Simple Socks With Short Rows Heel

When I was a teenager my mother taught me how to knit socks. The socks that I made had knitted heels that were made with short rows.
My socks were made from a thicker yarn. It was easy to learn on a yarn that was meant to be for sweaters. I did not have to knit as many stitches yet I was able to learn how to knit the heel part and the toe part. They were not perfect at first but I was very proud of how the shaping came out. After that I made many socks for friends and family.
After I came to the United States I realized that there are different ways, more complex,  to knit the sock heels.
However, I still go back to the way my mom taught me. It seems much easier than other types of heels. It is one of the best ways to learn to knit socks. When a person accomplishes the easy way then he/she can progress onto more complex ways and designs.
Below you will find a  simple, free and very detailed pattern for medium sized socks, which would fit feet approximately 8.5" - 9.5" long. This pattern is very simple - great for anyone who wants to learn how to knit socks. I made a video (it has 3 parts - the cuff, the heel and the toe) for Righties and Lefties.
(soon to be posted here)


Material:

• Brown Sheep Co., Wildfoote, Luxury Sock Yarn; 75% Washable Wool/25% Nylon; 215 yds (197 m); 1.75 oz (50 gr) 
• Knitting needles #1 (2.25 mm) and #2 (2.75 mm)
• Scissors

Gouge (stockinette stitch):

• on knitting needles #1 (2.25 mm) - 1"x1" = 7 sts x 10 rows
• on knitting needles #2 (2.25 mm) - 1"x1" = 6 sts x 9 rows

Size:

These socks are approximately for ankles that are about 8" around. Each 4 extra stitches will add 0.75". Therefore, if your ankles are thicker than 8", add 4 or 8 or 12 extra stitches when casting on. Which should produce socks with ankle measurements of 8.75" or 9.5" or 10.25".

Abbreviation:

CO - cast on
K - knit
P - purl


Step-by-Step Directions:

Make 2.

Foundation: on knitting needles # 2 (2.75 mm) cast on 52 (56, 60, 64) stitches

The Cuff

Row 1          *[K2, P2]* - 13x, then move your stitches onto knitting needles # 1 (2.25 mm) and distribute the stitches evenly, among all three DPNs, without twisting your knitt connect them into a circle

I worked my cuff on knitting needles # 1 (2.25 mm). Make your cuff as long as you want it.
I knitted my cuff 3" long in K2/P2 ribbing.

Row 2-30      *[K2, P2]* - 13x

Start knitting with knitting needles # 2 (2.75 mm)
Then I knitted 1/2" in stockinette stitch.

Row 31-45      K52

Forming The Heel

Before you start knitting 46th row move 26 stitches on the needle #1, 13 stitches on the needle #2 and 13 stitches on the needle #3. To form your heel you will work with 26 stitches on the needle #1 and you will use also a knitting needle #4, therefore you will work with two knitting needles, leaving needles #2 and #3 alone.

Row 46           (RS) K8, pm, K10, pm, K7 (you knitted 25 sts), leave 26th stitch on your left needle and  turn your work to knit on wrong side
Row 47           (WS - now you have 1 st on the right needle and 25 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P23 (to 1 st before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 48           (RS - now you have 1 st on the right needle and 25 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K22 (to 2 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 49           (WS - now you have 2 sts on the right needle and 24 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P21 (to 2 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 50           (RS - now you have 2 st on the right needle and 24 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K20 (to 3 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 51           (WS - now you have 3 sts on the right needle and 23 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P19 (to 3 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 52           (RS - now you have 3 st on the right needle and 23 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K18 (to 4 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 53           (WS - now you have 4 sts on the right needle and 22 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P17 (to 4 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 54           (RS - now you have 4 st on the right needle and 22 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K16 (to 5 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 55           (WS - now you have 5 sts on the right needle and 21 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P15 (to 5 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 56           (RS - now you have 5 st on the right needle and 21 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K14 (to 6 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 57           (WS - now you have 6 sts on the right needle and 20 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P13 (to 6 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 58           (RS - now you have 6 st on the right needle and 20 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K12 (to 7 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 59           (WS - now you have 7 sts on the right needle and 19 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P11 (to 7 sts before the end); turn your work to knit on the right side

Now we will start adding stitches on both,  the right and wrong, sides back again

Row 1           (RS - now you have 7 st on the right needle and 19 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K10 (to 8 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 18th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 19th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 19th st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 2           (WS - now you have 7 sts on the right needle and 19 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P10 (to 8 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 18th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 19th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 19th st together;
turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 3           (RS - now you have 7 st on the right needle and 19 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K11 (to 7 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 19th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 20th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 20th st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 4           (WS - now you have 6 sts on the right needle and 20 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P12 (to 7 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 19th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 20th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 20th st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 5           (RS - now you have 6 st on the right needle and 20 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K13 (to 6 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 20th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 21th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 21st st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 6           (WS - now you have 5 sts on the right needle and 21 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P14 (to 6 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 20th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 21st st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 21th st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 7           (RS - now you have 5 st on the right needle and 21 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K15 (to 5 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 21st stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 22nd st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 22nd st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 8           (WS - now you have 4 sts on the right needle and 22 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P16 (to 5 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 21st stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 22nd st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 22nd st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 9           (RS - now you have 4 st on the right needle and 22 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K17 (to 4 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 22st stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 23rd st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 23rd st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 10           (WS - now you have 3 sts on the right needle and 23 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P18 (to 4 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 22nd stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 23rd st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 23rd st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 11           (RS - now you have 3 st on the right needle and 23 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K19 (to 3 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 23rd stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 24th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 23rd st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 12           (WS - now you have 2 sts on the right needle and 24 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P20 (to 3 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 23rd stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 24th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 24th st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 13           (RS - now you have 2 st on the right needle and 24 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K21 (to 2 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 24th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 25th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 25th st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 14           (WS - now you have 1 sts on the right needle and 25 sts on the left needle) With yarn in front sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P22 (to 2 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 24th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 25th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 25th st together; turn your work to knit on the right side
Row 15           (RS - now you have 1 st on the right needle and 25 sts on the left needle) With yarn in back sl st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then K23 (to 1 sts before the end); note: add a stitch - pick a horizontal strand between your 25th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 26th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then knit this extra stitch with your 26th st together; turn your work to knit on the wrong side
Row 16           (WS - now you have all 26 sts on one needle only) With yarn in front sl st first st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, then P24 (to 1 sts before the end); note: add a stitch  - pick a horizontal strand between your 25th stitch (= last stitch on your right needle) and 26th st (= first stitch on your left needle) from front to back and put it on your left needle, then purl this extra stitch with your 25th st together; turn your work to knit on the right side

The Foot Area

From now on you will work on the right side in the round again

Row 1            sl st first st purlwise from left needle onto right needle, K25; now close a hole between the stitches/needles by picking a stitch between your 26th and 27th stitches and knit the "added stitch" with 27th st together; K25

Row 2           now close a hole between the stitches/needles by picking a stitch between your last knitted  and your 1st stitches and knit the "added stitch" with 1st st together, K51

Row 3-38    K52

Toe Area

Row 39       *[K2tog, K22, SSK]* - 2x
Row 40       K48
Row 41       *[K2tog, K20, SSK]* - 2x
Row 42       K44
Row 43       *[K2tog, K18, SSK]* - 2x
Row 44       K40
Row 45       *[K2tog, K14, SSK]* - 2x
Row 46       K36
Row 47       *[K2tog, K10, SSK]* - 2x
Row 48       K32
Row 49       *[K2tog, K8, SSK]* - 2x
Row 50       K28
Row 51       *[K2tog, K6, SSK]* - 2x
Row 52       K24
Row 53       *[K2tog, K4, SSK]* - 2x
Row 54       K20

Move stitches from a needle #2 onto needle #1 and stitches from a needle #3 onto needle #4. Use Kitchener stitch to seam two sets of live stitches (10 sts & 10 sts) invisibly. See my detailed video how to do the Kitchener stitch.

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