Mystery Solved!

While waiting for the cable guy* to take the cable box and release me from TV dependence, I finished Nancy Bush's September 09 Mystery Socks. Without a model to wear them for a photo shoot, I positioned them on the 1930s office chair that Hubs salvaged from his university's unused furniture dumpster a couple of weeks ago:

After finishing clue #3 last week the rest of the socks wasn't much of a mystery: I just kept on with the pattern (which is now officially called "Fox Faces," I believe), did two extra pattern repeats to accommodate my size 41 feet, and finished with the toe.

The toe was new to me: instead of decreasing four stitches at two sides every second row, Nancy's instruction called for a six-stitch decrease at three places, starting with the center of the bottom (see the sock to the left in the next pic).

I'm afraid the decrease on the bottom will make the socks less comfortable to wear with shoes, but I'll need to test that to be sure.

I said it last time and I'll say it again: the yarn is absolutely delicious (Zen Yarn Garden Serenity Sock). The socks are so, so, so, so soft, they are perfect for wearing in bed. Although I don't actually wear socks in bed! But somehow, in my mind these socks have become "bed socks." But since the color looks really good with jeans, I'll probably end up wearing them outside, too.

Mmmmmmm... cashmere socks.... mmmmmm. Heaven... mmmmm.

(*I'm still waiting. ETA: 9am-4pm ; the guy's got 14 minutes to show.)