I ended up knitting these on Hiya Hiya US1 needles, two-at-a-time on two circulars. I cast on 63 stitches (between the two recommended sizes) to make it work at the smaller gauge. I followed the heel turning for the smaller pattern size.

The cables were fiddly, but a nice detail for a simple pattern using such a variegated yarn.

To reinforce the heel area (since that’s where I wear out my socks), I did two things after I knit the cabled heel flap:

1. I carried a strand of laceweight kid-silk as a reinforcement through the heel turn.
2. Throughout the heel as well as the sole stitches during gusset decrease, I knit-through-the-back loops for twisted stitches that increase the durability of the fabric.

I initially started these while at CampKIP and ripped them out multiple times…. mostly because I started them out on Kollage soft cables which ended up driving me nuts!

The finished pair is so soft and squishy… a treat for the feet indeed.