Swatching 3×1 ribbing
2.5 mm: 9.4 sts/inch

Foot circ. less 10% = 8.55”
8.5 × 9.4 = 80.37
80 sts will work with 3×1 ribbing (multiple of 4 sts)

Hmmm. BUT in my Craftsy Learning Socks, I had 72 sts with the same size needle and the same yarn (Regia 4-ply, just a different colourway), and my feet are wider than this recipient’s, and this ribbing is stretchier than the seaweed pattern in the other socks… so I’m going to go down another 8 sts (2 patt rep). So: 72 sts for the foot. I may increase for the ankle later.

Figure 8 CO: I cast 12 sts onto each needle. I used 2 mm needles for the CO and the first rnd so the toe would be tighter than it might have been with 2.25 mm. I also knitted through the front loop of the second half of the first round so the sts would twist and tighten. Switched to 2.25 mm on the second round.

Desired foot length: 10.2” (or so)
Knit foot until work is 6”, then start gusset increases.

After heel flaps: The socks are tighter/shorter than calculated. My gauge might have gotten tighter as I worked. Next time, when calculating when to start the gusset increases, use actual measurements (don’t round down). And/or increase a couple of extra gusset stitches in order to add a titch of length and instep depth. (Remember: if stretched across, then the length shortens.)

Bound off using Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy BO.

(October 2012: Surgery! I removed the toe, added 14(13?) rnds, then planned to reattach the rest. In January 2014, after being terrified for more than a year and studying Craftsy’s grafting class and this blog post from Knitting Daily about top-to-bottom grafting, I found the courage to try the grafting. I struggled and ungrafted OUCH for more than two hours, then Figures 4, 6, and 7 in that blog post set me straight. Success!)

Important re: grafting top-to-bottom: To avoid the half-stitch jog, start the grafting with an extra half-stitch on the back needle. This will make sense if you line the stitches up and see that each “main” stitch on the front needle fits in between two half-stitches on the back/top needle, one on each side. Then (from the Knitting Daily blog post, in case that link ever breaks):
“It doesn’t matter how the knit and purl stitches are arranged in the ribbing pattern. All you have to do is look at the next stitch that needs to be grafted front needle and work the four steps depending on whether the stitch is a knit or a purl stitch.  

“Grafting a knit stitch
Step 1: Purlwise through the stitch on the front needle, leave it on.
Step 2: Purlwise through the first half-knit stitch on the back needle, remove it.
Step 3: Knitwise through the next half-knit stitch on the back needle, leave it on.
Step 4: Knitwise through the stitch on the front needle, remove it.

Grafting a purl stitch
Step 1: Knitwise through the stitch on the front needle, leave it on.
Step 2: Knitwise through the first half-purl stitch on the back needle, remove it.
Step 3: Purlwise through the next half-purl stitch on the back needle, leave it on.
Step 4: Purlwise through the stitch on the front needle, remove it.“