No matter how many dozens of socks I’ve made, I am still amused by turning the heels. It turns a three dimensional piece of knitting into a two dimensional thing, then back into three dimensions.
For those of you who aren’t sock knitters, the cuff of the sock is at the bottom of the photo, the heel flap (the part at the back of your heel) is at the top. You knit the cuff around until your sock leg is long enough, then knit the heel flap back and forth (the two dimension part) until IT is long enough.
Then the magic happens, where you turn the heel into the little part that goes around under your foot.
Then you pick up all the other half of the stitches and knit the foot.
Magic!*
*I didn’t really finish that sock that fast, the last photo is the first of the pair.
I love that part of socks myself. Every time I turn a heel, I remember what I said the first time: “Look what it did, it turned a corner!”
It always makes me feel like a wizard. However, the heels make me really nervous. For the last three pairs of socks, I waited until I was at the heel and then started the next sock. When I had three pairs of socks waiting for heels, I did all of them at once.
Yep, we sock knitters are witches making magic happen! I even find the Fish Lips Kiss heel charming as well.
I have made a Fish Lip Kiss Heel, Afterthought heel, & a Fleegle heel. Of all of them I love the Fleegle heel. Though I want to learn to knit a heel flap, it just scares the daylights out of me, lol. Picking up stitches is not the technique I am good at, lol. I just need to get a backbone & try it. Anyhoo, love the socks & completely agree it is magic!
Best part of knitting, hands down. And when you tell someone you’re “turning a heel,” is sounds very cool.
Reading this reminds me how much I love knitting socks. I will have to quit fooling around on the I-net and go finish some socks I started for my daughter’s B-day in July.
Julie in San Diego
And I love it that there are 80 different ways to turn a heel.
Julie in San Diego