FO: Philosopher's House Socks

Now, with more cat.

It snowed this morning, but then the sun came out and it was dry enough for me to do a photo shoot. Princess was very happy to join me in the sun.

Pattern: Philosopher’s House Socks, by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Cascade 220, in some mystery blue color that was in my stash.
Needles: US 5/3.75mm
Ravelry: Project page, pattern page

Modifications: Used the whirlpool toe instead of the standard toe, used 38 stitches mid-foot instead of 42, decreased 4 stitches at the beginning of the cuff, and increased the cuff length by one pattern repeat.

Size-wise, they fit fine, although a half inch shorter in the foot would have been nicer – I like my socks to be really snug. (A drawback of knitting toe-up – you can’t just rip out the toe and make it shorter… unless you want to cut the yarn and reknit it the opposite direction.) But they’ll be fine for wearing around the house. Since they’re from worsted-weight yarn, they’re a bit thick for wearing in shoes, other than boots.

The construction is very interesting – they are knit toe-up, and the increases are done on the instep rather than on the heel. They do have a reinforced heel like you’d have on a heel flap, but you don’t have to pick up stitches at the gusset (yay!)

New experiences (besides the construction): Figure 8 cast-on and sewn bind-off.