May 16, 2021, 10:00 PM.

This is my second of the Weldon’s Practical Stocking Knitter socks. It sports a Dutch Heel and an Asymmetric Wedge Toe.

In the late Victorian era, Weldon’s, a paper pattern company started publishing monthly newsletters on a variety of crafts (including knitting) out of London, UK. The newsletters were typically 14 pages long and cost 2 pence each. Later the newsletters were compiled into books (12 volumes) called Weldon’s Practical Needlework. Each volume contained the newsletters from that year. The newsletters started in 1886, although the first book volume was only published in 1888. Walter Weldon, a chemist was the publisher of these prints.

The Piecework Magazine has compiled the First and Second series of Weldon’s Practical Stocking Knitter into an ebook. It contains several heel and toe variations for socks. I am knitting the Dutch or Horse-shoe heel for these socks. These days It is also commonly called a Square Heel. However, Weldon’s calls the Common Heel a Square Heel because it literally is a square that you sew up to make a heel! So Weldon’s Square Heel is different from the Dutch Heel, which is commonly called a Square Heel these days.

Nancy Bush re-worked these patterns and made them suitable to knit for the modern knitter in her book Knitting Vintage Socks: New Twists on Classic Patterns. Many of the socks in her book use the dutch heel.

The socks in the original Weldon’s publications typically knit a single purl or garter seam stitch that runs along the back of the leg throughout the length of the sock. Apparently, it is a remnant from the time when socks were knit flat and then seamed. I did not work a seam stitch for the entire sock but I introduced it at the beginning of the heel flap. I got rid of the seam stitch after the heel and gusset were finished.

Here is Kate Atherley’s article on a Dutch or Square heel.

Leg and Foot
I cast on 68 sts and knit a k3-p1 ribbing sequence. Knit the leg for 6.5”.

The heel flap is worked over 35 sts (68/2 + 1) and the instep is worked over 33 (68/2 - 1) sts. This is what I did:

1. Start at the BOR after working the last leg round. Knit 1/4th sts (68/4 = 17), purl 1 (this is the “seam stitch”, knit 1/4th sts (17 sts). Turn. Leave the remaining 33 sts on a separate needle as instep sts.
2. The “seam” stitch is purled on the RS and purled on the WS as well. So, it is a garter stitch seam.
3. sl1, p34.
4. sl1, k16, p1, k17. Knit back and forth for as many rows as sts. I have 35 sts. I have to knit 35 rows for the heel flap starting with the purl row on Setp 3. The flap will end with a purl row.
5. The Heel Turn: On the next RS row, sl1, knit to the seam stitch, p1, k5, ssk. Turn. The original pattern calls for a sl1k1psso but I am working a regualr ssk.
6. sl1, p11, p2tog, Turn. The Weldon’s Dutch Heel has instructions only for an eleven stitch middle panel.
7. In contemporary dutch heels, you are required to divide the heel sts into one-thirds and work the decreases on either sides of the middle 1/3rd panel. I have 35 sts. Dividing it by one thirds gives me 12, 11, 12 sts. I am working the decreases on either side of the middle 11 sts. So, for my stitch count, the Weldon’s 11 st algorithm works perfectly.
8. Continue steps 5 and 6 until all the “side” sts are knitted in and you are left with 13 sts on the needle.
9. K13 heel sts, pick up and ktbl 18 +1 gusset sts, put the instep sts on a dpn and knit them in pattern, pick up and ktbl the 2nd set of 18 +1 gusset sts, k6 of the heel sts, end of round. You ktbl to twist the sts. Weldon’s asked to just knit the picked up sts. I changed it to a ktbl because it is more decorative that way.
10. The middle of the heel sts will form the beginning of the round from now on.
11. Gusset Row 1: K to 3 sts before instep, k2tog, k1; work across instep in pattern as set; k1, ssk, k to end of round. Knit the next row working only the instep row in pattern. Do this until all extra sts are reduced and you again have 68 sts.
12. I reintroduced the k3p1 sequence pattern after the gusset. In my case, that gets rid of the seam stitch.

Asymmetric Wedge Toe
These toes are not described in Weldon’s.

1. These socks are for my son. He wears US 11-1/2 to 12 size shoes. His foot measures 11”.
2. I knit the foot until sock measured 9” from the heel to the beginning of the toe decreases. I knit 72 rows after the gusset and then began the toe decreases.
3. Here is a great article by Sarah Winsper on different toe decreases. Here is another great resource by Kate Atherley on Interweave Press on toe decreases.
4. Used this website to print graph paper to figure the toe decreases based on the shape of the toe.
5. Used really slow decreases on one side and faster decreases on the other side for the asymmetric parabolic shape.

1L: decrease 2 sts only on the left. This is a k2tog, k2, ssk.
1R: decrease one st only on the right. This is also a k2tog, k2, ssk.

Decreases…
Row 1: 1L, 1R
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, 10: Knit
Row 3: 0L, 1R
Row 5: 0L, 1R
Row 7: 1L, 1R
Row 9: 0L, 1R
Row 11: 1L, 1R
Row 12: 0L, 1R
Row 13: 1L, 1R
Row 14: 0L, 1R
Row 15: 1L, 1R
Row 16: 0L, 1R
Rows 17 - 20: 1L, 1R.
10 sts remaining on each needle (magic loop).
Kitchener graft.

Reverse L and R for the other sock.

This toe fits my son very well. It’s a sock with a very good fit.

MDK Square Heel Socks
Dutch Heel Demo by Roxanne Richardson
Modified Dutch Heel by Roxanne Richardson
Soldier’s Socks Heel Flaps and Heels Curls&Q blog
Sydney Morning Herald
Socks during WW1
Oshawa Museum Blog

How to close the gap when joining in the round. Relevant material at 1:35 min mark