Hi, yes, only the center stitches will remain after you’ve worked the heel. It goes like this: you divide the stitches into three parts – right-side, center, left-side, then you decrease one stitch every row – you will knit/purl 2 stitches together – one from the center part and one from the side part. Since the decrease-resulting stitch stays with the center stitches their count doesn’t change, but with every row there is one less stitch in the side-parts. And you will repeat the decreases until there are no more side parts.

Hello, I’m trying wrap and turn unsuccessfully for stocking heel. I thought to try your more traditional heel, but am confused when you say for both heel short row knit and heel turn at end, (it’s a decrease, correct?), it seems the only center stitches are actually the remaining stitches? For heel turn it reads like you use all stitches up. Sorry, am not wanting to try a 4th time for a heel, been years since I knitted socks requiring a gusset heel.

Hello, these are great questions! If you are planning to use solid-color yarn, you could switch right when you start the heel flap. I have a sock pattern with contrasting heels (Sunset Safari socks), that you could use as an example. This can be found here:
https://mirellamoments.com/socks-knitting-pattern/.
I actually don’t increase the number of rows when I work the heel in the slipe-stitch pattern. It’s not really much shorter than the heel worked in stockinette, but that’s some food for thought.

However, since I am using self-striping yarn, the shorter rows of the flap have a very different appearance from the other rows. I’m wondering how you recommend dealing with that. For example, would you use a coordinating solid yarn, and if so, where would you switch?

You also mention “a slip stitch pattern.” I’ve seen that elsewhere, so I understand how to do it, but I haven’t seen it mentioned: do you then increase the number of rows (probably double) because you’re only working half the stitches in each row. That is, if you’re working thirty stitches, each stitch is only increased 15 times in thirty rows instead of 30 times.

No-no, you described it perfectly – I understood!:) I was trying to figure this out, but can’t think of a way to avoid knitting those stiches twice… These imperfections bug me too, but I tell myself, that they don’t really affect the result – the stitches are so tiny and don’t really add any additional leght or volume. I guess, it’s just the construstion of the heel.
Sorry, I couldn’t hekp much, but if you find an answer somewhere I’d love to hear about it!

Hello Michelle,
You are absolutely right, thank you for spotting my mistake – I’ve corrected the number of stitches!

How many stitches you casted on for the sock? If the beginning of the round is in the center of the heel, then after you’ve picked up the stitches from the sides you need to work the remaining half of the heel stitches – could these be those 9 stitches?