Short-row heels

From what I could gather from the literature there are only two types of short-row heels, then there are many variants of these two types. They vary mainly in construction and to distinguish them I'll name them^† the standard short-row heel and the boomerang heel (the trapezium when stretched looks like a boomerang). The figure shows their respective constructions schematically (the standard method is on the left).

^†A small disclaimer: as far as I know there is no standard naming for these two classes of methods. As most often in the world of knitting terms, there seems to be some confusion with people using the same term to name different techniques and different terms for the same technique. I don't claim the terminology I've chosen to be either the correct one or the best one in any way.

The standard method is obviously symmetric and therefore it can be used in socks worked from the cuff-down or the toe-up. The good news is that the boomerang method can be used exactly in the same way despite not being symmetric. Here is the description of these methods:

1. first half (the same in both methods):
   • Knit all heel stitches up to last, wrap and turn;
   • purl all heel stitches up to last, wrap and turn;
   • knit all heel stitches up to the stitch before the last wrapped stitch, wrap and turn;
   • purl all heel stitches up to the stitch before the last wrapped stitch, wrap and turn;
   • repeat these two last rows until you have about one third of the stitches active and one third of the stitches wrapped at each side. This procedure forms the trapezium at the bottom of both figures.
2. second half: This is where the two methods differ. In the boomerang heel we start this section by joining all the stitches in one row, this involves knitting all wrapped stitches together with their wraps in the standard way; once all the stitches are joined the first half is repeated. In the standard heel, the stitches are joined one by one by inverting the first half:
   • knit all stitches up to the last wrapped stitch, knit this stitch together with its wrap in the standard way and turn;
   • purl all stitches up to the last wrapped stitch, purl this stitch together with its wrap in the standard way and turn;
   • repeat these two last rows until you have no more wrapped stitches. This procedure forms the upside-down trapezium at the top of the first figure.

Then there are a huge number of variations on these two constructions. They can differ in several ways:

• The main way different methods differ is in the short-row technique used. In the description above I've used the standard wrap-and-turn technique, but there are a large number of different ways of doing short rows: the Japanese, the German, yarn-over, lifted stitch, etc. The basic idea is that if you simply knits a short row and turn, you'll get a hole at the turn, but there are many ways of closing this hole, as many as short-row methods.
• Knit more than two sections. In the boomerang method, it is obvious you can knit as many trapeziums as you wish (not necessarily in the same size), three should be more than enough and better than two for a more comfortable heel. In the standard method, it is not so obvious but there are different ways to add an extra set of short rows.
• Knit a different number of short-rows. In the description above I've divided the stitches in three equal parts, but you can use a different proportion. For a slimmer heel, work more short rows, leaving less than one third of the stitches unworked, this will create a larger heel without needing to knit more than two sections. If you're adding an extra section, you may prefer knitting less short rows, leaving a larger number of unworked stitches before starting the next ``half'' of the heel. A larger number of unworked stitches will create a wider heel which may fit better, depending on the size and shape of the wearer's feet.
• Work the heel on half the total stitches (standard), or 2/3 of the total (for a larger, more comfortable heel), or anything in between.
• In the process of rejoining the wrapped stitches in between the two halves, you have two options: work only the heel stitches ("standard" method) or work one or even two full rounds (the yo-yo method which is standard in German speaking countries).

A comment on short row techniques: the traditional wrap-and-turn method can look a little bit untidy, that is why some people prefer more complicated methods like the Japanese. The lifted stitch method has the advantages that it's neat and easy to execute. The German short-row method is probably the best method of all in terms of ease (both of execution and memorisation) and neatness of results. You can find a great tutorial here. A very detailed comparison between several other different methods can be found here. Finally, Carol Feller offers a free course on short rows on Craftsy. I must confess that, even though I followed her course, in the end, I never use any of the methods she uses. I prefer to use the German or the lifted stitch methods, because, in my opinion, they are tidier and easier to memorise.

A note about fit: in the above list I mention different variations that "improve the fit" of this heel. However, it is my opinion that the only way of improving the fit of a heel is adding a gusset. Here is the reason: it is a fact that the foot of the average person is 25% wider across the heel than the rest of the foot. However, short-row methods have the same number of stitches in this region. This means that any simple short-row method will provide a bad fit at the heel. The only way to avoid it is by increasing the number of stitches in this region, which means adding a gusset. It is possible to add a gusset in a short-row heel with a little more work, see the section Adding Gussets to a Short Row Heel for Better Fit in this very good tutorial.