Tip Tuesday: How to Turn a Heel

This week, we’re walking you through how to turn a heel when knitting socks from the top down. While it may seem tricky at first, turning a heel becomes simple once you break it down one stitch at a time. In today’s Tip Tuesday, we’re guiding you through each step so you can tackle this essential sock-knitting technique.

What Does ‘Turning the Heel’ Mean?

Turning the heel shapes the heel of a sock so it curves naturally around the back of the foot. This is done by knitting a heel flap on half of your stitches and using short rows to create the heel’s curve. Think of it as turning a corner!

Materials We Used in This Tutorial:

• Lykke Cypra 5" copper interchangeable circular needles
• DPNs or a second pair of needles
• Stitch holder
• 3 stitch markers
• Puffin Yarn

Before You Begin:

Start by knitting your sock from the cuff down. Once you’ve reached your desired leg length, it’s time to begin the heel flap. At this point, you should have a tube with a stitch marker at the beginning of your round.

1. Knit the Heel Flap

The heel flap is worked flat using half of your stitches. This is where DPNs or a second set of needles comes in handy since you’ll be knitting flat, back and forth, for this section. The Lykke Cypra copper needle set comes with stoppers that make it easy to keep the resting stitches secure.

Helpful Tip: Set aside the center stitch marker since you’ll only be working on half the stitches for the following section. You’ll need it again later.

Heel Flap Pattern Example:

• Set-Up Row 1: Knit half of your stitches, turn, and place the remaining stitches on a stitch holder.
• Set-Up Row 2: Purl across.
• Row 3: K1, sl 1, k1; repeat to the end of the row.
• Repeat Rows 2 and 3 as instructed in your pattern.

2. Start the Heel Turn

In this section, you’ll begin knitting short rows, creating the heel’s curve. Short rows are worked by knitting or purling partway across the row, then turning and leaving some stitches unworked.

Important: Follow your pattern closely—accurate row lengths ensure proper shaping.

Heel Turn Pattern Example:

• Row 1: Sl 1, k6, k2tog, k1, turn.
• Row 2: Sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1, turn.
• Row 3: Sl 1, k4, k2tog, k1, turn.
• Row 4: Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn.
• Row 5: Sl 1, k6, k2tog, turn.
• Row 6: Sl 1, p5, p2tog, turn.

3. Pick Up Stitches for the Gusset

After turning the heel, pick up stitches along the edges of the heel flap and place the stitches from the holder back onto your needles. This step connects the heel to the rest of the sock, returning you to knitting in the round.

Set-Up Round Example:

• Knit across the heel flap stitches.
• Pick up and knit 8 stitches along the heel flap edge.
• Place a marker, knit the 13 instep stitches from the holder, place another marker.
• Pick up and knit 8 stitches along the opposite heel flap edge.
• Knit 3 stitches from the heel flap.

The beginning of the round is now at the center of the heel. Place a marker to indicate the new round start.

4. The Gusset

Before the heel turn, your stitch count matched your desired sock circumference. After picking up stitches, you’ll have extra stitches on your needles. The gusset section decreases this number back to the original count.

Gusset Pattern Example:

• Round 1: Knit.
• Round 2: Knit to 3 stitches before the marker, k2tog, k1; knit across the instep stitches; slip marker, k1, ssk, knit to the end of the round.
• Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until you return to your original stitch count.

Remember!

The key to turning a perfect heel is staying organized. Use stitch markers to track your progress and carefully follow the pattern instructions. Heel shaping can vary by design, but the essential technique stays the same.

With practice and patience, you’ll be turning heels like a sock-knitting pro in no time!

Next up…blocking your socks.