches the front of your ankle (for the basic Fleegle heel sock) or until the knitting reaches the specified measurement from the back of the heel (for the faux heel-flap sock).

You will have then begun increasing for the gusset until your heel needle contains the specified number of stitches. When it does, you are ready to turn the heel of your sock(s).

Your Toe-Up Socks class provides videos showing how to turn the heel of your sock.

Find Your Heel-Turn Video

  • If you are doing the basic beginner sock (Fleegle heel), the link above will take you to the right video.
  • If you are doing the Faux Heel Flap sock, go to the bonus area of your class where it says "The Faux Heel Flap" and watch the video.

How to Turn Heels on Two-at-a-Time Socks

Two sock heels done Malabrigo rios pink yarn
Two-at-a-time sock heels - Finished!
Once you finish turning the heel of the first sock you will have knit all the way across the heel stitches.

Grab the second sock and follow the same heel-turning instructions.

Then proceed to knit across both insteps to get back to the heels.

Continue following the heel-knitting instructions in your pattern, working across one heel and then the other.

 Don't forget to try the knitting-backwards video in your Toe-Up Socks class if you are up for a challenge. You will add another unique skill to your knitting repertoire AND never have to turn your work again! (If you don't want to.)

More Knitting Success Stories

Striped worsted-weight faux-heel-flap toe-up socks with a picot bind-off
KnitFreedom Student Christine's toe-up worsted-weight faux-heel-flap socks
Myriad knitters have charged ahead and finished their socks.

Congratulations to the intrepid knitters who have completed! I love that KnitFreedom knitters go at the pace that works for them.

Remember if you're knitting ahead, you can ask questions in the "Ask Questions Ahead" section in the sidebar of your knitalong.

<--------- See the sidebar at left to ask questions ahead.

Leave a Comment If You Have Questions

I'm here to help you if you get stuck or confused on your toe-up socks. Leave a comment here if you have questions on the "Foot and Heel" section of your socks. Happy knitting!

8 thoughts on “Foot and Heel”

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  1. Hi,
    I’m a late starter b/c I was knitting baby items for a shower. I’ve started the 2 together toe up socks. So far, so good. I’m approaching the gusset/heel. My question is: I am a combination knitter. When I knit using magic loop, my knit stitches present “backward” that is with the “front leg of the stitch” forward rather than the “back leg of the stitch” being closer to the needle tip. This results in my having to reach a bit far in the back to make a combination knit stitch. The result seems to look right, but I thought I’d ask. Also are there any changes (due to the fact that I’m a combination knitter) that I’ll have to make as I approach the gusset, heel and leg portions of the sock? I just found out that I’m a combination knitter (thanks to you) so I’m questioning everything I do now. Thanks so much. I’m getting such a kick from watching the socks emerge from my needles!

    1. Hi Jane,
      Great to hear from you! From your description, I’m not sure your stitches are actually backwards. Normally the stitches only present backwards when you are working flat and therefore purling every other row.

      Please refer to the pictures on the following link to see if your stitches really are backwards. In the first photo (the larger one) the stitch is on normally. In the second photo the stitch is on the needle backwards.

      https://www.knitfreedom.com/glossary/leg/

      In any case, you don’t have to do anything different as you do the gusset, heel, and leg of your sock. Hooray!

      Let me know how it goes as your socks continue to progress. Thanks for being part of this knitalong!

      Liat

  2. Hi, I am knitting the Fingering weight toe-up Faux Heel Flap Socks, and I wanted to do the Eye of the Partridge Heel, but on your video you said that this is only use for top-down socks only (please correct me if I am wrong). Anyways I am knitting the medium size and I have 52 stitches to start the heel, do I work on the 52 stitches if I want to knit the Eye of the Partridge Heel? On the pattern there are 2 options, but its a bit confusing. I’ve done the Stockinette Stitch heel when I did the Fingering Weight Toe-up socks. Therefore, I would like to do another heel and I like the Eye of the Partridge Heel but the pattern is a bit confusing since it doesn’t tell me how many stitches I am knitting, ie. on Row 1 it says: S1, (k1, sl1) until 1 st remains before a visible gap in the stitches, Ssk Turn, I don’t see a visible gap that’s my confusing. I hope I am making my self clear. Thank you for your help. Because of you I started knitting socks.
    Arlette

    1. Hi Arlette,
      Thanks so much for your comment! I think you may be looking at the wrong pattern or an old version of the pattern.

      You can absolutely knit the eye-of-the-partridge heel on toe-up socks, they just need to have a heel flap. There’s where our “faux heel flap” toe-up patterns come in.

      Download the latest version of the Fingering-Weight Toe-Up Heel-Flap Socks here:

      https://www.knitfreedom.com/free-pattern/toe-up-socks-faux-heel-flap-fingering/

      Make sure you’ve started increasing for the heel in the right place because it is different than the basic socks. Make sure you’ve got the right number of stitches for your gusset then follow the directions, first turning the heel and then knitting the heel flap with the desired stitch pattern.

      Let me know if this works for you!
      Cheers,
      Liat

  3. I have knitted 6 pairs of socks, 4 in worsted weight and 2 in fingering weight yarn. I feel like finally I can do any pattern of socks. It’s like a little light bulb came on and I now understand how to make socks. Thank you for your help. I personally love the worsted weight more than the fingering weight socks.

    1. Hi Rose Mary,
      These look amazing! Thank you so much for attaching the picture of your socks. These are so beautiful. Your successes are exactly what I was hoping for you – now you can finally make any socks you choose. Way to go! Thank you again for the beautiful photo.
      Hugs,
      Liat

  4. Just have to do the ribbing and I am done. I finally understand how to knit a sock after 2 years and only 2 successful socks on my own. Your tutorial was spot on. Thanks so much.

    1. Hi Joan,
      Wonderful work! Thank you so much for sharing your successes here. I’ll be sending out a post about the ribbing and bind-off shortly. Thank you for continuing to try socks until you found my tutorial, I’m so glad you did.
      Thanks again,
      Liat

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