September 21, 2012

Short Row Heel with Gussetts


I promised a couple of days ago to get this heel written up and posted here since I have used it for socks for someone with a high instep.  I am writing it for cuff down, as that is the way I normally work.  I am not sure yet how to do it for toe up, but I am working on it.  If someone normally does toe up and wants to help with it, I'd appreciate your imput, and would happily share credit with you...
This is being offered for free for anyone to use with any pattern.  I am sure the idea is not original to me, but if you plan to these instructions in a pattern you are offering for sale, I'd appreciate a note from you first...

Start with half the total number of stitches you have for your sock.  This pattern is done in all stockinette, but you could continue the leg pattern on the heel if you so desire.  You will be working over the stitches that are/were the back half of the leg.  Make sure you have a stitch marker on either side of the section you are working on if you are not using a seperate needle(s) for the heel already (I use a 9" circular, and use the SMs instead of a seperate needle).

Work across the heel section until you reach the last stitch before the marker before you would start the instep.  Turn your work and you are now going to work on the wrong side of the work, so knit stitches will be purled and purl stitches will be knitted. work across the heel until you have 2 stitches left before the stitch marker.  Turn and now work on the right side again, continuing in this manner, always turnning one stitch before where you turned the last time.  When you have between 8 and 14 stitches remaining as working stitches (depending on the width of your heel).

Now you will begin picking up stitches while working on the wrong side of the work.  From here on out, you will purl only on the wrong side and knit only on the right side.  When you reach the end of the worked stitches, pick up the next stitch and then make one stitch (M1) by stiching your left needle into the yarn between the stitch you just picked up and the next one from the back.  Now Purl that new stitch thru the front of the loop that is on the left needle. Turn your work and go back across the work on the right side, knitting all stitches until you reach the last worked stitch.  Now work the first unworked stitch and again M1, this time by slipping the left needle under the yarn between this last stitch and the next one from the front side.  Knit this stitch through the back loop. Turn the work and continue in this manner until all stitches are worked. 

Now continue with your foot pattern by working your pattern across the instep stitches and decreasing the extra stitches out every other row by SSk the 1st 2 stitches on the heel side (after the marker) and K2Tog the last 2 stitches (before the marker) on that side.  Since I usually have my start of row marker on one of the 2 side SMs, and your gussetts are actually a part of the foot instead of the instep, you don't have to move the start of round to the center of the heel, and you will still have your decreases on the same round.  When you are back to the number of stitches that the pattern calls for your cast on, you do not need to continue decreasing, and should continue with the pattern as written.

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