As The Heel Turns: In Which Count Sockula Rides Again

Count Sockula is seeing daylight for the first time in, well, forever and a half.  Not seeing daylight, exactly, because as we all know CS is a creature of the night, muahahaaa.


But the author of this blog tends to run hot and cold.  One week,, it's just too much to drag out the fountain pens and ink.  Another, sock-knitting seems like rolling boulders uphill.


But recently I had BURNING IDEAS about heels.  As in wanting to re-attempt a certain heel Which Shall Remain Forevermore Nameless---and wanting to attempt my first short-row heel with wraps.  (Which, face it---is scary!!!)


It should be noted that the Count's go-to heels are the Garter Stitch (a la Knitpurl Hunter) and Afterthought.


The Heel That Shall Remain Nameless took for EVER to knit.   And.  It.  Came. Out. Phail.


(Oh, right.  The fountain pens.  Just a reminder that Dr. inkenstein waits in the wings.)


Both pair were done on size 7 needles and Red Heart scraps because this had to be fast.  The blue pair were done from the toe up.


Sock pair One.  Nameless Heel Attempt That Phailed.

Nameless Heel was awful.  As awful as the first couple times it was attempted.  The worst heel ever.  Just an ugly little bump, and I even stole stitches from the instep so it wouldn't be just an ugly little bump but a real heel.

And the socks were TOO SHORT.  That was a first. 

So I tinked it back RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A PARTY.  And just tossed in an Afterthought Heel!  How's that for socksmanship?  

The other sock in the pair got an Afterthought in the first place.  As it should have.


Sock Rescue One.  Success. 


Now onto the second pair.  This was bee-in-bonnet time.  The Count wanted to see if an Afterthought could be done with Garter Stitch.  And it can!  As you can see here.


Sock Pair Two, each sock with different heel type:

GS Afterthought on the left.  Short-row wrap on right. 

But you know, it's SOOO much trouble to knit.  The whole.  Sock.  When you are just really burning to try that heel. 

So I did a provisional cast-on.   Muahahaaaaa!   And it worked.  Knitted a few rounds, then dove right into the heel.  So basically the heel of each sock was worked as if toe-up.  And then, the provisional cast-on was removed, stitches picked up, and the foot and toe worked as if top-down.

Simple!  Kinda sorta. 


OK, got into a little trouble with the short-row in that I forgot to slip the first stitch and then had to get myself out of it using a double-wrap technique.  But it's a sock.  It worked.  It fits.

Unlike Certain Heels We Could Mention!

Got a heel type you want to try but don't want to wait forever to get to the good part?  Attempt a provisional cast-on.  If you like how the heel comes out, go ahead and work the rest of the foot.

Maybe this Tragic Tail of Sock Phail will help you in some way.  In any case if you ever have a Heel Idea burning a hole in your pocket, try a provisional cast-on.

Coming soon:  Dr. Inkenstein returns with Three Jolly Sailormen.

Be Heeled! In Which Count Sockula Gets A Revelation

Good evening, my children.  Turn down the lights, sit back, and listen to another tale from the kingdom of Sockopolis.

So you know how, in spite of short-row yearnings, Count Sockula was unable to fashion a short-row heel that actually looked like a real, flap 'n gusset heel? One that had depth? One that fit?
　
Coming up instead with pathetic little half-heel nubbins?
　
Well, my children, the answer was so seeeeeemmmmppppllllle!  MUAHAHAAAAA!
　
In a casual little aside from one of my sock books, just a footnote really, there lay a picture of a short-row heel and some text that read: 'If you have problems creating a heel with depth, you can use up to 60% of your total stitches.'
　
Yes! Thievery was the answer.
　
Imagine that! Use MORE stitches. Steal from your instep stitches to add to your heel stitches! And here I was, using the 'normal' half of the total sock stitches for my heels. Silly Count Sockula.
　
Out came the needles and workbasket. Out came some Red Heart scraps. On went the Count's usual 32-stitch I-need-to-perform-an-experiment socklet. (From the toe up this time, just for laughs).
　
Count Sockula may have been absent the day they taught math, but I do know that sixty percent of 32 is not an even number. And 32 isn't all that big a number to start with. So (also just for laughs), I stole four stitches from the instep: two for each side of the heel.
　
It worked. A real heel, with enough depth not to be laughed at by all the other heels in the sock drawer.
　　
　
And now, behold the triumph of the short-row heel!

　
　
Yes, I know they are not identical twins. They are not even fraternals, but cousins.  But they are real heels.


 Now, once upon a time, in the ancient days of double-pointed needles and flap/gusset heels, Count Sockula was obeying the sock books and CUTTING the yarn (just as the books demanded) before knitting heel flap and turn.  Because, as you know, the yarn ends up sticking out of the middle of where your heel flap would be.

And then one day, another book said, 'Forget cutting yarn!  You can re-arrange the heel flap stitches so the yarn comes out at the beginning of the flap.  You can even knit half a row and purl back.  No one will notice, and we won't tell."  

So it was then that the Count discovered the joy of not cutting heel yarn.  And then came two circulars, with no stitch re-arranging whatever.

Imagine the sense of freedom the Count achieved at the prospect of not having to pick up gusset stitches at all!

This Cousins Sock-speriment has been an exercise in freedom.   I haz a happy.

And here they are compared to a dishcloth sock with a flap/gusset heel.

　
Once the heel is completed, placing the extra stitches back on the instep is optional, and only slightly hazardous.

Count Sockula imagines one could also make extra heel stitches, not steal them, and then work the extra stitches away once the heel is completed. But this has not yet been tried.


So---unless Count Sockula is the only knitter in the entire kingdom of Sockopolis with this heel problem---if your short-row heels are also lacking depth, you might want to try the simple expediency of  stitch-stealing for yourself.