It is so fun and exciting to see how a self-striping or patterned sock yarn knits up in socks, but sometimes throwing in a bit of personal flair can add that certain touch to a project. That’s just what Contrasting Heels are fun for.
Tuesday’s post was about
Knitting Geek Socks and Nine-to-Five Socks and today’s post focuses on Contrasting and Afterthought Heels. That is a lot to cover, so I’ll be linking to true experts and fabulous resources throughout the post.
Contrasting Heel
Sock knitting really comes out nicely with the right pattern and color way combination.
This pairing has just the right amount of contrast while coordinating perfectly. I’ve seen some wild sock/heel combinations and it’s really only limited by the knitter’s imagination. This combination knit in the
Nine-to-Five Socks pattern by
Nicole Hindes definitely suits Marseille’s style.
Contrasting Sock Yarn Combo Sets
Though the contrasting heel and toes are a fun element, they’re also fairly practical. Odds are if you knit socks (or even shawls with sock yarn), you have leftover yarn. Why not include these little treasures in your next sock project in this special way. You’d need at least 20g of yarn for a contrasting heel and toes, which is handy because there are yarn dyers selling 20-gram minis! Here are a few sock kits I’ve been admiring:
Free Sock Knitting Patterns to Use with a Contrasting Yarn Combo
If you’d like to knit your own pair of socks with a contrasting toe & heel or accent design – or if you have a combo set of sock yarn just itching to be knit up, here are some patterns on Ravelry:
Afterthought Heel
Once the entire body of the sock is completed, all the way to the toes, instead of a gusset heel or to reple a worn out heel, knitters can knit an Afterthought Heel. This option also lends itself to fun use of contrasting yarns or colors for a bit of interest.
New Leaf Podcast has
a nice LONG video, How to Knit an Afterthought Heel.
Marseille ended with 36 total stitches (nine per needle) and Kitchenered. Here is
a handy video detailing the Kitchener stitch from the purl side when completing an Afterthought Heel. For this section, Marseille used the Red-Purple colorway for a fun contrast. There’s more about this pair of socks and the pattern in
Tuesday’s post.
More Sock Knitting Posts
This post was originally published in 2018, but updated to include current yarn dyer options and knitting patterns. I love hand knit socks and am so lucky to have a few pair knit by my friend
Marseille. I’ve written about sock before:
Knitting Geek Socks and Nine-to-Five Socks
The Comfort of Handknit Socks
This pair of socks is
The Exmoor Sock from John Arbon Textiles from
EYF16.
What do you think? Have you knit socks with a contrasting heel, toe, or edge before? What would your dream colorway combination be?
Thank you for another lovely post. This will be my ‘go to’ when i eventually take the plunge into sock knitting!
I’m delighted, Lucy!