Why toe-up socks exist

For a pair of socks I am supposed to be working on only at home (and only on very short breaks from the very urgent baby sweater) because the needles are a little sharp for going out with, my mohair/Romney sweeties from Stoddart Family Farms' boot sock collection are making astounding progress.  Ahem.

Look! I already have one up to the toe.

This particular skein was a little lighter than the others in my stash, the square needles had me knitting tighter, and anyway it's a bit unpredictable with this yarn how many inches you can afford to invest in the cuff - it's spun a bit thicker than the usual sock base you find from other artists, and you get a little less mileage as a result.  So I really, really should have done them toe up.  That way I wouldn't have wasted a bit of this incredibly delicious colourway and I would have had very warm legs this winter as well as very warm feet.

Sadly, I opted for top down, having got well and truly sick of toe-up experimentation (or rather, of too-long feet) last winter.

And you know what? I'm going to do the next pair of these socks top down too, because all I have to do is weigh the leftover ball from this one to find out how far I can take the next cuffs.

I think I'll use these scraps in some sort of Fair Isle or stripe pattern with backup leftovers for a nice abbreviated pair of matching legwarmers... a bit like shearing the sheep to make it a sweater, but the best fix I can think of.

Also, it lets me knit with this yarn a little longer.  You really have to try it to believe it, and once you do I bet you'll be as hooked as I am!