Turning heels on knit socks

by Carolyn
(Ohio)

The directions for turning heels on knit socks seem completely counter-intuitive when you first look at them. After all, socks are basically a tube you knit whether you start at the toe or at the top of the sock.

All of a sudden, that tube has to make a ninety-degree angle to accommodate the heel of the foot. I'm not sure there is anywhere else in knitting where you have to do this kind of procedure, so on your first sock, the process is going to seem weird.

Frequently when I am knitting I can look at the directions and imagine what the final product is going to look like. K2P2 is obviously going to be a rib, for example. It's helpful being able to do that because once in awhile you run into mistakes in the directions, or you make a mistake and rather than rip out rows of knitting, you use your knowledge of the pattern to make a slight alteration that won't show in the end.

But when I did my first sock, I looked at the pattern and could not envision it at all. So, I decided just to follow the directions exactly as I could. At the end of the turning process, I had a heel and I was able to complete the sock and its mate successfully.

It took me two or three pairs of socks before I caught onto how the procedure worked, but then it became comfortable. I used the same pattern several times so I could get the idea in my head. So, go ahead. Try those socks. They are really fun to make and the nice thing about knitting something small is that it is easy to carry around your work.

This video on turning heels on knit socks will give you some guidance: