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

Using the MC (mauve) 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 until I reached a total of 70 stitches (34 stitches on the heel needle and 36 on the instep needle), with the last increase round increasing only on the instep needle. I worked 2 rounds even before beginning the mosaic stitch pattern.

The stitch pattern that I used was Maze Pattern from A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara G. Walker. The pattern is a multiple of 14 stitches plus 2, or just 14 stitches when working continuously in the round. (See note below regarding pattern repeat.) I moved the first 3 and last 3 stitches from the heel needle to the instep needle so that I had 42 stitches on the instep needle (3 pattern repeats) and 28 stitches on the heel needle (2 pattern repeats). I joined the CC (Cherry Sours) and began the mosaic pattern, working the top of the foot in the mosaic pattern and the bottom of the foot in stockinette. 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 is basically the same as in the pattern, adjusted for working over 28 stitches instead of 32, with the heel flap being the same width as the pattern (24 stitches). I used eye-of-partridge for the heel flap.

After completing the heel I worked the mosaic stitch pattern all the way around the leg with 42 stiches on the instep needle and 28 stitches on the heel needle. After completing the 5th full mosaic pattern repeat I worked the hemmed picot cuff option from the KnitFreedom pattern in the MC. (These are relatively short socks with only 5” above the heel including the picot cuff.)

Note regarding Maze mosaic pattern: I had initially increased to 72 stitches in order to incorporate the +2 of the pattern repeat on the instep since I was only working that portion of the foot in pattern, but I did not like the jog that this created at the BOR where the end of the mosaic pattern met the stockinette stripes, so I ripped back and started the mosaic over without the +2. While with some (or maybe most) mosaic patterns the “+x” part of the pattern repeat is necessary to balance the pattern when it is being done on only part of a round as opposed to the full round of a circular knit project, with this particular stitch pattern, when working just half a round of pattern, it works much better without the +2.

I normally like to work toe-up socks 2-at-a-time by Magic Loop, but know from previous experience that once I add the contrast color to the mix, I spend more time untangling myself from all the working yarns than actually knitting, so I knit these socks one at a time.