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Purl Encroachment (p enc)
Here's the definition of the Purl Encroachment stitch, as found in Mary Lycan's pattern for the Sherman Sock (KnitList, Socknitters group):
P enc (purl encroachment): sl 1 st purlwise; lift st beneath next stitch purlwise; insert L needle into both st from L, behind R needle; P 2 tog. (a purl variant of ssk).
Let's walk though that together. After slipping the next stitch, my swatch looked like this:
The next stitch on the left needle is one that was slipped at the end of a short row. The stitch below it is slanted. You can see it in the photo - the stitch below the next stitch is almost parallel to the left needle. After lifting it up on the right needle, my swatch looked like this:
See how the stitch on the left needle seems to be coming through the lifted stitch? After purling the slipped stitch and the lifted stitch together, my swatch looked like this:
It's a whole lot like a regular p2tog. The difference is where the second stitch in the p2tog comes from. Because of the lifted stitch, this p2tog makes the line of stitches on the knit side of the heel form a right angle, which produces a tidy and sturdy miter for a short row heel.