Knitting is something which tends to evolve over time - the more you do the more you find better ways to achieve things.
I have never seen any pattern done the same way as I do my hosen (my grandmother spoke a rather old dialect and also knitted socks) but I don't seek out patterns because I have never needed one, though they turn up from time to time.
I have knitting needles which are very small indeed, so never have much difficulty with reducing the stitch size - I'm working with size 2.5mm at the moment.
When making long socks I make them long enough to fold over, so that if necessary a ring of elastic can be put under the turn over.
I find that hand made socks are so very comfortable. When I was younger I often used to go walking in the Pennines and later on the South Downs and never got rubs or blisters.
One thing I do is start the toe by making a rectangle about 2 inches of stitches and enough rows so that there are 3 or 4 long stitches showing on the edge on both sides - the 3 is for thicker yarn, 4 for finer. I then use double pointed needles and knit around all four edges doing yarn over knit the long stitch at the short edges, so the 4 long stitches becomes 9. I make a temporary cast on so that when it is pulled out there is no hard edge and it is almost impossible to tell which was the first row except for the tail of yarn.
I also make a left and a right sock, increasing a few st at the inner edge and more on the outer. The increases are done on the short sides, 5 or 7st apart every other round.

Anne the Pleater

Quote Originally Posted by Tobus View Post
Anne, that is a very interesting way to do socks! Like a reverse heel-flap sort of setup. I sort of like the way the lines of stitches continue from the bottom of the foot up through the ankle and to the leg, rather than other methods where the stitches change directions around the ankle.

Is that a common way to do them in the UK?

So, I finished my second camouflage boot/hunting sock last night. I changed a few details from the first sock I made, so they aren't exactly the same in the details but still go together as long as they're hidden under trousers (which they will be). I deepened the heel pocket by a couple of stitches to make more room since the eye-of-partridge stitches around the heel tend to compress it. I also changed the manner in which I did the increases around the back of the leg.

There are still some details I'm not 100% happy with, but will apply the lessons on the next pair of socks that I'll cast-on tonight. Getting a neat and tidy closed cast-on and tubular bind-off are still things I'm working on. And despite stepping down several needle sizes for the top cuff and going to 1x1ribbing, it still doesn't reduce the size as much as I had hoped. They still stay up, but I'd like it a bit more snug. So I guess on future tall socks that I don't intend to wear garter ties with, I'll need to do some decreases for the top ribbing.