WIP Wednesday (Ankle Socks Edition)

A little confession--I am a sock knitter.  This means that when I want something to mindlessly occupy my hands while watching Star Trek with my husband, I cast on a pair of socks.  I use my favorite sock book, Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, and pick out an easy to memorize stitch pattern, and I knit away.  I like to use the magic loop and knit from the top town.  This is because I don't like the way the heel is worked on toe-up socks, and I don't mind working a kitchenr's stitch at the end of my top-down

I also find that top-down socks fit my foot much better than toe-up socks.  This seems counter-intuitive because one of the advatages of toe-up socks is being able to try on the sock as you knit to get a perfect fit.  But I find that by working my top-down socks with a magic loop, I can still try them on as I go.  They fit nicely, but all the toe-up socks I have made fit loosely through the ankle.  I'm not sure if this has something to do with my bind-off method, or if it's a quirk of my fat feet and skinny heel and ankle.

Well, with no further adeau, here is my current sock project:

These are ankle socks, and I'm making them with ONE 50g ball of Knit Picks Felici in Botaney. That's right, I can make a pair of socks for my short and fat feet, using only 50g of sock yarn.  I'm not particular about the striping on socks I knit for myself, in fact I enjoy the stripey quirks that occur when using one ball of self-striping yarn.

For those interested in the pecularities of these socks:
*Cast on 72 stitches
* 2x2 ribbing for 1 1/4 inches at top
* Slip-stitch heel with 3 stitch garter border, worked on size 1 dpns
* Basket weave pattern on top of foot
* Knit to fit my short, fat feet
* I'm currently at the gusset decreases on the second sock.

Now I'm grabbing a cup-o-tea while I look at more WIPs.