Parts of a Sock – Cuff, Leg, Heel, Instep, Sole and Toe

All 14 parts on the diagram

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A sock 7

Cuff Usually worked in ribbing, which stretches.
Leg On a short sock the leg is just a straight tube.
Heel A pouch knitted into the tube on a machine-made seamless sock.
Instep Lies over the top of the foot, between leg and toe.
Sole On a hand-knit sock it is always worked in plain stockinette stitch.
Toe It is shaped by decreasing stitches. They are increased instead when a sock is knitted from the toe up.
Toe seam A selling point on work and sports socks when flat or smooth.

Hand-knit heel 3

Heel flap A knitter works it back and forth in rows. A longer heel flap gives a deeper instep.
Heel turn It turns the heel into a little box. The work then goes back to knitting in the round for the foot.
Gusset Worked whenever a sock has a heel flap. The extra stitches picked up along the flap are decreased away.

Lengths 4

No-show sock They are meant to be invisible. They give the look of bare feet in shoes.
Ankle sock They reach the ankle or just below. They show at the top of the shoe.
Crew sock The most common length; crew socks usually have a ribbed top.
Knee-high sock Knee-high socks are part of some school and sports uniforms.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two sources use it: Donna Druchunas, How to Knit Socks That Fit, read through archive.org's full-text search, https://archive.org/details/howtoknitsocksth0000druc (its Anatomy of a Sock: cuff, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, instep, sole, toe); Antje Gillingham, Knitting Circles around Socks, read the same way (cuff, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, instep, toe); John Chamberlain, Knitted Fabrics (1919), https://archive.org/details/knittedfabrics00cham (the leg, the heel, the instep, the sole, the toe; rib top; seamless pouches for heel and toe); Wikipedia, Sock, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock (leg, heel, toe; no show, low-cut, ankle, crew and knee-high socks); Willa Bennett and others, How to Wear Socks, read through the full-text search, https://archive.org/details/howtowearsocks0000jann (no-show, ankle, crew and knee-high lengths); and, for the toe seam and the ribbed cuff, a work-boot maker's 1999 catalog, https://archive.org/details/red_wing_1999_catalog, and SGB magazine, August 2005, https://archive.org/details/sim_sgb_2005-08_38_8. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's shape or mark, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

These are the parts of a sock, from the cuff at the top to the seam across the toe. The second drawing shows the heel of a hand-knit sock; the third shows four lengths.

Read the full guide

Cuff to toe

Start at the top. The cuff is the ribbed band, and the leg is the tube below it. The heel is the rounded corner at the back. The foot has two sides: the instep on top and the sole underneath. The toe closes the end, and the toe seam is where it is joined.

A knitter's heel

A hand-knit heel has three pieces: the heel flap down the back, the heel turn under it and a gusset at each side.

A sock knitted from the cuff down is finished at the toe; one knitted from the toe up is finished at the cuff.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a sock called?

From the top: the cuff, the leg, the heel, the instep over the top of the foot, the sole under it, and the toe. A hand-knitter also names the heel flap, the heel turn and the gusset.

What is the top of a sock called?

The cuff. It is usually ribbed, which lets it stretch. On a crew sock the ribbing sits above the ankle.

What is a gusset on a sock?

The wedge at each side of a hand-knit sock, between the heel flap and the foot. Stitches are picked up along the heel flap and then decreased away to shape it.

What are the different lengths of socks?

No-show socks hide inside the shoe, ankle socks reach the ankle, crew socks reach the middle of the calf and are the most common, and knee-high socks come up to the knee.