Heel Placement for Toe-Up Socks

Not too long ago, I spent a dollar on Ravelry and purchased the pattern for the Fish Lips Kiss heel by Sox Therapist. Let me say right off that this is the best buck I ever spent.

The pattern isn't really a "pattern" - it's a few different things:
1. a method for doing short rows (yet a different way of dealing with the holes, a close kin to "hoiked" stitches, but not quite the same), and

2. a method for placing short-row heels that fit quite well, and, last but not least,
3. a method for making a cardboard template of someone's foot, and using it to make great-fitting socks!

Any of these items are by themselves worth well over $1, so please feel free to go out and purchase this pattern!

Anyways, this post is going to be about using that paper template to make socks that do not involve FLK or short-row heels.

First, you're going to add a few lines to that template:

1. Draw a line 0.75" back from the end of your heel. This is the "flap line".

2. Now draw another line 2.5" away from the flap line, towards the toes. This is the "gusset line".

The distance between the flap line and the gusset line determines the height of the heel flap when you are knitting toe-up socks with flaps (includes Fleegle/Strong style flaps). 2.5" is what I use for ladies' medium sizes; for men or those with larger feet, you might add 0.25" to make a 2.75" flap - in other words, move the gusset line a little further forward towards the toes. The location of the flap line stays fixed.

[cardboard template with placement guides]

Now you have 3 lines to guide you for different heel constructions:

1. ankle-bone line = placement for short-row heels (like FLK), sweet tomato hybrid heels with no extra added stitches, and traditional afterthought heels
2. gusset line = placement for deeper after/forethought heels, starting point for gussets for toe-up flap heels, fleegle/strong heels, insertion point for sweet tomato heels, and extra-deep short row or hybrid sweet tomato heels (extra deep meaning you need to add 6-8 sts to the sole sts all at once at this point, which get decreased away all at once when you're done the heel).
3. flap line = where you stop increasing for toe-up heel flaps / modded fleegle heels, and start actually turning the heel.

What I've learned from playing with this template is that you can start your heel construction anywhere between the gusset and ankle bone line - but the further towards your toes you start, the deeper the heel needs to be for a good fit. Making a deeper heel is accomplished by adding stitches, either all at once (like for Sweet Tomato Heels done over 2/3 of the sock's stitches, or as per Sweet Tomato Hybrids which add them all at once), or by creating a gusset (Fleegle/Strong, flap heels), or by adding them as part of the afterthought construction (those little gussets I add in my "improved" afterthought heel).

I've amassed a set of cardboard templates for my whole family by now, and these things work really well. In the next little while, I'll be blogging about how to use them to make flap-style toe-up heels and (slightly modified) Fleegle heels.

Sweet Tomato Hybrid

This is my first try with hand-spun sock yarn.

It's spun 3-ply from a southdown sheep fleece from the UK, hand-dyed by HilltopCloud in Wales.

 

[lovely southdown fleece from HilltopCloud]

The yarn is very elastic, thanks both to the fleece itself (which is very "crimpy" or curly), and to the extra twist that handspinning usually gives to the yarn (commercial yarn is usually spun with as low twist as possible, for economic reasons). Apparently this type of fleece does not felt readily (some even claim that the resultant yarn is dryer-safe!), and I'm hoping that it will wear better because of the extra twist. It's 100% wool with no nylon. Apparently it is also quite warm, again thanks to the high crimp, which traps air.

I'm not a very consistent spinner (yet) and am still working on spinning "thin enough" for sock yarn, so that this stuff is on the thick side (sportweight at least). The socks are definitely "boot socks"! The yarn is not soft - this is not merino - but softness is not a requirement for me, for hiking socks. They feel like those grey work socks you get at WorkMart.

[3-ply yarn, sportweight]

I am trying a variant of Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel on these. I am knitting 2 at a time, toe up. Here is the recipe:

• divide sock in half if you've not got it this way already, with 1/2 the stitches on one (side of the circular) needle and 1/2 on the other.
• start heel when you reach the end of your arch, as shown below. For me, this is when I "just barely" feel the needle under my heel when I fit the sock on.

  

[where to start the heel, when knitting toe-up]

• increase the number of stitches on your sole needle as follows (I typically have a multiple of 4 stitches on each needle): K2, m1, [K4, m1] to last 2, K2. This is about a 25% increase.
• execute 3 or 4 wedges of sweet tomato heel (video here). My variation: I don't use Cat's method of hiding the gap. I use "hoiked stitches" when I do the short rows (in a nutshell, knit - or purl - to end, turn, always slip 1st st of new row PW WYIF, pull yarn over back of needle to hoist 1st stitch up, raising its two legs onto the needle, keep yarn tight, then continue purling or knitting to end of row). When knitting over these "hoiked" stitches treat their two legs as one stitch and "knit them together".
• Note that when I'm doing 2AAT with these heels, I will do a complete wedge on the first sock, then move onto the second, and then knit the "boomerang" rows all around both socks. This brings be around to the first sock again, so I'm ready for the next wedge on the first sock. 
• when finished 3 "tomato wedges", knit a row all 'round the sock, and try it on. If the sock comes over the biggest part of your heel, you are done. If not, make another wedge. I find that 4 wedges are required for my heel. It depends a bit on where you start the heel. The further back (towards the heel) you start it, the fewer wedges you will likely need. It also depends on the number of stitches you started with, and the shape of your foot...
• Once you're satisfied with the fit, knit a few rows all around the sock(s), keeping in plain stockinette on the sole side. After 2 or 3 rows, decrease away all those extra stitches you added on the sole: K1, K2tog, [K3, K2tog] to end. You might need to fudge it a bit, but you'll need eventually to have the same number of stitches on the front and back of each sock, just like when you started.
  
  
  
  
  [sweet tomato hybrid, done over 1/2 the sock sts, 4 wedges]
  
  

That's it!

This gives you the option of the sweet tomato heel, but doesn't require you to use 2/3 of the stitches, like Cat's original recipe. I find that the traditional recipe is a pain to execute 2 at a time, and also it interferes with most designs on the front of the sock.

But, I am still not 100% satisfied with this recipe. I find that it is still a little tight across my instep (see how some of the stitches at the "edge" of the heel are stretched out in the photo above?), and also that the 4th wedge is just a little too much (I get a slight bulge above my heel where the excess sock fabric collects). So be warned: some tweaking might be required! Put in a lifeline before you start your heel, and that way you can always rip it back easily.

Possible tweaks: increase every 3rd stitch rather than every 4th for a 33% increase in the number of heel sts. I judge I probably need 4 more stitches for a good fit. Then,  make the last tomato wedge narrower (instead of turning when you're 2 stitches short of the end of the row, turn when you are 3 or maybe even 4 stitches short). This will reduce the width of the last wedge by a few rows.

I will be putting these socks to the ultimate performance test this fall: a 5-day hike in the French Tarn Gorge!

Improving the Fit of Short-Row Heels

The problem with short-row heels is that if you use the "default" recommendation of using 1/2 the total stitches for the heel, then the result is a heel that sits very low (doesn't come up over the back of the heel very far) and is quite tight across the instep. Depending on your foot shape, it may not fit well at all. If you google "high instep short row" you'll see this is a common problem!
So there are a few ways to address this. I've found four:

1. use garter stitch for the heel: instead of using stockinette, knit every row back and forth. Garter stitch is thicker and uses more wool over the same length of stockinette. Because of this, it is stretchier, and this may be just enough to improve the fit for you! As an added advantage, if you use the wrap 'n' turn technique for hiding holes in your short rows, there is no need to lift and knit the wraps. Just leave them where they are. They will be invisible in the final product. Here's a garter-stitch wrap 'n turn heel recipe. Of course, a garter stitch heel looks different from a stockinette one, so keep that in mind for your design.

2. use more stitches for the heel: instead of using 50% of the stitches for the heel, use 60%.  When you divide the stitches into thirds when you turn the heel, adjust so that the middle third - the part that you never short-row - is still one third of half of the total stitches - unless you also want a wider heel.

example: total 60 stitches around the whole sock; "default" heel size would be 30 sts. That means middle third = 10 sts. For improved fit, use 36 sts for the heel (60% of 60), and divide the heel sts as follows: 13-10-13 (instead of 12-12-12).

This is hard to do if you knit 2-at-a-time on magic loop or 2-circs, because it involves either planning ahead when you cast on and putting more sts on one side of the magic loop than on the other, or moving stitches around when it comes time to knit the heel. It will also bite into the design on the instep of the sock. For these reasons, this isn't my favourite.

3. knit in a gusset: about 10 rows before you get to the point where you are going to start your heel, start increasing the number of sts on the side of the work that will become the heel. As a rough guide, increase the stitch count by 15% (rounded off to be an even number). Traditionally, you'd increase every other row on each side of the sock, but you can play with this (increases distributed evenly over sock? originating from central point?). note: depending on how many stitches you plan to increase, you may have to start increasing sooner, or maybe later. Or increase faster or slower than every other row.
Once you've finished the increases, you turn the heel over the new, larger number of stitches. Again, unless you want a wider heel, keep the middle "third" the same size as if you hadn't made those gussets.

When you've completed turning the heel, get rid of the gussets by decreasing back to the original stitch count.

note: Of course you can also put the increases on the instep side of the work, where they will not be participating in the heel construction. Again, remove them by decreases when you've finished turning the heel. Such a construction is a little more visible than hiding them in the heel.

4. knit a flap: you can knit a small flap (10 rows or so) before starting the heel. Just knit back and forth for a number of rows, using a chain selvedge, to create a flap. Then turn the usual short-row heel. When you've finished turning the heel you'll  pick up the sts on the sides of the flap (about 4-5 of them on each side) and then decrease them away as you start knitting in the round again. This is basically a flap heel construction, but with a "mini flap". Knitters averse to the whole idea of a flap are unlikely to want to incorporate one into a short-row heel, since the whole idea is to get away from picking up those sts along the flaps. Right? So I'm not gonna waste more e-ink on this solution.

Final, important tip:If you want to try any of these ideas to see if they work, put a lifeline** into your knitting before you start the heel construction. Then if you don't like the end result, ripping it out is much easier.

**lifeline: thread a darning needle with some thin, slippery yarn - dental floss or cotton embroidery thread - and just run it through all the sts on your needles. This will act as a stopper when you rip out knitting. It will also enable you to quickly pick up the sts again.

A Study in Short Rows - Yo-yo or Boomerang Heel with Double Sts

So here is another option for a short-row heel (or toe). This one is a bit obscure, but works very well. This construction features the double stitch / tight yarn-over hole-hiding technique, with a variant of the opposing trapezoid construction for shaping.

For reinforcement on this heel, the easiest option is to knit in some hard-wearing but elastic thread ("woolly nylon" meant for sergers) or yarn - polyester sewing thread works quite well edited: don't use sewing thread! It cuts the yarn! - by simply holding it together with your working yarn and knitting as one. The fit on this heel isn't the greatest for me - I find it too tight over my instep without making some pattern adjustments. I'll cover these in another post, but meanwhile let's just concentrate on the basic technique.

As with previous posts, the pictures show a practise heel that's smaller than you're likely to make, out of thicker wool so it's clearer for photos. And it's only over the heel sts, not the whole sock! I find it useful to do a practice heel before working up the real one so I can familiarize myself with the techniques...

1. Get your heel sts on a single needle. Divide into thirds (roughly), making sure that the two edge portions have the same number of sts. If you have a wide heel, put more sts in the middle. Place 2 markers, one on each side of the middle third (I like split-ring markers).

[divide heel sts into thirds and place markers]

2. start on a RS row. Knit across the row. Turn.

3. Now slip the first st of the row PW, wyif. Pull at the working yarn, hauling it backwards over the needle, tightening it so that the legs of the st below come up, and then over, the needle. Keeping the working yarn taught so the stitch stays hoisted up,  purl the next st. Purl across the row to the other side. Turn.

[hoisting up a stitch on the purl side.]

4. Hoist up the first st, by slipping it PW, wyif, and pulling at the working yarn, hauling it backwards over the needle, tightening it so that the legs of the st below come up, and then over, the needle. Keep the working yarn taut, and knit across the row to the first double stitch on the other side. Don't knit this double stitch. Turn.

[Now on the knit side: pull the working yarn to hoist up the slipped st.]

5. Hoist up the first st, purl across to the first double st on the other side of the heel. Turn.
6. Hoist the first stitch, knit across to the first double stitch on the other side of the heel. Turn.

...repeat rows 5 and 6 until you have hoisted up all the sts on either side of you heel. The middle part, between the markers, stays "unhoisted". You should see a nice row of "double stitches" indicating where you've been:



[all the edge sts have been "hoisted".]

7. When you've finished hoisting all the stitches on either side of the middle section, it's time for the boomerang row!  You'll probably just have finished step 5, and have just hoisted your last stitch, and have the knit side facing you. Knit across the middle third and all the way across to the end, slipping both markers as you go. Continue and knit the doubled stitches, knitting the two legs of each hoisted stitch as one. Turn once you've knit the last st on your heel needle(s).

8. Hoist the first st and then purl all the way across to the other end, slipping the markers, and purling the two legs of each hoisted stitch as one. Turn. Hoist the first st and knit to the second marker.

note: as described here, this boomerang is a two-step process. It's more like a yoyo, going up and then down the row (Ha! Yoyo heel! Get it?). It can also be knit as follows: instead of turning at the end of step 7, you keep going: knit across the instep stitches and go all the way around the sock (in pattern, of course!), coming back to the heel sts and knitting them until you get to the second marker. Kinda like a .... boomerang! In both the "yoyo" and "boomerang" variants, you've knit over all the hoisted sts - either up and down, or around. I prefer the boomerang over the yo-yo because knitting all the way 'round the sock really helps prevent those "holes" you get at the corners of a short-row heel.

You are half-way done, and have knit one trapezoid. Now it's time to start the upside-down one.

9. You should have the RS facing again, and be at the second marker. Slip the marker, knit the first st past the marker. Turn. 

10. Hoist the first st. Purl to 1 st past the first marker - on the other side of the heel - slipping both markers as you go.  Purl that st. Turn.

11. Hoist the first st. Knit to next hoisted st (it'll be past the 2nd marker on the other side of the heel), slipping both markers. Knit the hoisted st.  Turn.
12. Hoist the first st. Purl to next hoisted st (it'll be past the 1st marker on the other side of the heel), slipping both markers. Purl the hoisted st.  Turn.

Repeat rows 11 and 12 until you are about to hoist the very first st of the heel (you should be on a RS row). This will be your last row. Hoist the first st, and knit across to the very end. You are finished turning the heel and ready to continue knitting in the round.

Update!
Just blogged about a neat trick on improving the fit of this type of heel!

A Study in Short Rows - Garter Wrap 'n Turn

As promised, here's the first in a set of recipes for short-row heels. I talked about hiding holes and trapezoidal construction techniques in previous blogs.
This first recipe will feature garter stitch, wrap 'n turn to hide the holes, and the standard opposing trapezoid construction.

I should mention that the garter stitch results in a softer, thicker fabric, because garter stitch is reversible. So it should wear harder, right? If you want, you can add reinforcement thread to make it super-tough. Also, because the garter stitch is thicker, it has a smaller row-gauge (takes more rows to go the same distance), so the resulting heel/toe is shallower and more rounded. It is also stretchier than a stockinette heel, so I find it fits me much better! But do a test first to see if it fits with your design. Finally, because of the garter bumps, the wraps remain hidden, and there is no need to lift them out of the fabric to knit them in when working up the second trapezoid. This is the only time that I, personally, use wrap 'n turns (because I have a hard time seeing the wraps on dark, fine wool).

Here we go. The pix show a practise heel that's smaller than you're likely to make, out of thicker wool so it's clearer for photos. And it's only over the heel sts, not the whole sock!

1. Get your heel sts on a single needle. Divide into thirds (roughly), making sure that the two edge portions have the same number of sts. If you have a wide heel, put more sts in the middle. Place 2 markers, one on each side of the middle third (those split-ring markers come in handy because you can just slide 'em in!).

[divide heel sts into thirds and place markers]

2. start on a RS row. K until 1 st remains, slipping the markers when you get to them. Wrap (the last st) and turn. Photos below if you don't know how to wrap and turn (note: pictures show garter stitch, but the technique is the same no matter what stitch you are knitting).

[stop before last st. Bring yarn forward...]

[slip last st to RH needle...]

[bring yarn to back...]

[slip that st back to the LH needle...]

[turn your work and put the yarn to the back ready for kntting again. That last st is "wrapped" with a loop around its feet. You don't knit it. Ready to start knitting the next row.]

Tip: Don't choke up on the wrap. It shouldn't be tight, it shouldn't scrunch the wrapped stitch over to its neighbour. If you tighten it too much, it causes "holes" in the fabric.

3. K until 1 remains, slipping the markers when you get to them. Wrap (the last st) and turn.
4. K until 1 st remains before last wrapped st, slipping the markers when you get to them. Wrap and turn.
5. repeat step 4 until you've wrapped all the sts on either side, and only the middle portion of the heel, between your markers, remains unwrapped. Knit across the middle sts, slipping the marker, and stop when you reach the first wrapped st (which should be the first st after the marker).

[here are a bunch of wrapped sts - kind of hard to see, but they all have their feet tied. Click to enlarge.]

You've completed the first trapezoid and now it's time to start increasing the row lengths as you climb up the second, upside-down, trapezoid.

6. Slip the marker and wrap and turn the first st. It will now be double-wrapped.
7. Knit across the middle third, slipping the markers, to the first single-wrapped st on the opposite side. Just knit any double-wrapped sts you encounter (on the first time across, you won't encounter any, but after that, you will!). Wrap this single-wrapped st and turn. It is now also double-wrapped.
8. Repeat step 7 until you've double-wrapped (and then knit, on the next pass) every stitch on both sides of the heel.

[here is the practise heel. Click to enlarge. There are no holes.]

You are done with turning the heel. Easy, eh? No picking up those wraps required! It's all invisible thanks to the bumpy garter sts!

Knit across the instep - you may need to pick up a stitch in the "corner" between the heel and the instep, which you can k2tog on the subsequent round, to seal any holes.

This construction can also be used as a toe, in either top-down or toe-up constructions (both for a later post). Notice how round it is?

[same practise heel, folded the other way, for use as a toe!]

This is what it looks like in action (Cookie A design, Malabrigo sock yarn in Abril, worn lots!):

[wrap 'n' turn short-row garter heels]

A Study in Short Rows - Hiding Holes

Short row heels (and toes!) are very popular and very simple to execute. The simplest version doesn't typically give a good fit - but this can be solved in a variety of ways, and I'll be covering how in a later post. It also isn't the easiest of heels to reinforce - the easiest is simply to knit in reinforcement thread. Slipped-stitch patterns are hard to incorporate because of the short-rowing (although it can be done).

For now, I want to share some exploring I've been doing, discovering the large variety of short-row heel scenarios out there...this post will be an introduction, with a discussion of the variety of hole-hiding techniques. I'm not going to explain them all, but will point you to where to get good info. Following posts will cover "recipes" for a bunch of different short-row heels/toes.

Short rowing, for those unfamiliar with the concept, consists of not knitting the complete row, but of turning back early. If you repeat this enough, you create what sewers call a "dart" - you pull in the sides of your knitting that are being left un-knit, causing the parts that did get knit to bump out. Gives a 3-D effect.  Here is a great discussion, with illustrations, about how short-rows work.

The problem with short-rowing is that all that turning leaves holes in your knitting, unless you employ tricks to get rid of 'em. I've found FOUR techniques for hiding the holes:
1. wrap 'n' turn,
2. dig 'n' lift (aka Japanese),
3. YO's (yarn-overs), and
4. "double stitches", "yo-yo" or "jo-jo" heels, perhaps better described as super-tight yarn-overs.

1 and 2 (and variations) are nicely described and beautifully illustrated on Techknitter's site, so I'm not going to repeat that information. Basically you create little handles at the turning points, which you then pick up and knit in as you pass over the turning points again when you're finished short-rowing. These techniques require action at the end of the row.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of them, but you should try them to see if they work for you. Many knitters use them regularly so they cannot be bad. Wrap-n-turn seems to be the default for most sock patterns I've encountered. I find both wrap-n-turn and dig-n-lift hard to do on thin, dark sock wool (I can't see well enough) and I'm not a big fan of the large number of markers required for dig-n-lift. Cat Bordhi uses dig-n-lift, although she calls it by some other name, and she is marketing a set of stitch markers bearing the entire alphabet.

The remaining 2 techniques require action at the beginning of a new row. Both are very simple, and result in easily-visible changes to your work so you can come back to the knitting later and figure out where you are.

Yarn-over short rows are easy. You start every new row with a yarn-over. The only trick is that there are 2 different kinds of yarn-over. With the knit side facing this is the usual yarn-over, and with the purl side facing you execute a "backwards" yarn-over.

 [knit side yarn-over]

 [purl-side, "backwards" yarn-over]

You yarn-over and then knit/purl the next stitch. I find I need to hold my finger in there a little to hold the YO until I've completed next st, because the YO should be tight, not floppy. The YO's create a new stitchlet, or handle, at the beginning of every row. The YO hugs close to its knitted friend, so you end up with little stitch "pairs" that are easily visible and can help you count.

When it comes time to knit over the short-rows, you will be taking action at the end of each row :
1) on the RS, separate the YO from its friend and knit it together with the stitch following it (after correcting its mount), and

2) on the WS, purl it TBL (a move I HATE) with the stitch after it.

The fourth "yo-yo heel" technique is fairly obscure; I just discovered it recently, but it works like a charm and is very easily done. It is described here, with photos, but given the lack of info out there on the InterWebs on this technique, I'm adding my own pix.

Like with the YO technique, action is taken at the start of every new row. In this case, the move is the same whether or not the knit or purl side is facing you, so there's only one thing to remember. 

Here's the deal. You slip the first st of the row PW, wyif. Then, you tug at the working yarn, hauling it backwards over the needle, tightening it so that the legs of the st below come up, and then over, the needle. Keeping the working yarn taught so the stitch stays hoiked up, you knit (or purl) the next st as per usual.

 [hauling the legs of the stitch below up over the needle.

With KS facing, the raised st has its legs crossed. Click to enlarge.]

 [raising the stitch below, on the PS. Here the raised st's legs are uncrossed.

I'm bringing the yarn forward again in prep for purling the next st.]

Just like with the YO technique, this creates a set of "paired" sts (actually they aren't paired stitches, just choked sts with both legs in the air) so it's easy to see where you've been.

In contrast to the YO technique, though, when comes time to reknit the sts, you simply knit (or purl) the two hoiked-up legs as a single st. No separating, no correcting the mount, no nuthin'. So this is really, really easy.

[time to reknit? Just treat those two little legs as one...]

I think you can tell which is my favourite!

My next post will cover shaping, so you get a 3D toe or heel that turns the corner.

Spring Cleaning

Finished Toby's b-day socks yesterday. Here they are:

As you can see the socks aren't identical, not by a long shot, but they still seem to belong together, thanks to the fact that I used the same wool ends for both.

I'm quite happy with them, I learned a number of new skills, all thanks to TECHKnitting! Thank you thank you thank you, a fantastic resource for anyone wanting to take their knitting to the next level! Here's a list of my New Skillz:

1. how to join a new colour while working the ends in at the same time

2. getting rid of the "icky dots" when knitting ribbing

3. jogless rounds (getting rid of the "kinks" when knitting stripes) - although I must say the technique doesn't work well for self-striping wool, the slipped sts required interfere with the striping and create other problems. But, as you can see from the photo the joins using the plain colours are almost invisible!

Making these put a good dent in the wool-ends bag...but there are still a good 2-3 pairs lurking in there!

On a less positive note, I ended up ripping out the purple-raspberry socks I started recently. The short-row heel really didn't fit (I find the socks too tight over my instep; the pattern stretches out too much) and the pattern actually had too many holes in it (all those YOs). It was just too lacey, not what I had intended. Yech. I'm going to try again, substituting twisted sts for the SSK/YO combos. That'll remove the holes. I wanted a honeycomb look...

After all this "toe-up" sock knitting I have distilled the patterns I've been using (from Wendy Knits) into these generic instructions for turning the heel. Start turning the heel after having increased [8-10]/[12-14]/[16-18] gusset sts (for S/M/L size).

Mark the midpoint of the back of the sock.
K8 past the midpoint, KFB, K1, turn
YO, P8 past the midpoint, PFB, P1, turn
YO, K6 past midpoint, KFB, K1, turn
YO, P6 past midpoint, PFB, P1, turn
...
YO, P2 past midpoint, PFB, P1, turn
K across, knitting the YOs together with the st after them

repeat for 2nd sock (I'm doing 2 at once on magic loop)

knit across both insteps
Now place 2 markers, one at each side, to mark the width of the heel: count instep sts and divide by 2, count this number of sts on either side of the central marker and place another marker. You will have approximately [12-14]/[16-18]/[20-22] gusset sts on either side of these markers. Remove the center marker.

Heel flaps:
K, knitting each YO with the st BEFORE it, until you reach 1 st before the far marker.
Remove marker as you SSK and turn.
Sl 1, [P1, Sl1] to 1 before marker. Remove marker as you P2tog and turn.

K to 1 before the "gap", SSK, turn.
Sl 1, [P1, Sl1] to 1 before the "gap", P2Tog, turn.

Repeat until all gusset sts have been "eaten", ending with a K row.
Repeat for other sock.

Knit across both insteps.