Reversible Socks

I recently knit up a pair of socks for my 20-something son, who is rather conservative in dress, and discovered that the pattern I had chosen (a simple knit-and-purl affair) was just as nice on the flip side of the work. Ta-da! Reversible socks! I knit them toe-up, with flap-style heels, and as long as you are neat about the ends, there is no reason why one cannot wear socks inside out. Right? Ask my son. He does it inadvertently all the time. Apparently one can wear socks twice as long this way before washing them. Yeah, mom!!! 

Here's the result:

[socks, "purl side" out]

[socks, "stockinette side" out]

The stitch pattern is a [K3 P1] rib, that gets offset every 6 rows (or something like that - can't remember exactly, but it doesn't really matter!). So the socks are stretchy.

Another knit-and-purl pattern that's reversible is "wavy rib" ( [K4 P2] for 4 rows, then offset it). I knit up these for my husband and used the toe-up Fleegle Heel. I like this one better for wearing inside-out; it doesn't have ridges along the sides of the "flap". 

[wavy rib socks, "right" side out]

[wavy rib on the inside = mini basketweave!]

I figure there must be many more reversible patterns out there, lurking in the knit-and-purl section of your local stitch dictionary...