Cimorene

I have eight knit stitches (and eight purl ones hidden between) per 5 cm in 1x1 rib with my standard worsted sock yarn. The socks are 38 stitches around in my size, which is within a normal range, but a bit less than usual. The pattern has instructions for choosing your size based on the circumference of your foot - the diagram has it measured around the arch portion. The smallest size calls for 34st and the largest 54st in this worsted yarn - my finished sock, unstretched, is about 2/3 the width (easier to measure than circumference) of my foot circumference (8 cm across the sock: 12 cm foot circ).

But because of the simplicity of this pattern, it should be very easy to adjust up and down for other gauge. The garter rib section on the top of the foot is worked over the center 13 out of 19st in my size, which amounts to three rib stitches on each side (somewhere between ½cm and 1cm in unstretched vertical ribbing), and the ribbing simply continues all the way around to the bottom. The pattern, written from the top down, is just a tube that starts with a bit more than 1 cm of plain 1x1 ribbing before the garter section is begun, and then you just keep going in that pattern until it's time to decrease for the toes, when you switch to stockinette for the toe section. Obviously this would work equally well in toe-up construction.

I started with heavier yarn for convenience, and because they'd be done faster - plus I guess that's less time wasted if they turned out not to work for me! But they are pretty nice and easy to make, very meditative, because of not having to pay attention to how far you've come, yet more interesting than plain stockinette, since you switch from rib to garter each round. But given your climate, perhaps fingering weight socks would make more sense! And I definitely want to make some of those next. Those 'luxury' merino sock yarns really DO feel nicer on the skin, which seems annoying and unfair to me, but now that I have some I like them so much better than my other socks that I want more pairs.

As for heel reinforcement, I have never seen the fabled thin plastic/nylon heel reinforcement thread mentioned in the Elizabeth Zimmerman books for sale, I've just made the whole sock with yarn that had synthetic in it already. I did wonder if they would wear differently from other socks, but I haven't had a chance to find out yet since they've had very little wear. I haven't even blocked them yet!