amimono no monogatari: Short Fantasy (aka Tabi Monogatari v43)

Over the course of the pandemic, I barely went outside and when I did, I rarely ever wore shoes (& hence hardly ever used my socks. 😲😱) So, now that we've needed to venture out a bit more (more to move around and exercise), I realized that I needed a pair of short ankle length socks (because I really look like a dork wearing my crop tights with regular length socks and my tennis shoes! 😲🤦😱😭) Plus, I was in a knitting slump and nothing's better than a quick pair of socks (especially for me!) for a knitting pick me up! 🥰😍🧶

So, using my Footsyzz, my 4" & 3" Chiaogoo Interchangeable US 0 needles, various leftover sock yarns and my Cinderella Sock pattern,

Cast on a Provisional cast on with a total of 44 sts.
K 1 straight row on each side, then join in the round.
K 15 rows in the round as part of the foot portion.
Started the toes: with 22 sts on each side, splitting it up for 8 sts for big toe, 14 sts for remaining toes.
Big toe:

Row 1:

Front: k, m1, k to the to the last st, m1, k for a total of 10 sts
Back: k, m1, k to the to the last st, m1, k for a total of 10 sts

Row 2-15 (14 rows): k
Row 16:

Front: ssk, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog, total of 8 sts
Back: ssk, k to the last 2 sts, k2tog, total of 8 sts

Row 17-18 (2 rows): k
Row 19: same as row 16 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of the 6 sts on each side
Row 20-21 (2 rows): k
Row 22: same as row 21 continuing to decrease 2 sts, total of 4 sts on each side
Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

The big toe came out to 4.5 cm (1 3/4").

The rest of the toes:

Row 1:

Front: k to the end, pick up 4 sts, for a total of 18 sts
Back: pick up 4 sts, k to the end for a total of 18 sts

Row 2: k
Row 3:

Front: ssk, k to the end for a total of 17 sts
Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 17 sts

Row 4:

Front: ssk, k to the end for a total of 16 sts
Back: k to the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 16 sts

Row 5-6 (2 rows): k
Row 7:

Front: ssk, k to the end, for a total of 15 sts
Back: k to the the last 2 sts, k2tog for a total of 15 sts

Row 8: k
Row 9-18: same as row 7 & 8, continuing to decrease 2 sts, for a total of 14, 13, 12, 11 & 10 sts on each side

Row 19: same as row 9, for a total of 9 sts on each side

Row 20: same as row 19, for a total of 8 sts on each side
Row 21: k
Row 22: ssk, k2, k2tog, k2 for a total of 6 sts on each side
Row 23: ssk, k2tog, k2 for a total of 4 sts on each side
Bound off using the Kitchener stitch.

The rest of the toe came out to 5 cm (2 in).

It fits like a glove:

Then I went back to the bottom of the provisional cast on and picked up the stitches to start the foot.

Row 19: pick up a st from the “front” side and put it on the “back” side; pick up a st from the “back” side, bringing it behind the st picked up from the “front” and put it on the “front” side. K these 2 sts together. Then k in the round. There should be 22 sts on each side.
Row 20: Pick up 1 st from below on the 1st and 2nd to the last st on each side to add 2 sts for a total of 24 sts on each side
Row 21-24 (4 rows): k, maintaining 24 sts
Row 25: Pick up 1 st from below on the 1st and 2nd to the last st on each side to add 2 sts for a total of 26 sts on each side
Row 26-28 (3 rows): k, maintaining 26 sts
Row 29: Pick up 1 st from below and the 2nd to the last st on each side for a total of 28 sts (on each side)
Row 30-61 (35 rows): k

Including the initial 18 rows, this came out for a total of 13 cm (5 1/4").

With the foot done, I started on the heel portion using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method. Since the method is copyrighted, here's the changes I did to make it work for me:

14. Row 62:

Right side: K the "top" portion, start the heel on the "bottom" portion.
Left side: start the heel as you're already on the "bottom" portion.

15. Row 63-90: Follow the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method until you have 9 twin stitch

(ts) knits & purls sts on each side and 10 regular sts
16. Row 91: as you "boomerang" back to the regular sts, K9, k2tog, k6, ktog then continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method for 9 twin sts, 8 regular sts and a total of 26 sts

This came out to 3.5 cm (1 3/8”).

17. Row 92-113: Continue using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method to turn the heel

until you have a total of 26 sts again.

This came out perfect! 🙂 *yay* 🙂

Turning the heel is always magical and never gets old:

Right

Left

With the heel done, I finished off the a very short leg and cuff:
18. Row 114-123 (10 rows): k in the round for a total of 27 sts for each side.
19. Row 124-128 (5 rows): decreasing 2 sts, complete cuff using 1x1 ribbing, for a total of 25 sts for each side.
20. Bound off using a variation of the Estonian bind off, in which I picked up a stitch from the row below then used the Estonian bind off technique. 🙂

The total length of the leg and cuff was 3 cm (1 3/8 in).