3 Must-Know Sock Heels + Pattern Recommendations

At their core, socks are very simple: woolly tubes meant to keep feet warm. But when you break them down a bit more, they get decidedly more complicated. First, do you want to knit them from the toe up or from the cuff down? Which cast-on will you use? Don’t forget toe shaping! And then there’s the reason for this post—heels. We’ll go over the three most commonly-used sock heels and give you some major sock inspo while we’re at it. 

Heel Flap & Gusset

This traditional method starts with an extra bit of knitting that extends along the back of the heel from the ankle bone to the base of the foot. Heel flaps can be knit in a variety of different textures, which can add durability to your socks (check out some of our favorite sock heels here!) The heel is then turned, usually with short rows, then stitches are picked up and knit to create the gusset.

Short-Row Heels

Short-row heels create a tidy wedge-shaped heel. There’s no flap or gusset—it’s made by first working short-rows that get shorter and shorter, until half the depth of the heel is reached, then working short rows that get longer and longer until all the stitches are being worked again. The pattern may use any of the many types of short row. Check out the shadow wrap short-rows in the Deuce Socks by Alice Yu.

Inserted Heels

Inserted heels refer to any heel that’s inserted into the sock after it’s been knit. There are two main types: the peasant heel, which uses waste yarn as a placeholder for the heel, and the afterthought heel. With the afterthought heel, the knitter determines the location of the heel after the leg and foot of the sock are complete, and snips a stitch at the center of the desired heel location. Stitches are unraveled to the left and right of the snipped stitch and picked up to work the heel. 

Which type of sock heel is your favorite to knit and wear? Tell us in the comments! Did you fall in love with one of these patterns? You can get all of these patterns as part of an Interweave+ membership, or purchase them individually.