A BETTER SHORT ROW HEEL
for crocheted socks

I've found this method better for avoiding "holes" in the heels of crocheted socks.

Whether working from toe up or cuff down, when you get to where you want to start your sock heel, from a side point:
Decrease rows:
Row 1: sc in half the stitches around (example: if your sock has 50 stitches in a round, sc 25). DO NOT CH 1; turn.
Row 2: sc in the next st and every st across. You should end up with one less st than in previous row (example: if previous row had 25 sc, this row will have 24). DO NOT CH 1; turn.
Repeat row 2 until you have half the number of stitches in Row 1, if you started with an even number of sc; one less than half if you started with an odd number (example: if your Row 1 had 25 sc, continue to 12 sc). DO NOT CH 1 AT ENDS OF ROWS.
Increase rows:
Row 1: sc in the next st and every st across, then work 2 sc down the side of the previous 2 rows. You should end up with 1 more sc than in your last decrease row (example: if your last decrease row had 12 sc, this row will have 13 sc). DO NOT CH 1; turn.
Row 2: sc in the next st and every st across, then work 2 sc down the side of the previous 2 rows. You should end up with one more st than in previous row (example: if previous row had 13 sc, this row will have 14 sc).
Repeat row 2 until the heel is finished (see photo of finished heel in Step-by-step tutorial below).