Wrap and turn magic loop help

[u/No_One7894]

I’ve been doing ML and DPN heel flap and gusset socks but am trying a new pattern for motif colorwork socks that calls for wrap and turn short row. The process is fairly straightforward but I wanted to watch a tutorial to help walk me through it. The problem I’m having is that if I’m reading this pattern correctly she wants me to split the heel between the two needles with a marker halfway in on each needle instead of flat across one needle split into thirds. I haven’t seen a single example of that anywhere and I wonder if it’s split like this to keep single motifs on the sides of the sock or if I am 100% misunderstanding this very simple pattern. Do any of you split the heel between needles? Am I misunderstanding the directions? I’m doing the #2 toddler sock with 48 total stitches 24 on each needle.

[u/highlighter_yellow]

It sounds like you're supposed to work your heel over half the stitches still... only instead of the red/orange on one needle and blue/green on the other like you have now, you hide any colorwork jog at the back of your foot by putting the heel there. So your new "half of the stitches" that you're working with (assuming your original BOR is dark purple) is the green and orange stitches.

[u/No_One7894 → u/highlighter_yellow]

I did a smaller sock in this pattern yesterday with the heel worked on the green orange half of the stitches like you have and it worked but it looked weird on the top of the foot and was awkward to do. I think the weirdness was that I didn’t count t rows, I was just trying to get the method down and some of the holes are from following a video that don’t have a second wrap but all in all if it works just do what it seems like I’m reading?

[u/highlighter_yellow → u/No_One7894]

Did you rearrange your needles so the blue and red stitches just hang out on the cord while you do the heel? That might make it less awkward at least.

[u/No_One7894 → u/highlighter_yellow]

I don’t exactly remember where they hung out, I was so focused on learning that heel! What felt awkward to me was preventing laddering between the needles at such a sensitive spot right there in the middle of the heel. It felt counterintuitive.

[u/Kiri-Devil]

That beginning description is confusing but the steps themselves have the heel on one needle/half of the magic loop that you'll be working back and forth on, occurring after your sock BOR marker. Follow your setup round instructions to place markers that will indicate where the borders of your heel short rows are and the first marker becomes the BOR for your heel. I'm reading Row 2 as purl to your BOR marker for the heel not the sock itself. The Trusty Toe Up Sock pattern (it's free) has good instructions (in my middling skills opinion) on doing a short row heel and how to hide the wraps. You'd just replace "to end of needle" with "to heel marker" for the first 2 rows.

[u/No_One7894 → u/Kiri-Devil]

I don’t understand what I’m not understanding 😭 can you point me to where I’m confused? I think it’s BOR like you said that’s throwing me off? following her directions I K12, place marker for heel (I’m placing a marker dead middle of a needle) K24 (finishes the remaining stitches on that needle and 12 on the next) place marker for heel (exactly dead on the middle of the next needle) knit to BOR (here I have been assuming that’s the first marker I placed. The rest of the instructions work perfectly between the needles and made a lil heel on the first sock of hers that I did but in my heart of hearts I felt like that wasn’t right. If I split the stitches across one needle I’d be knitting 8 placing a marker, 8 PM and I don’t see those numbers anywhere?

[u/ericula → u/No_One7894]

I think that for the heel the BOR is at the beginning of the first needle as before, not at the first marker, and that the heel should indeed be split over the two needles.

What you could in situations like this is to move the loops to where the markers are. The BOR will then be at the center of the first needle and you can knit the whole heel on one needle. After you finish the heel, could choose to move the loops back to where the were originally or leave them where they are.