Once the toe increases were finished i switched to all purling for the sole stitches - this is an effort to address one of the most common complaints I hear about wearing hand knit socks - the soles are too textured for my feet and irritate me if I am on my feet all day. Easy enough - knit them so the smooth side is on the inside, next to the skin!

arrgh - i made it past the toes and into 1 1/2 pattern repeats and realized that my gauge was too huge (yes, i swatched) - i think the gauge on this pattern is off. Now going to frog and recalculate. not a pretty prospect considering that i knit two at once from a single ball - pull from inside the ball and outside. What a mess!

Decided not to frog - I have friends with big feet! knitting just a bit tighter through the arches, we’ll see how it goes.

9/29/2012:
Finished,and I know just who to give them to. They are so pretty. Totally full of mistakes, but most of them minor and not noticeable to the untrained eye. Photos of them in action as soon as I can get them to her.