Earlier this year I hosted a workshop called “Let’s talk about Socks”. We talked about all versions of socks, from toe-up to cuff-down, gussets, cast-ons and bind-offs. There was one thing we weren’t able to cover, though, and that was the ‘Afterthought Heel.”
So it was decided! We would convene in a few weeks’ time to tackle this interesting method of heel creation. We gave ourselves enough time to knit up some sock tubes, and to do a bit of research. A couple of us knit tubes with a row of waste yarn inserted where we would be adding in the heel. Another participant brought tube socks that she had knit several years ago. There was a knitter (no names) who brought an unfinished tube sock on dpns, and then miraculously was able to cut in the afterthought heel and work it on another set of dpns with the same yarn, pulling it from the centre of the ball. I believe there’s a photo circulating.
These are some of the conclusions we came to regarding the Afterthought Heel:
It’s a fast method of creating a heel, once you figure out where you want to put the heel and manage to pick up the correct stitches. The afterthought heel is basically a toe-box that fits over your heel. If you know how to knit a toe per top-down socks, you can knit this.
This is a great method if you need to get a pair of socks knit quickly and with little fuss. You can create your sock tube either toe-up or top-down, then cut in your heel. Voila – a few decreases later and you have a sock.
It’s also perfect if you’re knitting with self-striping yarn and you don’t want to mess up the stripes with the heel. Perfectly matched striped socks are a thing of wonder.
Best of all, this is great travel knitting, or what we call in the biz ‘mindless’ knitting. You can create your sock tube any way you want – dpns, magic loop, two circular needles, and you can knit to any length you want. Then simply cut in the heel when you have more time to concentrate on what you’re doing.
The fit is great (once you lock in your foot measurements) because you can customize the heel to fit your heel shape.
There is a caveat: don’t expect a perfect fit the first time around. To calculate the heel placement, we measured the toe space on the completed sock, and used that measurement as the heel size. So, if your toe is 2”, your heel will be 2”. If your foot size is 8” you will need to cut in your heel 4” from where your toe box finishes (or 6” from the tip of the toe).
This didn’t totally work for me, but that was OK — I just shortened the heel. In another instance I took apart the toe and shortened it. Still, this method is customizable because it’s based on the toe box as it has been knit for that sock.
As we took on this method, we realized it’s not for everyone. Some, myself included, doubted that the heel could withstand a lot of wear. As well, the outer stitches of the heel seem to come under a lot of pressure.
You have to be adept at the Kitchener Stitch – there is no way around this.
Some knitters simply don’t like the look of the heel, or the lay of the completed sock. Perfectly understandable!
Picking up the appropriate stitches and not jumping rows can be a challenge, particularly if the yarn is dark/variegated/ knit on small needles. You can help yourself by putting stitch markers at the beginning, middle and end of both rows. You can also mark out the rows by weaving in light embroidery thread either as you’re knitting those rows, or just before you’re ready to pick up those stitches.
Being fearless helps, because you will need to cut a stitch and pull out a half-row of perfectly good knitting. We all did it, and survived.
And that’s how we started talking about Steeking. Now why would anyone want to cut into perfectly good knitting, you ask? I think this calls for a workshop.
In knitting, as in life, one thing always leads to another.
For this workshop, we looked at this pattern for toe-up socks with an afterthought heel:
https://nurturingfibres.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/NF-Vanilla-socks-27march13.pdf
I also followed The Crazy Sock Lady Afterthought Heel Tutorial, available on YouTube.
Left photo: Ancient Arts Socknado in ‘Abyssinian Cat’ with Socknado Twister ‘Naughty Little Rabbit’ for the heels, toes, and cuffs.
Top photo: RSBS Yarn Co Comfort Sock in ‘Palm Bay’, with stash yarn for the heels .