Claudia's Shortrow Heels

SHORT ROW HEEL
Your sts are divided equally on 4 needles. Two  of these needles will now be resting and two  will be active.

Mark the edges [side 'seams'] between the active and non active needles. Check to see that exactly half of your total number of sts are between these markers. A sock with 40 cast on sts will have 20 between the markers. This is where the heel sts start  ( 2 markers).  Make the markers different
colors so you can keep track of where you've been.
The short row wrap:
 In essence the idea is to knit (or purl) over a part of a row, invisibly (or almost) turn around and work back over part of the row, and so on.  This little trick causes fabric to be constructed in only part of your knitting and lend itself to all sorts of shaping uses.  One of the most magical is the heel-with-no-heel-flap-or-gusset that is easy to make and fits well and looks good. Knit to the stitch before the left marker (left side of foot), wrap the stitch [ this should be your last st on this row.}
WRAP : slip the stitch from the left needle to the right needle as if to purl..put working yarn through the two needles to the opposite (front, in this case) side of your work, slip the same stitch BACK to the
left hand needle, put your working yarn to opposite (back, in this case) side of work. Turn and purl back across  to one stitch before the right marker. Wrap the next stitch [which again is the last stitch on the needle]. Turn and KNIT back to 2 stitches before the left marker. Wrap the next stitch. Turn and PURL back to 2 stitches before right marker. Wrap the next stitch Turn and KNIT back to 3 stitches before the left marker. Wrap the next stitch. Turn and PURL back to 3 stitches before the right marker. Wrap the next stitch. Continue on in this manner until you have approx 6 stitches left
unwrapped at the center of the back of the heel . End after a purl short-row. Wrap and turn. (you are halfway done!)

Second half of heel construction: Now, take 2 different markers and mark the stitches that border
your center 6 sts [or 5 or 7 whatever]. Pay close attention to the LEFT one//you are going to knit
one complete round, all around your sock proper and end up back at this marker (you will knit your sock # plus the ~6 center stitches). Be sure to snug up the stitches between the heel sts and the front of the sock so there won't be a gap there.  AS YOU KNIT AROUND, try to pick up and knit the little wraps at the base of all stitches that were wrapped...this will help eliminate any holes in the work. When you approach a WRAPPED STITCH, you need to knit (or purl) the wrap and the stitch in one motion to have the wrap recede into the knitting.

On the KNIT side......
1...Put the point of your right needle under the front bar of the wrap and then into the knit stitch lying on the needle. (Some knitters like to LIFT UP THE WRAP before they start, and PUT THE WRAP ON THE NEEDLE TO THE LEFT OF THE KNIT STITCH).

2...Complete the knit stitch, treating the two as one, pulling your working yarn through both loops.

On the PURL side.....
1... Put the point of your right needle under the BACK bar of the wrap, from right to left, and then into the purl stitch. (Some knitters like to lift this bar up and onto the needle as in the directions above for the knit wrap)
2...Complete the purl stitch, treating the two as one, pulling your working yarn through both loops.

Ok, you are now back to that special marked stitch [the left marker]...wrap it and turn. Purl across your ~6 stitches to the other special marked stitch, wrap it and turn. Knit across 7 stitches (the last stitch you knit {number 7} will already have a wrap at the base of it [from your previous knitting], wrap the eighth stitch and turn. Purl across 8 stitches, wrap the ninth stitch and turn. Knit across 9 stitches, wrap the tenth stitch and turn Purl across 10 stitches, wrap the eleventh stitch and turn. Continue in this manner, adding one more stitch each time,  until you come up to the last stitch you could wrap on the purl side before the right marker, wrap it and turn. (If you run out of purl stitches before knit stitches [or vice versa], fudge it because the heel will fit great anyway).  After the last wrap, you are now on the knit side. Knit across all the stitches on the heel. Remove the left marker. Continue to knit around the sock...both heel and instep [front of sock] stitches. You are now knitting in the round again and no more knitting back and forth or purling. Knit every round as before the heel. Your heel is done. You now should have the same number of stitches you had before you started the heel.  If you don't, add a few evenly..if you have too many, a good place to get rid of them is at the places on the "sides" of the heel. This heel lends itself remarkably well to fudging..and no matter what the error, the heel fits and looks good.

If your stitches seem to be stretched....it is because because you are not familiar with the technique and have to work the wrapped stitch so hard to make it behave <g>. That will pass. One method to help you along is to make sure that you have more stitches on your left needle than JUST the stitch needing to be wrapped. I find that folks who use 12" circular needles for sock knitting have the NICEST wrapped stitches!!! That is because there is no angle between needles to allow for any
awkwardness or looseness when short row wrapping.