How To
A Year of Techniques: Heel Turn!
Knitters uniformly describe their first time turning a heel with awe. It’s like that moment in an episode of Call the Midwife, where the midwife says, “I see the head!” It feels miraculous, somehow, to be knitting back and forth, and suddenly make something three dimensional happen. A bit of practical sculpture, every time.
Being able to do a heel turn, following written instructions, is not the same as knowing how to do it. In the video up top, Jen Arnall-Culliford, clear and cool as ever, teaches us what we are doing when we turn a heel. The mechanics become apparent. We can now turn heels with confidence.
And the socks we are knitting are very cute indeed, for they are socks from the mind of a sock whisperer, Rachel Coopey of Coop Knits.
These socks are called Antirrhinum, which is the Latin name for snapdragons. They have snazzy contrasting toes. You could make socks with matching toes, but where’s the fun in that?
In the MDK Shop
What a lovely lace pattern and the perfect summer project to carry during travel, days on the beach and boat and sitting on the deck sipping a cool beverage. Just ordered Ruby kit and will join in the fun!
My favorite thing to do is a heel turn. It’s like magic!
SOCKS! I turned my first heel at a bus stop in Santa Monica, CA. I never did finish the pair, but it was a terrific moment. Maybe it’s time…
As I was riding on a train a few days while returning from Canada, I was knitting on socks and met two other ladies also working on socks. We started discussing different sock heels.
LOVE Call the Midwife…and sock knitting 🙂
When I was knitting my first sock, I got to the heel turn, read carefully, and still didn’t believe it would work. Luckily, I was about to leave for a conference, and since I’m a librarian, I knew there would be someone there to show me how to turn a heel. Sure enough, my friend Dale showed me how to do it – and it truly was like magic! Years later, I still much prefer top-down construction and a traditional heel-flap. These socks are so cute, so I believe I will be digging into the stash and casting on!
And it never gets old. At least, it hasn’t yet, and I’ve made a fair few pairs of socks. In fact , I am getting old, but the heel-turning magic is evergreen.
The best tutorial on this type of heel that I have seen! And I’ve looked at a lot of them. Clear, slow enough but didn’t put me to sleep, and, as you mentioned, an excellent explanation of what one is doing and trying to achieve! Kudos.
I have turned hundreds of heels and it just never gets old. My favorite trick with a flap and gusset heel is to recognize that the gusset decreases (on a top down sock) can go anywhere around the sock you like. I like to decrease on the sole of the sock and it creates a cup shape on the bottom that holds on to my heel. No more socks slipping. This rarely interferes with any pattern being works.