Modifications:

Cuff: in same needle size as leg.

Orientation: I turned the pattern 90°, to begin each round at the back of the leg. The owls on the back of the foot are closer to each other that way - because the pattern is not perfectly point symmetrical. I did not like the look of the cable rows dividing them.

Now I have the beginning of each row in the middle back of the heel. I incorparated the gusset of Michaela Richters “Rainbow”-Socks to avoid knitting back and forth for the heel and could knit it in rounds.

Gusset: pM between st16/17 and 48/49. Increase 10sts every second row by m1l (linksgeneigt nach 16M) or m1r (rechtsgeneigt nach 48M) outside each M while continue to work in the round. Start in row 5 of pattern: 64+20sts. Knit those additional gusset sts.

Heel: k/p back and forth from the middle back of the heel using short rows until you have 64+2 sts left. Continue to work in the round with pattern only on top of the foot, decrease the last 2 additional sts in the next row.