The Perfect Heel Quest | knitted socks with wrap and turn short rows heel

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about knitting the basic toe-up sock pattern knit with a heel flap and no gusset using Universal Yarn Zesty Sock.

5 balls of Universal Yarn Zesty Sock in Iceberg colorway, and Karbonz circular knitting needles.

Universal Yarn Zesty Sock in Iceberg colorway and KNITTER’S PRIDE Karbonz circular needle

The next sock I’m knitting today has a traditional Wrap and Turn short rows heel.

For starting all my socks, I use Judy’s Magic Cast On. There are some instructions in the basic toe-up sock pattern, and you can find a lot of videos describing this cast on, besides the tutorial mentioned above.

After the toe, I continued knitting in the round on the 60 stitches up to the same length of the sock I worked in yesterday’s post: 7½”.

I worked back and forth to complete the heel.

The math for a classic wrap and turn short row heel is simple. Half of the stitches are left to rest on one of the needles or a flexible cord while the wrap and turn (W&T) short rows heel is worked on the other half.

My sock has 60 stitches, so I worked my short row heel on 30 stitches.

l worked the first part of the heel, the decrease part, until I had one-third of the stitches, which means 30 stitches divided by 3 = 10 stitches, left in the middle, unwrapped.

Step-by-step instructions for the 30 stitches of the heel:

First part of the heel (decrease)

Row 1: Knit to 1 stitch before the end of the heel, wrap and turn. For the wrap and turn: slide the first stitch on the left needle to the right needle (do not insert the needle as if to knit!), bring the yarn to the front of your work, slide the stitch back from the right needle to the left needle and bring the yarn to the back of the work. The wrap is done. Now it’s time to turn. Turn your work and continue.

Row 2: Purl to 1 stitch before the wrapped stitch, wrap and turn.

Row 3: Knit to 1 stitch before the wrapped stitch, wrap and turn.

Row 4: Purl to 1 stitch before the wrapped stitch, wrap and turn.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until you have 10 stitches unwrapped in the middle.

Second part of the heel (increase):

Row 1: Knit to the first wrapped stitch, lift the wrap on the needle, knit the wrap and stitch together, wrap the following stitch, this will create a second wrap around the next stitch. Turn work.

Row 2: Purl to your first wrapped stitch, purl the wrap and stitch together, wrap and turn.

Row 3: Knit to the first double wrapped stitch, knit both wraps and the stitch together, wrap and turn.

Row 4: Purl to the first double wrapped stitch, purl both wraps and the stitch together, wrap and turn.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until all wrapped stitches are worked.

There are excellent step-by-step instructions on YouTube, one example is this one, where you can find all the techniques and tips for achieving a good short row heel.

Once the heel was completed, I continued with the leg and cuff. The foot of the sock is shorter than the one I knit yesterday; it also feels tighter around the heel and ankle once I try it on.

It will be good for someone with slim ankles, but it is not very comfortable for me.