Two-at-a-Time Socks on a Magic Loop: The Heel Part 2

Hi everyone! This week has been really hectic at work…I had great hopes of getting through the have-to-do-stuff, so that I could go to our weekly knitting meet and blog a few times, but it wasn’t to be… I guess perhaps things will settle a little towards the end of the year, and I’ll be able to post merrily while at the coast, so here’s hoping! I did however, work very hard to finish up the second part of my heel tutorial…I’m sure that there are eager sock knitters waiting with sticks suspended, to see how the heel grows 🙂 That being said, I really hope that whoever of you who are actually knitting socks from these tutorials, will post some photos on the Ravelry page…I am super-keen to see your wonderful socks being born!

Ok, ready to finish up your heel?
In the last post , we ended up at the half way point… if you look at the photo below, you’ll see the last stitch that was worked…remember that you are knitting/purling back and forth, just as if you had two knitting needles and not a Magic Loop.

Let’s look at these heel stitches…
When we made the first half of the heel, we divided up the stitches roughly into three, so the short-rowed stitches on either side (10sts each side) and the un-short-rowed (for want of a better word) , in the middle of the heel (12sts). When you make the second half of the heel, you’ll stick to this same division set-up, but now you are making “long-rows” (purely for descriptive purposes 😉 ). So previously, you worked an ever shorter section of stitches, now you will work progressively more stitches on each row.

When you have worked all the necessary “long-rows”, you will again have made a total of 20 Double stitches, BUT, whereas before, you made them all at once, you are now going to do ONE at a time on each row.

Looking at the photo above, you see that we still have 32 sts on the heel. You will be knitting across 22sts, until you have reached the 10th stitch for the left hand side of your knitting. This stitch represents the first stitch of the 10-stitch side section (at the side of the sock) that will be worked in “long-rows”.

Knit 22 stitches.

Knit the stitch shown above. This is the first stitch of the 10st section that will become a Double Stitch. Turn your work around, slip this just knitted stitch purlwise, make a Double Stitch.

Above you can see that I have made the Double Stitch, and purled the next along stitch.

Purl across your work until you have 10sts left on your LHN. As before, you are getting to the 10stitch section at the side of the sock.

Purl this stitch, turn your work around, slip this just purled stitch purlwise, and make a Double Stitch.

Now knit across the stitches until you get to the Double Stitch. Knit the Double Stitch, making sure that you have knitted both legs, then knit the next stitch along.

Above, you can see that I have just knitted the Double stitch…knit the next stitch…..

Once you have turned your work, made the DS…purl across the heel to the Double Stitch on the other side. Purl the Double Sticth, purl the next along stitch, turn your work around, slip the just purled stitch purlwise, and make a Double Stitch. Knit across to the Double stitch etc etc

Continue along the heel, in the same manner, until you have the purl side of your work facing you, and you have reached the DS which is the second to last stitch on your LHN.

Purl the DS as well as the last stitch on your LHN.

Your work should look like the photo above.

Turn your work around. Make a Double Stitch. This Double Stitch will remain just where it is…you won’t be working it again until the next round (after you have created the Left Sock’s Heel and knitted all around to the Right Sock Heel stitches again). Just remember to knit this Double Stitch as a Double Stitch ie two legs together and not as two separate stitches!

Knit across all of the Heel stitches, right to the end. The last stitch you knit is a Double Stitch.

Well Done!!!! You have finished the Right Sock Heel! You are a sock knitter extraordinaire!

Sometimes (depending on how tightly you knit…), you may end up with a small hole at the interface between the instep stitches and the heel stitches. To prevent that, you can pick up a stitch in the fabric between the heel stitches and the instep stitches. Use your RHN to do this. When you have picked up this stitch, let it slip onto your RHN to lie with the Heel stitches. Just remember to knit two together when you reach these stitches again on a subsequent round.

Your work should look like the photo below…the Right Sock Heel is completed, and you are going to repeat all of the previous steps to make the Left Sock Heel….exactly the same process!

Below you can see the Left Sock Heel in progress…I have knitted the first half of the heel…

Below is the Left sock Heel completed. Again, you can pick up a stitch in the fabric section between the instep stitches and the heel stitches, to prevent a small hole from forming.

Once you have picked up this stitch, let it lie with the heel stitches, and again, remember to knit two together when you reach these stitches on the subsequent round…that will ensure that you have the correct number of stitches for your sock.

Turn your work around.

Knit across the instep stitches of the Left Sock. Pick up a stitch in the fabric space between the instep stitches and the heel stitches of the Left Sock…just as before. This time let it lie with the Instep stitches…remember to knit two together when you get to these stitches on the subsequent round, to ensure that you have the correct number of stitches for your sock.

Next, knit across the instep stitches of the Right Sock. Pick up a stitch in the fabric between the instep stitches and the heel stitches of the Right Sock. Remember to knit two together etc etc ….

Turn your work around. From hereon out, you will knit rounds on the Magic Loop until your socks have reached the length you want.

I hope that you have found this post easy to follow…if you are unsure of any of the steps, please email me and I will try to clarify things!

The next sock post will be on the bind off for the cuff…whoooohoooo! Socks Rock!

Have a good Sunday folks!
♥Heidi