Sock Heals

[Zukes]

Hi everyone!

I know there are some folks out there that know lots and lots about sock knitting...
So,I was wondering if someone could explain to me the difference between the heal flap and short row sock heal...(besides the fact that they are knit in 2 different manners)
Is one more durable than the other? Is one more comfortable? I see lots of patterns using the heal flap method but all my socks at home(store bought) seem to be made in the short row manner...
Also, can you substitute a short-row heal for a heal flap in a pattern?(and vice versa)
Help me understand this strange phenomenon called the sock heal!

[VickiIL]

I have never knit a short row heel but am planning on for my next pair of socks. It is the heel that is more like the commercial socks you can buy in stores. One benefit to short row heels I have seen is that they don't interrupt the pattern on self striping yarns like the heel flap method does. Other than that I am looking forward to hearing the responses of other sock knitters.

I do not like the short row heel. I knit one and then ended up ripping it out. "They" do say that it comes closest to the heels on store-bought socks, but all I ended up with were gussets with huge holes in them and a heel that was, to me, lumpy. Some people do like this type of heel and are likely much better at knitting it than I and thus don't end up with the holes and bumps. I just wasn't that happy with it.

I prefer the rounded heel and use it on all of my socks; it's nice and wide, so there aren't seams from the heel-turn underneath the foot.

[Julie]

Angelia...rounded heel? Is that like the afterthought heel, where you put the heel stitches on waste yarn and knit the heel after you're done with the rest of the sock?

No, though I am fascinated by the afterthought heel! Someday I will try it.

Here's the page I use for heels--the rounded heel is the second one. Regardless of the sock pattern, I use the same heel always.

I do plan to try each of the heels listed on that site, though, just to see how they work! Some seem strange...and oddly appealing!

[Julie]

Aaaah....those directions are for top-down, are they not?? I'm in the middle of toe-ups and trying to find a better heel than the dreaded short-row heel....

Yeah, those are for top down. I don't know how to do heels for toe-up socks...wonder if you could reverse the directions somehow? :thinking:

Ack, that hurts my head!