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There's a new pattern out. I say new but for me, this is one of my oldest patterns, that I have used many times and I thought it was about time I shared it for you all to try. I don't know about you but I love the smooshy, slipped stitch heel on a sock. Covering the whole sock in this pattern, creates extra thickness and just feels so warm and cosy. The pattern is easier to work in the round than on the heel flap, so it's quite a relaxing knit to work too. Jupon are worked from the top down and the name, Jupon, is derived from the slipped stitches used in the sock. Jupon is a type of slip (petticoat). As you can see from the collage below, I've worked this pattern a few times using different types of yarn. It seems to work well with all types of yarn dyeing - plain, semi-solid, speckles, self-striping, variegated. The slipped stitch pattern covers most of the sock even down to the tips of the toes. Use the introductory discount code JUPON for a 15% discount until midnig...

I don't know whether you're the same but I've always been disappointed with the fit of an afterthought heel. I think this is because I have a very high instep and the heel just isn't deep enough. I'm going to talk a bit about "maths and fit" in this first section, but if you're looking for the tutorial on how to put in your afterthought heel then just slide down to the bottom. Afterthought heel fit I played about with the maths a bit to see why they don't work for me. My heel diagonal is about 30cm [11 7/8"]. You'd expect to have a bit of negative ease around the heel diagonal - 10 -15% is a good range - so I want it to be somewhere between 25.6 - 27cm [10.1 -10.7"] in circumference.  If I were to work a basic afterthought heel, that outside measurement would be about 12.5cm [5"] (I worked out this number by counting the rows in the afterthought heel and multiply by 2; plus the width of the final kitchener stitches) plus half of ...