These socks are a product of the KnitFreedom Faux Heel Flap pattern in the sense that I followed that pattern as a guideline, but changed a few things with regard to the details (the toe, the total stitch count for the foot, leg and cuff), so while I didn’t follow it line for line, it provides the basic formula for what I did.

Using the MC (beige) I cast on 12 stitches using Judy’s Magic Cast-On, leaving a long tail, and worked one round. I worked the next round with the working yarn and the cast-on tail held double, bringing the stitch count up to 24. I then continued the toe increases as given in the pattern (substituting left and right leaning lifted increases for the M1L and M1R in the pattern) until I reached a total of 72 stitches (36 stitches per side of the Magic Loop). I knit 2 rounds even before beginning the mosaic stitch pattern.

The stitch pattern that I used was the Cross and Diamonds mosaic stitch pattern from Charted Knitting Designs, A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. The pattern is a multiple of 12 stitches plus 3 (or just 12 stitches when working continuously in the round). At this point I moved the first 2 and last 2 heel stitches to the instep needle (32 heel stitches and 40 instep stitches). This allowed me to work the gusset and heel exactly as written in the pattern. I then added the CC (copper) and worked the top of the foot in the mosaic pattern and the bottom of the foot in stockinette. On the instep the first stitch (being extra) was always a knit stitch and I began the mosaic stitch pattern on stitch #2. I began the gusset increases on row 23 of the 2nd repeat of the mosaic pattern to ensure that the heel turn would fall between two rows of the MC. (Rows 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 27 and 31 would all have also worked, but the foot measurement was closest to being right for beginning the gusset increases at a row 23.) The heel turn and heel flap are the same as in the pattern.

After completing the heel and before continuing the mosaic stitch pattern all the way around the leg I moved the first 2 and last 2 instep stitches (the +3 from the pattern repeat and the extra stitch) to the heel needle so that both needles began with the first stitch of the mosaic pattern and the continuity of the stitch pattern was maintained on the front of the sock(s). From that point on I worked the mosaic stitch pattern all the way around the leg with 36 stiches on the instep needle and 36 stitches on the heel needle. After completing the 5th full mosaic pattern repeat I worked the hemmed picot cuff option from the pattern in the MC.

I normally like to work toe-up socks 2-at-a-time by Magic Loop, but when using more than one yarn per sock I spend more time untangling myself from all the working yarns than actually knitting, so I knit these socks one at a time. I used eye-of-partridge for the heel stitch.

I found that the Cross and Diamonds mosaic stitch pattern is significantly less stretchy than the other mosaic stitch patterns I have used in prior socks, so that even though these socks have more stitches, they are much tighter when it comes to putting them on and taking them off. I probably should have gone to a larger needle after the heel was completed. Once on, however, they fit perfectly, so I’ll get over it.