Last summer after walking in new hiking shoes, I thought that there might be room for five-toe socks in the wide toe-box. I knit knee-high prototypes from my stash of leftover light fingering weight yarn.

Construction Overview: Provisionally cast-on foot stitches using on a 47 inch cable needle. Join in the round, set up a Magic Loop, and knit towards the toes, which you knit on DPNs in this order - little, next to little, big, middle, and between middle and big - with spacing rows as needed. Think of knitting gloves, only you are knitting rather short thumbs and fingers, and in a different order. When the toes are finished, pick up the provisional CO foot stitches and continue as if you were knitting a regular toe-up sock. Use your favorite techniques for the gusset, heel and cuff, or follow the method that I outline. Experience knitting gloves and toe-up socks will be helpful.

Directions are given for the shape of my size US-7 woman’s foot; my big toe is just less than 2 inches long and 3 ¼ inches in circumference at its widest point before gradually narrowing. All my littler toes are just over an inch long and about 2 inches in circumference. My feet are about 9 ¼ inches long and about 9 inches in circumference at the arches.

You will need to make measurements of your toe anatomy (a diagram is included in the pattern) and adjust the pattern accordingly. You may even need to change the order in which you knit the toes.