An Afterthought

I think that most people are smarter than they think they are, and that most people know more than they think they do. It is a shame that this sort of theory is mostly proven out by pub quizzes and rollicking games of trivial pursuit, but there you have it. I include myself in this category, since my brain is a huge repository for information – largely stupid and irrelevant information…like the classification of stars or I Picked My Apples Today to help remember the phases of Mitosis – Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase Anaphase and Telophase – which, although it was vital information at one point, is now stuck in my brain for all time for no good reason, using up room that keeps me from remembering where my house keys are. My point, and I do have one, is that you never know what’s up there in your head, until all of a sudden something shakes loose and you remember something that you once passed briefly, or even disregarded as stupid at the time.

Such was the case with Elizabeth Zimmermanns afterthought heel. Seldom do I think this of even one word in the great and collected works of EZ, but when I first read about an afterthought heel, I recall deciding (rather firmly) that it was dumbass. I mean, an afterthought pocket? You bet. Damn clever in fact. How many times have you been rubbing your hands down the front of a sweater or something and thought “Crap. As an afterthought, I really wish I’d added a pocket.” All the time, makes total sense. Pockets are optional and sometimes you just don’t know if you will have enough yarn or if you want one or where you want one.

An afterthought heel though? I mean, c’mon. Have you ever been knitting a sock and thought “You know, I just don’t know if I will want a heel on this sock or not. Maybe I’ll just knit a tube and then see if I still have heels on my body when I’m done.” Of course not. See what I mean? Dumbass.

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I am sure then, that if Elizabeth could have seen me last Saturday night, she would have cracked herself up. I was on a very tight knitting schedule, but Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Skydiggers Concert at the Horseshoe, so I went, but was going to knit.

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A little while into the evening, I realized that I had a problem. it’s way, way too dark and crowded to turn a heel in the horseshoe, and the schedule did not allow time for fixing mistakes. I was going to stop (sadly) and then, from far back in the corner of my mind that also knows that rose windows are gothic, shook out idea of the afterthought heel. I could keep knitting, keep getting Canadian musicians to hold my sock in progress,

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(That’s the Cash Brothers)

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(That’s the indomitable Andy Maize)

…and chug all the way straight down to the toe and add the heel later. It was brilliant.

Here’s how. Knit a tube. Make a toe on the end. (The one I use most often is the one at the bottom, here)

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Then lie the sock down, toe flat, and figure where you would like the heel to go. (Tip: make sure you have the toe flat before you start working this out. Toes and heels on humans should line up, and you don’t want your heel sticking out the side of the sock.)

Scoop up a this row of stitches. (You want it to be half of the stitches…so if you have a 64 stitch sock, pick up 32.)

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Snip a stitch in THE MIDDLE of the row below,

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and start picking up stitches below that too. I find it easiest to unpick that middle stitch, and then grab the stitches a few at a time.

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When you have 32 picked up on the bottom too, then knit another toe.

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(I know it seems wrong, but toes and heels are the same, for the purposes of knitting.)

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See that?

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I’m not sure it’s going to ever be my favourite technique for heels, but I have to say, I owe EZ an apology for thinking it was totally dumbass. Another piece of useless information….that turned out not to be so useless.

The yarn:

I bought the yarn for these socks from The Unique Sheep and it’s “Verve“, a sock weight yarn in the colourway Doctors Without Borders. 50% of her sales of any yarn in this colourway go to the good guys. Naturally, these are Ben’s Christmas socks, since he is one of the good guys.

175 thoughts on “An Afterthought

  1. Wow, Steph! That is way exceedingly brilliant! I’m so glad to know I can do that–and you know, this way you could knit almost to the end of your yarn (assuming you’d divided it for two socks first) and then put the heel in, so that the sock would be as long as possible.
    And I love being the first commentor.

  2. I think that I am potentially first… Hm. Doubt it though.
    And if it makes you feel better, you have theoretically and effectively no limit on your long term memory, it’s just the short term memory thing that gets all of us. It kinda gets filtered out relatively quickly, especially information that we didn’t consciously process (ie: where you put your keys).
    Btw, the I Picked My Apples Today will definitely come in handy for me. Thanks.

  3. Thanks for posting my dear, The Blog is very grateful to hear how everything else went! I kinneared my family over the holidays – what great candid shots.

  4. well i’ll be dipped in s***. you are a clever girl that’s what makes you the YH as you continue to amaze and aspire us all.

  5. wow. that’s quite possibly the coolest thing i’ve ever seen! i hate turning heels. i’ll admit it. i’m finally chugging along on a sock, feeling like i’ve got the rhythm down, and a heel decides it must be knit. which is about when i give up every time. but this? this might just get me knitting socks again!

  6. So now you have something to replace the mitosis facts without taking up any more brain cells:
    Intelligent People Make Afterthoughts in Tubes.

  7. Great socks! The Unique Sheep has fantastic yarn and her DWB colorway is no exception. I’ve filed the Afterthought Heel away in my “information that may come in handy someday” file in my brain. Oh crap… now I can’t remember where I put my keys! 😀

  8. Yee-haw! All in favor of being able to chug along on socks, say aye! The only problem I see is that you can’t try on the sock for foot lenghth.

  9. Brilliant! I don’t need any heels (or toes) just now, but I think perhaps the sweater coat I just finished could use pockets.
    In terms of useless information in the attic, I’ve got pi to 11 digits. This is not even good for crossword puzzles.

  10. I love the way the heel turned out. I used an afterthought heel for only the second time a few days ago, finishing my youngest’s two color argyle stocking. After struggling to figure out how to get the argyle pattern going again after picking up stitches, I decided an afterthought heel would be a much better solution. Not a perfect heel, I grant you. But since this was a stocking and not a sock to be worn, the job was good enough. I should likely practice this more, until I get as spiffy as you at it!

  11. I don’t love the afterthought heel, but it does come in handy especially if you want to keep a striping pattern consistent down the foot. I normally do mine by knitting half a row in a waste yarn. I find that easier conceptually than needing to cut a stitch even though it is mostly the same thing.

  12. Steph! I’m so having trouble getting past my first heel, that I was considering tube socks! Maybe you have found THE solution!

  13. Cool. And gorgeous, gorgeous colorway–I hope they’re stocked up, because you know there’s going to be a huge run on it today.

  14. Wow thats cool. I think its something I might try on a toe up sock too. Doing that would eliminate all the things I hate about making socks (those things being kitchener stitch and knitting the heel). Although Im not as much of a fan of the short row heel as I am of the heal flap.

  15. Wow I love that colorway. Wow wow wow. I too never thought I would need an afterthought heel. But you have given me the guts to keep it filed away in the back of my head between “abacus” and “armadillo”.

  16. Hi Stephanie & friends:
    For the most part this is the only heel I use, but it is not an afterthought for me; I knit in a piece of waste yarn where I want the heel while knitting the sock. It is the perfect heel for self patterning sock yarns as it doesn’t distort the pattern on the front of the sock while you knit the heel. I discovered this heel in a book my mom had from the 1940’s.

  17. I think I have a similar corner in my brain, where I can say “Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species” from grade 7 science classes without really thinking about it. And now I shall tuck the afterthought heel in there just in case it comes up on Jeopardy along with the rest of the random stuff that lurks in that corner.

  18. I’ve done the afterthought heel before — is it also referred to as a peasant heel? Worked out great the first time I did that heel for a pair of socks for an adult male. But when I used a lower stitch count for smaller circumference socks, the heel came out very teeny. I just last night frogged a sock because the afterthought heel looked so, um, dumbass. Yours looks fabulous though, so I’m encouraged to try the technique again. Though perhaps not soon. . . been spending way too much time at the frog pond lately.

  19. Oooh, I’ve never seen it done that way before. I’ve always done a variation on that, where one knits half a round of scrap yarn approximately where the heel should go, and then picks up the stitches above and below that once the tube is finished. The things you can learn on the internet!

  20. Vodka, Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch
    The order of the call wells on our portable bars when I was a catering manager. It will never leave me. I don’t even drink, but I can’t get the line up out of my brain.
    Anyhow, from now on when I don’t have a lot of yarn, I am doing this method, toe up, and using a different yarn for the heel.
    Awesome, thank you for posting it!

  21. I have a dusty corner in my brain where stuff collects: stuff like illegal chess moves, how many cups are in a pint, and my locker combination from 8th grade. Mine rarely come in handy, glad to hears yours did!

  22. This line: I mean, c’mon. Have you ever been knitting a sock and thought “You know, I just don’t know if I will want a heel on this sock or not. Maybe I’ll just knit a tube and then see if I still have heels on my body when I’m done.” just made me nearly spit my drink all over my monitor. LOL.
    Like you, I’m not sure that would be my preferred method of making a heel, but I can certainly see where it could come in handy!

  23. Join a Great Group of Felines – the memory trick for a combination lock at the animal shelter where I used to work.
    I absolutely love the idea of the afterthought heel except for the idea of snipping into perfectly good knitted stitches terrifies me. And no, I will probably never try knitting a sweater with steeks.

  24. The heel comment ranks right up there with my always asking my sister to check that she really does still have 2 feet (or 2 hands)…and you know she always does. The brat. 😉

  25. I’m laughing myself silly, I’m sitting here, reading blogs and knitting an afterthought heel. I’m to darned inept to darn the hole in my STR socks, so I cut it out and am 1/2 was done with the replacement heel in a contrasting color.
    Mostly because I’m too cheap to throw out the hard work it took to make the socks, and I’m a slow knitter with cold feet 😉

  26. This has been bending my brain for the last five minutes while I try to work out how to do this without cutting (Eeek! No, no, don’t cut the yarn! All will unravel and life as we know it will fall apart! Steeking is clearly not something I am ready for yet.)
    I considered knitting in half a round of waste yarn (knit with waste yarn for half a round, then pick up where you left off with the main colour, knitting over the just-knit waste yarn stitches, yes? unpick and pick up stitches later?) but that wouldn’t be an afterthought heel as you would have to know where you wanted it right then and there.
    But this way, the EZ way, means you can knit socks for folks whose footsize is a mystery – as long as you take your needles along to the party and knock out a pair of heels over the birthday cake! It doesn’t matter how long their foot is as you can put the heel in the right place at the last possible minute, having had the new owner as a model for working out where! The only problem I can see here is that I will be grafting after a drink or two!
    This just solved a problem for me! Yippee!
    I think you might just have convinced me to buy some EZ. Any suggestions for the first one to get?

  27. VERY COOL! EZ’s wisdom continues to rise.
    On a note totally not related to your blog entry, I bought the yarn to make myself a Kauni. I’ve been coveting the pattern and yarn since you made yours. It was my reward for surviving another crazy Christmas.

  28. Way tooooo much trivia in brain to even begin listing it.
    Love the socks and the fact that you could still party and knit. Very clever.
    I was telling myself to use the sock yarn in the stash and to be good…. but with a DWB colourways, I may have to succumb to new yarn.

  29. I’ve gotten to the point making socks that I have eliminated the hole in the toe, but still end up with a hole in the heel. Since I don’t make holes in the toes, maybe using the EZ heel might mean I could finally make a sock without a hole in it? I’m going to try it.
    Meanwhile, you showed me another bunch of Yarns. I. Must. Have. How am I ever supposed to knit through my stash so I can move to Europe — if you keep showing me new yarns?

  30. I was just looking at Knitting Without Tears for the first time (!!!) and got very curious about the afterthought heel too. That would be so satisfying to just blaze through the whole foot and leg and just do the heels for a bit of top-up after. I think the first time I encountered that method was the afterthought thumb on Fetching. So cool and you don’t even know it’s there after you look at the finished product.

  31. Oooh, very nice yarn, and for a wonderful cause too! One skein in the mail on the way to meeee.

  32. So cool– again, not my favorite heel, but will definately file this trick in the mental filing cabinet. And, I still remember the mnemonic device for the 12 cranial nerves- On old Olympus’s towering top, a Finn and German viewed some hops.

  33. When I really re-learned to knit from Jacqueline Fee’s first edition of the Sweater Workbook, I thought the afterthought pocket on the sampler was one of the neatest tricks ever. Afterthought heels, even more amazing! Thanks for the demo, it makes the most sense yet of the few explanations I’ve read for it.
    And in keeping with everyone else’s contributions… [g] Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest: Mercury, Venus, Terra, Mars, Asteroid Belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Thank you, Robert A. Heinlein and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel–I can always keep the Solar System in order! Not that I have much *use* for it, mind you. But you never know when you’re going to need that info to pilot a spaceship or something. (I still live in hope, but apparently I’ll have to wait until my next life. Damn!)

  34. The very best thing about an afterthought heel is that if you wear a hole it it, you just pick out the whole heel and reknit it. For years I never made a sock without an afterthought heel.
    Of course I knit to where I want the heel, then knit half the stitches onto a contrasting color yarn and then continue knitting the foot to the toe. I go back and pick out the contrasting yarn and knit the heel.
    Oh and DH kinneared the dog while he was taking pictures of me spinning on my New AA wheel. It is on my flickr, link on my blog.
    Viki

  35. That looks like so much fun, I’m tempted to try it. My only question is how do you know how far to knit before you start your toe? How do you know you’ll have enough for the ankle and the foot when you put your heel in?
    I apologize if someone else asked this already. I didn’t read all the other comments.

  36. Cool….but how do you figure out where you want the heel? With my luck, I’d end up with a sock way too long or way too short.

  37. After thought hell is absolutely ingenius. EZ was way ahead of her time. Imagine now if she were still with us and had a computer–Wowza. Good for you for trying it and finding out it was’nt so dumbass afterall.

  38. Just in the past couple of weeks I read on somebody’s blog that they use the afterthought heel when they have a good stripe pattern across the ankle that they don’t want to interrupt. Sounds pretty clever to me! I never understood the technical details until you explained it today — thanks!

  39. Thank you for the little tutorial! Speaking as a person who has hated making short row heels, I see another application. (My self-striping socks just end up with funny stripes, because I’m not willing to give up the flap.) Of course, when I want to remember this, my brain will probably just cough up the order of the planets or the names of the kids in the first class I ever taught.

  40. Wow!!! That’s brilliant. I may have to try that sometime, as there are times when I don’t want to have to deal with the heel at the time I’m supposed to deal with it. And it seems like it’s not too difficult, too. Thank you for telling us about it!!!! Again, BRILLIANT!!!

  41. That’s a very neat little trick there. And yes, it is important to maintain the ability to have Canadian musicians pose with the sock.

  42. Thanks for highlighting my favorite sock technique ever. If it wasn’t for the Turkish cast on, the after thought heel, and the sewn bind off, I’d never get a pair of socks off the needles.

  43. Yay for being able to knit in the dark and still accomplish knitting goals! Yay for afterthought heels! And Yay for Steph taking pictures of the process even though she was on deadline!
    Every Good Boy Does Fine. Just one of many things clogging the old neurons. And what about, My Very Excellent Mother Served Us Nine Pies? No pies anymore — now a worthless mnemonic. Taking up space. I had a garage sale a few years ago and sold pretty much all the baby and toddler clothes from my daughters’ younger days. As I sorted and priced them, I realized I remembered an inordinate amount of trivia about the clothes — where I bought the clothes or who gave them to us, what size they were [without looking], which were Hanna Andersson, whether they were part of a set, and any memorable occasions the girls wore them on. Talk about useless information. That’s still in there, too. Gumming up the works. No wonder I can’t remember where I left my —– (fill in the blank).

  44. I just got my first EZ book Knitting Without Tears for Christmas and finished it last night. The afterthought heel struck me as brilliant. Now you decide to blog about it and show me pictures?! Spooky- get out of my head!!!!

  45. My high school geography teacher made us learn all the African countries and their capitols. I scoffed at the time, but I’d been to Africa 5 times before I was forty and my friends all think I am the African information go to person.
    On my last trip this spring, I even met a guy who had been with MSF heading up various construction projects for them. His goal? To work in a refugee camp on an upcoming job. He was fascinating and how many people say their goal is to work in a refugee camp? That’s my kind of person! (And if I weren’t married and with little kids I’d have run away with him to work there too.)

  46. Thanks so much for the afterthought heel demo! It really helps to be able to see it. :O) I think, though, that I would knit in a row of contrast thread rather than cutting anything. I’m a chicken. So there. I was wondering as I looked at your process, if it could be done that way, and once again, the blog has that information! Thanks bloggerpeoples! The DWB colour is beautiful. I hope Ben liked the socks. :O)

  47. I hate making socks because of the heels. I’ll knit a million gloves and mittens, but nary a sock. But now, this is so much easier to understand than the patterns I have. Looks like using a reinforcement thread would be easy that way. Thanks!!

  48. Frankly, I’d love to hear the come-on line you use when you ask people to hold your sock while you take a picture of them. Either one of those things is an interesting enough question to ask, but to ask for both of them together? 🙂

  49. Awesome! I’ve been torturing myself with toe-up socks because I want to use up all the yarn, but now (as the first commenter wisely pointed out) I can use up most of the yarn doing this. I’m so excited and I’ve got more sock yarn coming to my house very soon!
    I feel so enlightened, like when you showed us how to switch the twist of a cable.

  50. Seems like when I read EZ’s book, one of the reasons given for knitting an afterthought heel was that the heel typically is the part that wears out first. So you could reknit the heel and not the whole sock when the heels wore out.
    Thanks for pictures, until now I have only read descriptions of the afterthought heel.

  51. Lovely. Just lovely. I may have to try this, too. If I can remember Eat All Day, Get Big Easy from learning to play the guitar 26 years ago, afterthought heels should be a snap.
    Another example of “It’s only as hard as you think it is.”

  52. As far as (apparently) usless information cluttering up your mind goes, anything by EZ is good to have in there. It will likely come in useful some day, and if not, will at least be entertaining if you ever get bored! Great socks.

  53. P.S., I thought you were going to say you cruised on down to the toe before realizing you had forgotten to put a heel in. It can happen (trust me). Another reason to remember the afterthought heel.

  54. My favorite thing about afterthought heels is that if you’ve managed to eke a striping sequence out of a hand-dyed yarn, as you seem to have done there, the afterthought heel doesn’t disturb the delicate balance I know, theoretically a short-row heel won’t interrupt it much, but experience tells me different. That’s when I pull out the afterthought heel.

  55. EZ really was a genius! Don’t know when that information will come in handy, but I’m sure it will. I’m one of those people who looks forward to turning heels–it makes me feel clever, and I’ve even impressed a non-knitter or two with the “magic” of turning heels. On the subject of useless information, I think we all have lots. One of mine is the full name of the Hudson’s Bay (“The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay”, repeated so often that my three daughters have committed it to memory, too. It even earned one of the extra marks in Socials one year.) Sad? Perhaps.

  56. I haven’t tried the afterthought heel and now I know by just looking at your photos I could do it without instructions in front of me. Is is comfortable when worn? I haven’t read much EZ but have met and chatted with her daughter Lloie Schwartz a couple of times.

  57. Thanks for the details. I’ve heard of afterthought heels, but have never had the desire to learn how to do them. Having the heel break up the sock into “first half” and “last half” helps me avoid second sock syndrome. Knitting a long tube, I fear I’d never finish one, let alone two. I must say that the way you did this one is not how I would have thought it was done (I’ve always assumed that waste yarn was involved–a la adding the thumb in the Fetching mitts pattern–which would require not only having waste yarn at your disposal [not likely in the pub] but also predetermining where you want the heel to be added). Very interesting. Instead of working another toe, could you do a short row heel instead?

  58. Afterthought? Geesh! I’ve got all the EZ books and tapes — I think I’ll give it a go with some gastly yuck yarn in case I screw it up. (of course if its gastly yuck yarn it will be a perfectly constructed sock with after thought heel in a gastly yuck yarn)
    I’m really gearing up for the mocassin socks though.

  59. Okay–I can totally see how that would come in handy–I too, have had to put the sock aside come heel time. And there goes your coolness, and then the awkward explanations, and really, an afterthought heel could totally just save the moment. I get it. I really do:-)

  60. Not dumbass at all! Very smartass, methinks!
    And useless info? How ’bout “to get cider from apples for quince turn crank down” for the Moh’s hardness scale of minerals. I actually think my Earth Science teacher (whose name I *can’t* remember) made that one up – I’ve never met anyone else who knows it…
    P.S. Shucks – I just googled the hardness scale – and it seems they replaced feldspar with orthoclase on number 6 – I’m going to have to get a new mnemonic!!!

  61. What a cool concept (although you’ve completely blown my mind with “now make a heel by knitting a toe”… wild!). You’ve knit a pair of lovely, delicious socks – am I the only one who thinks they look like candy canes?

  62. I’ve done the afterthought heel and found it easier to take a heavier yarn in a different color and knit with that where I want my heel. Makes finding that spot oh so easy!

  63. Speaking of mnemonics, how about HOMES for the Great Lakes? (It often shows up in crossword puzzles.)

  64. Well, yes, you could knit in a waste yarn, but then it would be a forethought heel, wouldn’t it? The beauty of the afterthought heel is … well, you get it. (and you figure out where to cut by putting it on. C’mon, now.)
    Four New B.C. Princes Sassed A Man, Al, On Quebec. 8th grade mnomic Pam Daley and I made up for the provinces of Canada, thank you — and now I hear they’ve gone and added one. Hmph.

  65. What great info about the afterthought heel. I have a pair of socks with holes in both heels (made with traditional heel flaps), but maybe I can create new heels this way with a few modifications. They have been on the spare bed for about 3 months because I hate to say “oh darn!” and just throw them out. Now I am motivated to save them. Thanks.

  66. Interestingly enough, I have done that style of heel exactly once, because Nancy Bush told me to, and that is the only pair of socks on which I’ve ever had to replace worn out heels. I mention this not because I think the heel is somehow cursed, but because, much to the contrary, it is a ridiculously easy heel to rip out and then replace with new yarn. Might be good if one of your recipients tends to wear holes in his/her heels.
    I wear out the toes, myself.

  67. Dude, I. Want. That. Yarn! (Oh wait, I always want yarn… No big surprise…)
    And is it just me, or does it look like the one guy in the Cash Brothers has an erection? Looks like he does t’me… But then, I’m pervy. Heh.
    Oh, btw, if anyone lives near a Wegmans (kickarse upper middle classish grocery store), try some stuff from their Asian Wockery bar. So frickin’ tasty!!! And no, I’m not bein’ paid for this ad, though I should be.

  68. For the waste yarn method: toe up, knit to where
    the sock just reaches the instep bend (where your leg goes up from the top of your foot) when you try it on. That’s where you put in the waste yarn for the heel. If the sock is narrow or you just know you’ll need a bigger heel (some people do), use 2/3 of the stitches instead of 1/2.
    Toe down, make the leg the length you want, put in the waste yarn, knit to 2″ from the tip of the toes (hold the waste yarn at the instep bend and gently stretch it as if wearing it), begin toe decreases.
    Size estimate for other people: most people’s feet are the length of their forearm from elbow tip to inside of bent wrist. Take foot (forearm) length, subtract 2 inches (5cm) for toes, divide in half, result is approximate instep length.
    My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles (for the planets, and Pluto is still a planet as far as I’m concerned).

  69. That’s awesome!! I love that the color way works both for Christmas and for DWB!!
    And by the way: King Phillip Came Over For Great Soup (or Sex) — Kingdom, Phyllum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
    And: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
    Boy are those useful things to know!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Save me from my brain. 🙂

  70. I think it would be easier (and less nerve-wracking) to use the fetching method of setting stitches aside for the thumb, to set stitches aside for the heel. At the heel, knit half the stitches with waste yarn, then knit them again with the working yarn, thereby setting aside live stitches without having to use scissors or a ruler or any of that claptrap. And, you wouldn’t have to worry about a heel coming out of the side of your sock.
    Not appropriate in all situations, for sure, but a damned nice idea.

  71. OK. I know you said a bunch of important and funny stuff beforehand, but I’d like to focus on the fact that only you would get sock yarn to pool in exactly the same way and in exactly the same place on both socks. You are the master, clearly.

  72. And maybe I should read through the comments before posting my “brilliant” idea. I love knitters, I just wish we weren’t *all* so damned clever.

  73. Wished I had been taught this method before repairing my 6 pairs of socks. Thanks though now a really easy repair the next time, beats taking the slightly felted fuzz and weaving that into the mess that I call darning…..

  74. Another cool thing (and I apologize if someone else already added this… I didn’t read all 88 posts) is that if the heel wears out, you can easily replace it! Afterthought heels are my heels of choice.
    Steph, you are the best!

  75. Oh Lordy–You made me laugh. I can still sing “The Preposition Song” that Mrs. Galowski taught us in the 7th grade. It’s the most useless of useless information but it gets stuck in my head on a regular basis.
    It’s worse than Delta Dawn.

  76. Wow. I’ve never understood the “afterthought heel” until now. I dont really expect you to reply, but will this type of heel work with either cuff down/toe up? I have this stalled sock that I knit from the toe up (my first one knit that way) and I’m literally stuck on the heel, unsure what to do next. This might work for me! Knit a tube..figure out where the heel goes..and pray I do it right! Is it really as easy as you made it look? Please say yes.

  77. So – New Year is on the horizon – what’s the new goal for MSF/KWB’s – – ???? Are we going for $750,000 or for the great cool $1-Million? Knitters are undisputably the best – – I’ll start with $100. Let’s go – – lets do it for MSF/KWB’s!! Stephanie started it – let’s continue to give for all of those who need it most, through the one entity that really produces results.
    Best wishes for a great New Year to all . . . .
    Marietta

  78. Cool! And think, people…if your sock yarn is in tight supply, you could do this on 2 socks at a time, and then make a contrasting heel. Or even contrasting toes and heels! Consider the possibilities.

  79. I love this! Besides all the other good reasons the other gave mine is the admission that I still have to concentrate during a heel turn. The afterthought heel would solve my “I have a sock to knit on but I can’t work on it because I am at the heel” dilemma that I have run into.
    You also just gave me my new years resolution…. I will sit and read my Zimmerman books from cover to cover… and I will continue to do this from time to time because I am not always ready to understand the genius of her words.

  80. The first time I knit a toe-up sock with a short row toe and heel (a la Wendyknits) I was delighted to find that after I knit the short row toe, I had already learned how to knit the short row heel. The toe and heel can be identical in their architecture, and why not, if it suits the occasion and mood of the knitter. “Knitters choice,” says EZ. Indeed.

  81. I’ve done Afterthoughts a number of ways, but the first two pair I did the way you just did yours. It means that you can just knit like the wind, while you are in public, and think about heels later when nobody’s bothering you.
    I usually prefer the method that Lucy Neatby teaches, which uses waste yarn to hold a place for the heel for later. Sometimes there is no time for the luxury of waste yarn, though.
    I love that there are so many ways to make a sock fit a foot. Cool, huh?
    Hugs from snowy Lansing, Michigan,
    LynnH

  82. WOW! Brilliant! Revelation! I really never looked at a tube sock as something that merely lacked a heel. I guess I thought it was engineered totally different or something! Cool cool cool.

  83. Beautifully depicted. I have been studying EZ quite a bit lately her books lack nice step by step photos such as yours.

  84. Brilliant! That used to be my favorite heel, only it wasn’t really an afterthought, because I would put waste yarn in where the heel would go. I think it’s called a peasant heel or grandmother’s heel if you do it that way. If I did a true afterthought heel I would never be absolutely positive it was centered, and I would drive myself wacko trying to see if I was off by one stitch. My control issues are well known. (See 120-stitch sock.)
    Doesn’t EZ say to use 2/3 of the sts for the heel? I thought that was too many, but 1/2 seemed like slightly too few, so I borrow two (usually) or three or four from each side for a short-row heel, which is my heel of choice these days.

  85. That has got to be the coolest bit of knitting info I’ve learned….in a long time. Way cool! (I haven’t been knitting very long so I’m easily amused by the magic that is knitting.)

  86. I am so excited! I have been knitting a pair of socks, one inside the other (double knitting) it is soooooo cooool. Just think two socks at the same time. Anyway, I am at the heel and I was stuck until I stumbled across the ‘afterthought heel’ technique. Now I can just knit the socks down the the toe and then knit the heels. The process I was using says to use the short row heel technique and I just wasn’t “getting it”. Now I don’t have to worry about it. I can’tell you how jazzed about this I am. If you could see me you could see me smiling and giggling 🙂

  87. HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior… I’ll never forget the Great Lakes. I’ve used 1/2 the stitches and 2/3 and it seems it all depends on how snug the sock is to begin with. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a sock in the UFO pile that needs one heel and the pair will be done. Maybe that will be tomorrow’s project. Thanks!

  88. Brilliance. I’ve refrained from taking socks places when I was at the heel-turning stage, simply because it typically requires a certain degree of concentration and/or light. But this is absolutely amazing…once you get over the idea of snipping a poor little stitch right in the middle of the knitting. How neat!

  89. Wow. That is quite an impressive trick. I need to give this Zimmerman a whirl. I haven’t been able to find one of her books anywhere though – seems kind of strange doesn’t it?
    Your post answered the unasked question that arose at YS when I watched the owner cranking out reams and reams of sock tube on an antique sock machine. Though I guess she’d be making afterthought cuffs, toes and heels. Still pretty good trick.
    Don’t forget Jeopardy – you can impress all sorts of people with your wisdom while watching Jeopardy. (and if it ever makes you feel slow, give Wheel of Fortune 5 minutes – it will greatly boost your intellectual ego)

  90. I got my first EZ book for Christmas. I got The Opinionated Knitter, because I am apparently the only person in the *world* who hasn’t made a BSJ, and would like to fix that soon! She’s quite a smarty, that EZ. Thanks for the lovely demonstration – very easy to follow. =)

  91. Wow that’s brilliant. I’ve sort of skimmed over how to do an afterthought heel and it seemed too scary. You made it make sense so now should I find myself knitting in the dark, I might have a chance to keep knitting and not have to stop, but I doubt it since I knit only slightly faster than molasses moves.

  92. I have a question….I HATE SR heels, with a real passion, I really hate them and avoid toe up due to this, my question is, can I do a toe up with a heel that has the decreases like that?? I like that a lot ooh also is it a tighter fit than a gusset heel??

  93. 1. i had the same thought when I read ‘afterthougt heel’, but could never have put it into words as funny as you did.
    2. i’ll be damned! it really does work! but as cairi said, how does it fit? because i gotta tell ya, this sounds like it could really solve the knitting on the road problems of measuring. or should i stop trying to get away with doing things easier?

  94. I love the afterthought heel. It is usually my heel of choice whenever I am on a trip and find myself projectless. Then I go to a knit store, buy some sock yarn, and start socks. Of course, at that point, I don’t have my cheat sheet of instructions on how to turn a heel, and, though my brain is a vast repository of some information, somehow the instructions for turning a heel have not yet attached themselves permanently to my neural net. So socks with an afterthought heel is what I end up making because I have managed to remember how to do a toe and so can make said heel.
    It is also a useful technique for those aging eyes of mine. Going round and round in a tube is easy in the dim rooms without reading glasses. Turning a heel is not.

  95. I use this heel a lot. My son wears a size 18 shoe and I want those socks to last.
    An alternative to the afterthought heel is the forethought heel. You can determine where you want the heel to go, knit half the stitches of your sock on a waste yarn, start back where you attached the waste yarn and continue to knit the sock. Once the toe is done, slip the waste yarn out (I pick up the stitches as I do this) and knit my forethought/afterthought heel.
    My heel is easy to replace and the patterning on my sock isn’t disturbed by the gusset and heel.
    You’ve probably already thought of this, but just in case…
    Happy New Year!

  96. “A Fat Black Mare Can Hardly Ever Kick.” The order of markers in a (small) dressage arena.
    I would love to hear Mrs. Galowski’s Preposition Song!
    Seriously, is it possible that putting in an Afterthought Heel would prevent the hole I can’t seem to avoid on turned heels? Very discouraging, that. I feel like such a Real Knitter when the heel emerges from my novice needles, then I see that wretched hole and want to cry. Got a case of Second Sock Syndrome brewing right now, in fact…

  97. Clearly, Great Minds think alike! While you were writing about EZ, I was watching her DVD, “Knitting Workshop” …and saw her make an ‘Afterthought Pocket’. It’s no surprise she also made ‘Afterthought Heels’…though I admit, I prefer my heel to look like one. That is, I do the ‘Dutch heel’ (I think that’s what it’s called) for reinforcement. Methinks an afterthought heel might not be so sturdy…
    Happy New Year, Steph!

  98. After I learned how to do a lot of other heel constructions, I went back to the afterthought heel as the one where I didn’t have to think! And yes, discovering that a heel is really a toe freed my mind even more!

  99. OK. So—-whether you thought it was dumb-ass or not- apparently you remembered enough about the blessed Elizabeth’s after-thought heel- to create one— in a bar.(assuming beer was involved here- but could be wrong) .. in the dark….without a book or website? Amazing!
    I think you liked the idea all along.. somewhere- deep inside- we all know Elizabeth is always right;) Often crazy- but still.. right.
    Nicely knit- and I appreciate the explanation- (then knit another toe) Made the light click on for me;) Now I get it- might have to try one on some socks for my little guy!
    PS- the verve? Beautifully Christmassy.

  100. I’ve got two other pet uses for an afterthought heel:
    – With self-striping yarn to get the colors symmetric in the heel (I’m one of the weirdos that worry about things like that. I also get pretty nervous when self-striping socks turn out to be fraternal twins. Sorry. I just float that way.)
    – If I’m worried about a gorgeous sock yarn running out. In a pinch I can finish off with a contrasting heel or if I’m REALLY short, I can have both a contrasting heel and toe.

  101. Okay, I am apparently the only one that doesn’t get that. I mean I a hands on kinda person so I am going to have to go try that one out for that to sink into to me, but it sounds like a cool idea.

  102. I make afterthought heels on two-thirds of the stitches, and it makes for a much more satisfying heel (though it never really lies flat, for some reason). What’s really fun, though is to make a beforethought heel: knit the heel first, and knit the rest of the sock after. Maybe that would be an afterthought sock?

  103. I love the afterthought heel! It’s easy, fits my foot well, makes a minimum of little heel holes and doesn’t disturb the pattern on the foot. Oh, and it’s easy.
    I make mine toe up, and knit in the scrap yarn in a contrast color where I want the heel. That way you can try it on and know where to place it.

  104. I love the idea of an afterthought heel so that a pattern is uninterrupted and continues down the foot of the sock… being a bear of very little brain, I’m easily distracted and lose my place with the addition of a heel.

  105. And here I just posted about the afterthought pocket a few minutes ago.
    Perhaps I am becoming more like you every day. The thought titillates and pleases me.

  106. everyone already said it…BRILLIANT! and as a lover of red red everything…the yarn is fantastic…
    this is my first comment ever. I’m a new blogger…a long time knitter.
    I have a wonder…has anyone else knit clergy stoles? I’m clergy…and some friends traveled to Africa and brought a lovely blue hand spun, then a friend spun some natural…her first try ever. I made an advent stole for myself with silver bells sewn on from India. It’s sweet.

  107. That is entirely too clever. I’m printing out this post for future reference.
    By the way: Kate Plays Catch On Flat Green Soap
    Kingdom
    Phyllum
    Class
    Origin
    Family
    Genus
    Species
    Now where the hell did I put those Addi lace needles I bought two weeks ago?

  108. I have learned so much reading your blog and now (I’ve been knitting socks for ~18 mos.) I finally understand the concept of an afterthought heel…as well as how to knit one! thanks sooo much.

  109. Ok, WHY HAS NO ONE EVER TOLD ME WE COULD DO THIS?????????????? Sorry. I’ll stop my hissyfit now. I have this tester sock over here at the Duck Pond that has been frogged multiple times (yes, less than expensive yarn so the fuzzies are not going to make me cry) I just want to finish one sock. One. The heel gussetting is making me nuts. Obviously I need to pull out my own EZ’s and look it up. Feeling ever so clueless now.
    (my brain is full of 8 years of student names of student populations between 750 and our current 1053. I really can remember their names, their parents names, what class they are in etc. It makes my coworkers boggle at the mind. But, can I find my OPI clear nail polish? No. Can I find my purse sized hairbrush? No. Can I find the key to the safe deposit box? Yes…well I’ve met me and on the keyring with all my other keys at the deep dark bottom of my purse was the only answer to that. I feel your pain, Steph. And then there is the information that you know is in there that is ‘written on a bad sector’…you can feel your brain spinning like a cranky old hard drive)

  110. They look like peppermint candy canes-the perfect Christmas sock. I put a strand of waste yarn in where I want the heel-then just pull it out. People think “steeking” is scary?? Try snipping stitches in a sock heel.

  111. I too have recently come to enjoy a good afterthought heel. They’re not my favorite, but I’m certainly glad to have them in my repertoire.
    BTW, those DWB socks are so awesome!

  112. i like those socks.
    thanks for the idea–i’m so screw up prone that i’m sure this will come in handy at some point in time.

  113. This entry is brilliant on multiple levels. First of all, I’m a cell biology grad student who wants to be a professor one day and had never heard the mitosis mnemonic that you mentioned and am now extremely grateful I will have that little gem to pass along to my students one day (see, the fact that you remembered it is not entirely useless).
    Second, as a grad student, I spend A LOT of time in seminars and lab meetings and so on where I knit socks to help me pay attention and sometimes to help keep me from jumping up and strangling the idiot who is speaking at the front of the room (ahem). Anyhoo, it’s always a bit of a problem when I come to the heel and I’m in the middle of the seminar because the lights are down in the room (so we can view the slides) and I can’t pay too much attention to my knitting and I have had to rip out more heels than I can count after having tried to knit them in the dark. And if I stop knitting, I fall asleep (dark room, mid-afternoon, droning voice–it’s inevitable). Now, if I run into that problem, I will just keep right on knitting a tube, secure in the knowledge that I can add the heel later!
    Thank you!!!

  114. Thanks for the reminder of the afterthought heel. I always seem to think you still need to know the foot’s length before setting it. However I am shocked nobunny had mentioned “Roy G. Biv” yet: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It’s the one anacronym I always remember!
    Bunny hugs,
    =:8

  115. I love that you take the time to make step by step instructions…very useful and appreciated.

  116. Haven’t read the rest of the post yet – but that bit about shaking information loose years later? I JUST remembered a bar mitzvah I went to 51 years ago; the ONLY thing I remember is some delicious mushroom toasts. I LOVED ’em. And I found the recipe on line, made them for a gathering, and they were JUST as I remembered. Isn’t THAT fun? Now I have to keep reading………

  117. I’m so glad you decided it was useful after all! This is exactly the reason I adore the afterthought heel, though I put a piece of yarn in to make it so much an “afterthought” as a “last-minute heel” (same method as the thumb on the Fetching mitts). It makes for lickety-quick sock-knitting in the round with no pauses for flat heels.
    I would also add that this method allows you to eke out the last drop of a nice variegated or favorite colorway sock yarn and then use another yarn for the heel. It doesn’t mess up striping, and it allows for colorwork even on the heel, if you so choose. Brilliant!

  118. My brother usually tells me that I’m a well of useless information, but MAN, sometimes it comes in handy – and this is living proof of just that. I will have to try it out, then I can say that I’ve tried steeking – right? (that’s one of my knityears resolutions…)

  119. Well, “Bad boys rape our young girls but violet gives willingly (for) silver and gold” is a pre-feminist mnemonic for resistor color codes that won’t leave my head. The heel is great.

  120. I just don’t understand how a sock toe is equivalent to a heel! Aren’t heels much thicker/chunkier/deeper than toes?????? I can see that the results in the picture are beautiful, but I can’t wrap my poor brain around the idea!

  121. Ok, now after reading this posting I finally realize the problem with my knitting. You actually can SEE how this stuff works. You can distinguish between a knit stitch and a purl stitch when it is off the needle. The only equivalent I can think of is my knowing a cross stitch from a tent stitch just by looking at it. I have not been able to tell the difference or know where I am without keeping strict track of my progress thorough the pattern!
    So now I am going to have to annoy, cajol, bribe, and beg my knitty friends to teach me the difference of knitting a pattern or following that pattern to the ends of the earth no matter what even if death is the result!!!
    Oh and I got mugged by a sock yarn today for the first time. Walked into the yarn/stitching store for a hand dyed thread and ended up buying a hank of Jitterbug by Colinette colourway Mardi Gras! I saw the skein amid others, heard angels sing, saw a shining bright light and grabbed it. Thank goodness no one was between me and that skein, there might have been bloodshed! I seriously NEEDED that skein of yarn. So after grabbing it, I spent the rest of my time in the store walking around hugging my special hank of yarn. I plunked down my money and took my hank of yarn home. I’ve now made a lovely ball of yarn from the hank and now I’m waiting because I want to make socks with this fabulous yarn but have not actually made any socks. Pray for me. Pray hard!
    Ann in Maryland

  122. Apples? I’ve spent years remembering “I Pick My [Arse], Too” – and wondering why I still need to know the stages of Mitosis.
    Yours is much more polite, especially for U.S. use.

  123. Love the red socks and the mystery gift! Girl how do you do it?
    Enjoy your holidays and take some quiet time for yourself, in the bathroom if you have to.
    BTW, since I lose an old fact every time I learn a new one, all I can come up with is ROYGBIV for the rainbow. And that’s only because I was dyeing yarn the other day 🙂
    Happy New Year 2008 !

  124. I must say, that heel looks amazing with that yarn. I may try doing an afterthought heel next time I have vareigated yarn, because truly, that does look spectacular!

  125. Love the socks! Your post reminded me of “King Phillip Came Over From Germany Singing” (Kingdom, Phyllum…) and one I made up for my daughter when she was trying to memorize state government hierarchy. “Gassy Llamas Ate Seven Cherry Tums” (Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer). It worked too! And of course HOMES for the great lakes. Such a great way to memorize a list!

  126. Too freakin’ cool! It’s a pretty heal too! You are brave to try the technique! I tend to wimp out & look for a guide with new stuff like that.

  127. No mnemonics in my head (and I *might* know where my carkeys are) but I can’t get rid of Mig Tig Argon Electric & Spot. It was on the front of a welding business that I used to pass on the way home each day but all I could think was that these would be great names for puppies.

  128. hunh!
    So, you just pick up either side of the row and decrease as though for a toe? Brilliant. And it does a nifty stripe thing. How do you decide where to put the heel, though?

  129. First off, that’s a neat technique– and I’m hopeless at socks, so it might help me, at least.
    Second off, does anybody have any idea how to knit with a hyperactive kitten in the house who is absolutely fascinated with whatever you’re doing? If she’s not after the yarn, she’s milk-treading whatever I’m making. If she’s not doing either of those, she’s biting and grabbing at my needles. If she isn’t doing any of those, she’s actively STEALING MY YARN and hiding it in her cat-tree.
    Can’t lock her out of the room, either, because she cries and dealing with the yarn-thief is easier than hearing her cry and scratch at the door.

  130. King Phillip Cooks Only Fresh Green Spinich (Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species). I love that I still have stuff like that in my head. To be honest, it annoys me greatly that I CANT remember how to solve quadratic equations. I want that back. I didn’t give permission for that information to leave. NO fair. It’s always comforting to remember that Einstein never memorized his home phone number and address b/c he didn’t want to waste brain space with something that easy to look up. Makes me feel not so bad when I can’t remember my cell number (although I CAN remember the phone numbers for old transfers I used to have to use in my first call center job FIVE YEARS ago… no fair again). I still haven’t tried socks yet but now i’m itching to. I just wish my LYS carried more sock yarn I like (I’m very picky….) =^)

  131. Ah, cats and knitting. You haven’t lived until you’ve chased a cat through the house screaming “not that yarn, that’s angora!!” Then when you CATCH him he just looks at you with these eyes like “but MOM, it smells like bunnies!!” I made my cat his very own yarn ball out of some nasty old pink acrylic yarn, wrapped catnip in the center and sprayed it with MORE catnip and he STILL prefers my good yarns. I think it’s the fuzzy stuff that’s his fave. He grabbed a ball of some eyelash yarn right out of the bag that was sitting next to me one day and carried it around like a kitten. HE’s very weird…. =^)

  132. BRILLIANT! I was in the same boat as you thinking an afterthought heel was incredibly stupid. Then again I’ve just cast on another sock this morning because none of the other socks I have are in a good place for knitting while I’m out and need to not be staring at my knitting and counting.
    I just might end up using this!

  133. Work-FAST mnemonic for the emotions connected to the fingers in oriental medicine starting with the thumb. worry, fear, anger, sadness, trying too hard. connected to stomach, kidney liver lungs and heart.
    The afterthought heel is a wonder but I always wondered how to tell where to place it. I tend to knit the sock except for the toe, and knit it in with a try on seeing most peoples feet are mostly pretty close in circumfrence and vary more in length. Ribbing all the way down to the toe on top takes care of a lot of size issues.
    Putting your yarn in a ziplock makes it a bit less interesting for cats. At the same time they will see knitting as a contact sport and they have strong opinions that any yarn they play with had better be the expensive sort. They always know, too.

  134. I will think of you next time I’m picking knitting for the movie theatre and don’t have to start a new sock lest I run out of knitting part way through.

  135. I have used the afterthought heel for some time now, expecially with teen-aged grandchilren. They love the socks I knit for them, so they wear them a lot and wear through the heels and toes. The afterthought heel is very easy to replace, just cut a few strands and unravel, and of course you just cut off the toe on a top down and replace that as well. My two hardest sock-using grandkids have big feet as they are 18 and 15, so It is a very good thing to be able to keep the socks around longer.

  136. I’ve done ‘afterthough thumbs’ on mittens but the afterthought heel is blowing my mind – like someone else posted, how great to be able to keep knitting without a heel pattern if you’re out & about!
    my mnemonic contribution: MRS VANDERTRAMP for the French verbs which take Etre when conjugated in past tense (monter, retourner, sortir, venir, arriver, naitre, descendre, entrer,rentrer, tomber, rester, arriver, mourir, partir) – very useful for a kid in French Immersion, and served me well through a Masters in French lit!
    PS – LOVE the Skydiggers!

  137. Hmm. Conjunction junction what’s your function…or King Philip Came Over From Greece Saturday (different from the others that have been mentioned). As for the stages of mitosis, I actually always just remember IPMAT, I don’t know why (or how!!). But that’s just the point.
    FACE (notes in the spaces on the treble clef)
    EGBDF (notes on the lines)
    Oh dear, now, I must go knit.

  138. I must admit, I’m very curious to know if you just walked up to all those musicians and asked them cold for a sock photo. Any advice? There’s at least one Canadian musician that I’d like a sock photo op with.
    Wouldn’t it make a great chapter for a book? Tips on propositioning strangers to hold your sock.

  139. Thank you for the help remembering mitosis. I actually need that.
    Also, I did that once, too. It was time for me to do the heel- but I didn’t have the contrast yarn with me! So I just kept going and came back later. Woot!

  140. YES!! I too assumed EZ was a bit wonky from years of fuzz inhalation– that afterthought heel sounded so weird! I mean, wotta concept.
    And you know… for replaceable, or “no time to concentrate just now” — it’s PERFECT.
    Glad you brought it up, Steph. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

  141. Afterthought heel is a good idea. Especially if the existing heel is inadequate…not just missing.
    Campbells Ordinary Soup Develops Miss Pennsylvania Perfectly
    Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Devonian Mississippian Pensylvanian Permian
    Geologic Ages if you don’t already know.

  142. My head just exploded. Knit a *tube* and then add in a heel LATER?! If you didn’t photo-document the whole shebang so well (and, you know, if EZ hadn’t written about it), I’d think you were pulling our legs.
    I really need to read all EZ’s books. Usually when I hear about some head-exploding knitting thing, it’s something of hers.

  143. In order to love an afterthought heel a little more, two things to consider, both of which in my opinion help immensely with fit and comfort, and are the way I do almost all my heels by preference, though not as afterthoughts: (1) garter stitch makes a super-cushy and stretchy heel and may (though I don’t know for sure) help with longevity, and (2) two-thirds rather than one-half. It helps with the pulling across the instep. Neither are my idea nor invention, and I think each has a different source, but the combination is magic.
    And hey! Happy New Year, and hope to see you at SOAR again next year for the WHOLE THING.

  144. that’s great info! i was just thinking about looking for some info on the afterthought heel, and now i don’t have to. And let me just say that it took me all month, but i finally caught up on your blog (from June to present)! you’re the only blogger who i’ve ever bothered to actually keep each post listed as “new” until i actually read it.

  145. On the subject of silly things stuck in your head that you probably don’t need any more, I have this one from Music History for remembering the names of the 8 canonical hours: Martin is Loud in his Prime and extremely Terse when he has Sex with the Nuns and at Vespers he Complains (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline).
    But can I remember the sequence for a Kitchener stitch? No!

  146. PS: Oh, yes, and guess what this is for:
    Kangaroos
    Never
    Come
    Marching
    Down
    Zee
    Freeways
    Singing
    Problems
    Come
    Against
    Australia
    Least
    It’s the reactivity series for metals, from highest (Potassium) to lowest (Gold).
    – Pam

  147. That’s so good – I must get around to buying the book. I was already worrying about running out of knitting on an 11 1/2 hour flight. As it will be overnight, the lights will be low and I would only trust myself to knit simple rounds. And as someone else said, you can decide exactly where you want the heel. After all, I may even change my mind as to who will be the sock recipient!

  148. Toes and heels are the same.
    Holy. Shit.
    Consider my mind blown. I think this is going to be filed under ‘misc’ for now but will no doubt come in handy at some date deep in the future. Future Me thanks you!

  149. I have been tempted by this heel before. However, I had some questions. THe instructions say to do it like the dec for the toe. The instructions for the toe had dec. done on every other row right to the end. Usually I do dec on every other row to 1/2 the sts are gone, then do them every row. Which would work better for the heel? I don’t like a short row heel with half the sts because it tends to make the heel too short for me.
    I’ve thought of other uses for short row heels/toes. Did you know you can make a hat?

  150. Thanks so much for the afterthought heel – I’m working on a pair of self-striping socks right now and it will definitely be useful.
    My mnemonic contributions:
    Kids play catch on farmer Green’s shed.
    (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Family, Genus, Species)
    Some lovers try positions that they can’t handle.
    (scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate – the bones of the wrist in order)

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