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I’m a huge fan of Knit Picks Felici sock yarn – it’s one of the most affordable self-striping sock yarns on the market at around $5-$6 for a 50 gram ball, depending on what sales are going on. Hot Tip: Felici goes in and out of stock often and the colorways change each time they release it, so if you see colors you like you should snap them up or you may not get another chance.
My favorite pattern for Felici is called the Sock Surgeon’s Afterthought Heel Socks – a free pattern by Emily B. Miller. (There is a video tutorial of this pattern/heel technique on YouTube and an accompanying pdf you can download in the video description). Warning: this pattern requires a good deal of bravery the first time you make it because you will need to cut into your knitting (hence the nod to surgeons in the pattern name) but this afterthought heel is a fabulous technique to have in your knitting skills toolbox and it’s really very easy. I’ve written about this pattern many times, so you can see my other pairs and read my notes by following the Sock Surgeon’s Afterthought Heel tags on this blog.
Above is a pic of my 15th pair of these socks in the Felici colorway “Material Girl.” I made the tubes for these back in 2019 but I didn’t add the heels until last month. The reason I love this pattern is because picking the foot length and adding the heel is the last step so you can keep a nearly-finished pair in reserve and then pop some heels in them at the last minute if you need a gift.
Don’t you love the bulls-eye look on this heel? If you want this look, you’ll want to snip into the middle of a stripe and then pull to about halfway through the corresponding color in the yarn you’ll be using to knit in the heel before you join. (With Felici, this amounts to about 1.5 arm spans – maybe like 80 inches?)
yarn details
Knit Picks Felici Fingering Weight in Material Girl
Fingering Weight
75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon
Handwash & Machine Dry
$4.19 per 50 g/ 218 yd skein (on sale!)
Purchased in February 2019
project details
pattern: “Sock Surgeon’s Afterthought Heel” by Emily B. Miller
size knit: CO 64 Stitches
needles: US size 1.5 (2.5 mm), circular needles (magic loop)
gauge: 8.5 stitches and 12 rows per inch
yarn used: 353 yards (81 grams) – made the leg on these ones longer than usual!
finished size: tip of toe to back of heel – 10”, bottom of heel to top of cuff: 11”, leg circumference – about 7”
duration: April 2019 – June 2021
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