I have written several times about socks. I have been making them for years in the traditional manner with heel flap, gusset and closing the toe with the kitchner stitch. No new fangled techniques for me. Recently, however, I have been asked to make socks for charity. I was sure there must be a way to do this that took less time and used less yarn than my old tried and true method. I began to look into the toe up version with the short row heel. I made a sock using this method and immediately fell in love. No wraps, no holes, hooray! How easy and how quick. For those that have been making socks using the toe up technique this is nothing new, and you are probably wondering what the big deal is. For me, however, it was a revelation.
At the top of this post is that first sock. (No one sock syndrome. I almost have the second sock finished.) Here is a picture of the heel.
As you can see, no holes or bulkiness. You will find a video on how to do this here Here is a picture of the toe. You can find the directions for the cast on and toe here There are several methods explained, but I used easy toe.
For the sock that is pictured I used Lion Brand Woolease and size 6 needles. I knit very tight so that made a nice thick, warm sock. When knitting for charity I always use a yarn that is machine washable as one never knows how devoted the wearer is to hand washing. I hope this encourages those of you who have not tried this to give it a try. And oh, the short row heel is the same in both directions so can be used with a cuff down pattern as well.
