Up or Down?

When I blogged recently about my love of toe-up socks, Ellen and Karen asked two very simple questions in the comments:  Why? and Which is my go-to pattern?  

I'm not the most experienced sock knitter.  I mean have you seen Andi's gorgeous socks?  or Gerry's? And there's no denying the delight of Susan's seemingly endless supply of hand-knitted socks.  But I'm pretty comfortable knitting on double-pointed needles ~ okay, I admit it, I actually love knitting with DPNs ~ and enjoy the rhythm that comes with sock knitting.  

So, to Ellen's question, I prefer the toe-up method for two reasons:  (1) because it allows for very little waste and (2) because once the sock is done, it's done. If a skein is split evenly in half, you can knit a pair of socks until the yarn is used up.  With no toe to kitchener or graft, I can bind off the cuff and literally wear my new socks fresh off the needles!   Pretty irresistible, don't you think?

To Karen's question, I like to use the method I shared in my Tubies pattern.  It's a little piddly at first but once you knit the first two rounds, it's lovely.  

As you can see from my photo above, I'm at the point to start the gusset and heel ... which one is the big question.  Any favorites to recommend?