Genius Tips
Placing an Afterthought Heel
Kate’s tips for tidy afterthought heels are here.
There’s another aspect to the Afterthought heel sock that’s worth talking about, and it particularly applies for socks worked toe-up: getting the foot length right.
The challenge with an afterthought heel is that you have to make a commitment to where the heel is going to be, without being able to try the sock on. If you place the waste yarn in the wrong spot, the foot might turn out to be a bit too short or a bit too long.
If this is your first time working this type of sock, I’d recommend you start with a top-down one.
If the foot length is a little off for a sock worked from the cuff to the toe, you only need to undo the toe, so that you can either lengthen or shorten the foot.
If the foot length is off with a toe-up sock, it’s a little more time-consuming to fix, as you have to do undo the full leg and possibly some of the foot.
The Rule
If working top-down, place the waste yarn when you’ve hit the leg length you want, and then work the foot until it’s Foot-Minus-Heel inches long.
If working toe up, place the waste yarn when the foot measures Foot-Minus-Heel inches long, measured from the tip of the toe.
The Question
So how to know how long Foot-Minus-Heel is?
Foot-Minus-Heel = the length of your foot (measured by standing on the tape measure, tip of toe to back of heel) SUBTRACT the length of the heel.
Consult the pattern instructions for the length of the heel. Also, if the designer is suggesting negative ease in the foot length (Fatimah recommends it for these designs, but not all patterns need it) subtract that off the length of your own foot before you do this quick bit of arithmetic.
For example, if your foot is 9 inches long, and the pattern says that the heel requires two inches, then you need the foot portion of the sock to be 9 – 2 = 7 inches long.
Note, if you’re working top down, that doesn’t mean you knit until the foot is 7 inches long past the heel position, though. That 7 inches needs to include the toe, so again consult the pattern to see how much space you need to leave for the toe—or, following the tip below, measure the heel!
Straight talk: The length of the heel you knit might not be exactly what’s given in the pattern. That’s ok! Fatimah gives a standard 2 inches for all the sizes, but it will come out a bit shorter for the smaller sizes and a bit longer for the larger sizes.
Plus we all know that row gauge is a tricky beast, which can change things, too. This is why being able to try things on can really help.
A cheeky cheat: Working top-down allows you to check things as you go. When you’ve worked a few inches of the foot, past the heel position, slip the sock stitches to waste yarn, and then work the heel. Once the heel knitting is done you can measure the depth of the heel so you’ll know exactly how much space you need to leave for the toe.
(The toe and heel are worked exactly the same way for the top-down version, after all!)
You’ll get the most accurate sense of fit if you put the sock on your foot, as it will shorten a little in wearing, due to the negative ease in foot circumference.
You can also save yourself some stress with a toe-up sock, in a very similar manner: place the waste yarn where you want it, work a few inches of the leg and then do the heel. This will allow you to try the sock on, before you finish it up.
I find that doing this makes the knitting of the leg significantly more relaxing—you can knit the leg in full confidence it will fit perfectly when you’re done! And if something is off, there’s less to undo.
And yes, this might seem like a bit of fuss, but remember it’s only for the first one of the pair. The second sock is a piece of cake, just make it match the first. And heck, if you make more socks with the same yarn and same pattern, you know you’ve got a reliable measurement that works every single time! Genius!
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I’d say YOU are the Genius in this regard, Kate! Thank you for this clear explanation.
Thank you for a great guide to getting the placement right. I love the afterthought heel, and haven’t had these tools in my kit to perfect it before.
Excellent tips and so clearly explained, thank you!
I love this is information.
Thanks for sharing!
I’ve used that Cheeky Cheat in a top down sock before, but without waste yarn. It made for a funny picture with 7 dpns holding my work, 3 for the foot, and 4 for working the heel.
Yes yes yes. Thank you. I do like trying on. But what if the heel itself is a little big? Fewer rows?
Hmm… An interesting question! There’s a few reasons why the heel might be too big. Now, if I remember what the TV doctors say, when you hear the sound of hooves, assume horses not zebras… The structure of the afterthought heel and the usual shape of people’s feet mean that it’s less likely that an afterthought heel be too big, without some other factor. Not impossible, but just less likely. So, the first thing I’d do is ask about the size of the sock overall relative to your feet – are you working with negative, making the sock so that it stretches to fit? Make sure that the sock is about 10% (an inch or so) smaller around than your foot measured at the ball of the foot. If that’s true, and the heel is still too big, and you’re using a short row/afterthought heel, then yes, remove a few of the even rounds to make it a bit more shallow. (The answer is different for different heel structures.) I hope that helps!
May I suggest that if you place the heel in the wrong place, there’s no need to frog the foot OR the leg to fix it – just undo the knitted heel and graft that opening closed! You can then reopen the sock sole in the correct placement for the new heel
You’re not wrong, Rhonda! But I wonder if for some knitters it might be a case of considering the less of two evils… Not everyone loves grafting. 🙂
This makes so much sense! I’ve only made one pair of socks but I’m planning on making some soon. This tip relieves my mind about placement since I haven’t used the afterthought heel before.
Great ideas.
Thank you SO much for this. The perfect answer to my earlier questions!