5 good reasons to knit an afterthought heel

Ta - da! Self stripe socks are just so satisfying and with an afterthought heel they are doubly so. These socks are knitted from a Uneek sock yarn kit in the most fabulous brightly coloured stripes - they very definition of addictive knitting as you just want to race through to the next magical colour change.

Have you worked an afterthought heel before? There are a number of advantages to this most impressive of heels:

1. No need to try on until the tube is completed - ideal for travel. No one wants to be whipping off their shoes in public to try on a sock WIP after all.

2. It doesn't interrupt the flow of the stripe.

3. You can get the heel exactly where you want

4. It always looks impressive when you take scissors to the yarn

5. It’s a great opportunity to play with colour and use a contrast yarn. Or to eke out a 50g sock skein by adding contrast heels and toes.

If the idea of actually cutting your knitting is faintly terrifying, let me offer a few words of reassurance. It really isn’t as scary as you might think and with a few simple steps it’s even fun. I have a step by step tutorial for you if you want to have a try - just tap the button below.

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How to knit a Super Sock Snake

Super Sock Snake

£3.50

New Year - New Socks

Wolf Moon socks - a new design released in January 2025

In a somewhat ambitious fit of enthusiasm I have decided to give full rein to my sock knitting this year. Finally releasing some of those designs that have been either on my needles or loitering among the pages of my knitting journal for far too long.

Because I love nothing more than a year-long project I decided to fully embrace the concept and release a new sock pattern for each New Moon of 2025. There will be a mixture of toe-up and cuff down designs and I will be aiming to include a few different heel and toe options - if you are the kind of knitter that likes to ring the changes. And I’m hoping there will be something to tempt even the most experienced sock knitter.

Wolf Moon - pictured above was released at the very end of December.

Snow Moon - pictured below is the latest release on 29 January

Snow Moon Socks

£6.50

The next one - Crow Moon - will be a toe-up design being published at the end of February.

Be sure to sign up to my email list to make sure you don’t miss a release. I normally offer an early bird price as well just for my email subscribers, so signing up ensures you won’t miss anything.

Magic loop without the mystery

A sock cuff, primed and ready to knit - magic loop style

Magic loop has to be one of the phrases that springs to mind when people think of ‘advanced’ or ‘complicated’ knitting. But really, nothing could be further from the truth.

It is really just a way of knitting in the round, when your stitches aren’t sufficient to stretch all the way around the cable of a circular needle. If you want to knit a hat in worsted weight yarn on a 60cm cable circular you can just cast on your stitches, join and knit around and around with a smile of happiness on your face.

If you have fewer stitches - say you want to knit a baby hat in sockweight yarn and only need 60sts there is no way on Gods green earth you can make those stitches stretch, no matter how hard you tug.

Yes, of course you can use DPNs but as a life-long DPN avoider (those pesky things are determined to slip out of my hands and into the depths of the sofa) I prefer a simpler solution.

Enter - magic loop.

All you do is to divide your stitches in half, treating the two needle tips of your cicrular needle as needle 1 and needle 2 respectively.

If you are keen to give it a go I have written out the steps for you below along with step by step images.

Or tap to the bottom to see a video of it in action. Honestly, it’s not as scary as you might think.

HOW TO MAGIC LOOP:

1. Cast on the required number of stitches - for socks for example - 64..

2. Work 2 rows of rib (not essential but it makes it easier to join.

3. Identify the halfway point - 32 sts - and slide stitches onto the cable portion.

4. Pull the cable through the halfway point to make a long loop. Stop when the two sets of stitches are resting on the needle tips.

5. Align the stitches with the cast on edge facing inwards and the tips facing away from you.

6. Hold working yarn in right hand and slide the stitches on the RH needle back down onto the cable.

7. Insert the now free RH needle tip into the first stitch on the LH needle and work in rib for 32 stitches.

8. Once you’ve worked these 32 stitches, you’ll have them on the RH needle, with the 2nd set of stitches still on the cable. Slide them back up to the LH needle.

9. With your right hand, pull the RH needle tip away from you allowing the stitches on the RH needle to slide back onto the cable.

10. This frees up with RH needle to work across the 2nd set of stitches.

Points to remember: Once you’ve worked across half the stitches always slide both sets of stitches back onto the needle tips. Then you can pull the RH needle out, sliding those stitches safely back onto the cable. This ensures that your stitches stay in two, neat manageable halves. All you are doing is working one half of the stitches, pulling the cable through and then working across the 2nd half.

STEP BY STEP

PIN FOR LATER

Autumnal Enthusiasm

Colour Block Mitts

There's a chill in the air and a distinct spring in my step - and I'm happy to report that my knitting mojo is now out of the summer doldrums and officially back in action.

There's nothing like a morning chill (and the fact that you have Raynauds syndrome) for kick starting that hunt through drawers and last years coat pockets for fingerless mitts.

As ever, I always seem to come up short of a mitt or two but luckily these colour block mitts don't take long to knit, even though they are knit in leftover sock weight yarn.

The matching cowl takes a little longer but as my old one was 'borrowed' by a friend I might be knitting myself another one of those too.

Flash Sale - 20% off patterns

If your knitting mojo has returned with a bang too, you'll want to take advantage of my flash sale - just until tomorrow I'll be offering 20% off all of my patterns.

So you can treat yourself to an autumnal themed pattern or two - or get ahead and start lining up those Christmas knits.

Use code AUTUMNLOVE at checkout for 20%

Be quick though - code expires at midnight on Oct 4th.

Time for a Log Cabin blanket KAL

Log Cabin Blanket KAL 2024

New for Autumn 2024 - a shiny brand new knitalong and e-book for you

All about the joys of Log Cabin Blankets.

If you enjoyed my Mitered Square Blanket KAL you’ll definitely want to catch this.

It will run in much the same format over 4-6 weeks, starting in September - and as with previous KALs please don’t worry - I’m not expecting you to churn out a king sized blanket in a month.

Instead the aim is to introduce you to the concept of Log Cabin Style blankets. To the different shapes and styles you can construct and to give you the tools and the inspiration to create a truly unique Log Cabin blanket of your very own.

Each week will feature instructions on how to knit a Log Cabin style square - each of them will be different and will give you an idea of how the basic concept can be used to create a multitude of different possibilities - all from the same building blocks.

The four blocks will work together, so if you want, you can knit each of them and then stitch them into a small, lap-sized sampler blanket as a starter project . Or you can downsize each one and use them as test pieces for your own log cabin adventure.

Why Log Cabin style?

• Perfect for stashbusting and using up random yarns from your stash

• Endlessly adaptable - you can go as large or as small as you like

• A great opportunity to play with colour

• Relaxing garter stitch for the win - no stress knitting here

• An ideal knitting project to keep you company in autumn/winter

Dates for your diary

• After purchase you will receive a pre-KAL information sheet, just so you know what materials you need to get together and what to expect.

• The dedicated Facebook group for the KAL will open towards the end of August so that you can all gather and chat about your plans in advance.

• The first week of our KAL will be Mon Sep 16th and a new block will be released each Monday for 4 weeks.

• There will then be two-week period where folks can discuss their plans for their own log cabin blanket and I’ll be on hand to offer any help that might be needed.

• The Facebook group will remain open as long as it’s needed.

A different kind of social summer

It’s quite common for people to take an Instagram break over the summer, and there are definitely years that I have done just that. Getting back into it in September is always a real barrier though and it can take a while to build up momentum again.

This year I thought I would buck the trend and do something a little bit different - I’m going to go random and post a photo a day - just snippets of my summer. Memories I want to save and things that have made me smile. No pressure, no strategy, no curation or filters. Just happy snaps.

Kind of like how we all posted in 2015/2016 when the biggest decision we had to make was which filter to apply - I was always an F2 girl if you were wondering.

I’ve decided to start with a 30-day challenge to myself and I’ll see how it goes. It might make my Instagram grid look a little weird but does anyone even look at the grid anymore? Probably not.

In terms of writing and more in-depth content then my Substack publication is where it’s at. I’m going to be focusing more on my community there as it’s honestly such a friendly and supportive place to hang on.

Whereas once I would find myself opening Instagram multiple times per day and scrolling stories I now find myself popping into Substack and chatting with people on Notes.

Eyes down for a substack summer: blog post

If you are a Substack reader please do pop over and say hi, and if you aren’t maybe I could tempt you to take a peek. It’s not at all scary I promise and there are tons of fabulous writers (and quite a bit of knitting content too).

You might also enjoy: What can Substack do for you?