learn to knit toe-up socks

i am determined to figure this out!!!

I’ve always done the cuff down sort of knit sock because I’m not a huge fan of short rows or dealing with something like a provisional cast on. However, having learned to do a turkish cast on (so easy you can’t even believe it) and overcoming my dislike of short rows using this tutorial I now consider myself a convert.

My first pair of toe up socks fit like a freakin’ dream.
They’re here if you want to have a look at the details about this particular sock.

The green socks are the toe-up ones; the blue ones were knitted top-down, using a Twisted Rib pattern from my Pattern a Day calendar. Both use Knitpicks’ Parade yarn (sports weight).

While bopping around the internet, I found a site that lists a whole bunch of stretchy bind-off methods that should be perfect for toe-up socks!

http://weebleknits.blogspot.com/2003/05/stretchy-bind-offs.html

I’ll definitely have to try one of those with my next toe-up socks… and maybe try kitchener-stitch for closing the afterthought heel, rather than threading the yarn through and pulling tight.

Finished my toe-up socks on Sunday! The knitting-two-at-once thing really worked out well, I think… it’s so nice to have both socks ready to wear!

This particular pattern uses an afterthought heel, so I was really nervous about running out of yarn. I ended up making the leg-part of the sock rather short, and ended up with a lot of extra yarn. Next time, I’ll definitely make the leg-portion longer.

Other things to remember for next time:
- 8 stitches is kind of small for a toe-cast on. Next time, I’d make that at least 10 stitches.

- When they say cast off loosely, they mean it! I cast off fairly loosely for me, and it’s a pain to squeeze my feet into the socks. Next time, I might cast off in the rib pattern to make it extra loose.

- Toe-up socks are pretty awesome when knitting for oneself (or for feet that are nearby).

My mother-in-law really liked the socks that I knit for her, so I took advantage of a recent sale at Knitpicks.com and bought a buttload of Parade yarn (a nice thick sports-weight sock yarn that’s machine-washable).

I decided to use Knitpicks’ pattern for two-at-a-time toe-up socks on two circular needles. Very nice, clear instructions for casting on and picking up the stitches to create a seamless toe.

The pattern, unfortunately, doesn’t tell you how many stitches you should have for the foot, or how much to increase/decrease. It assumes that you will try the sock on as you knit it to determine how big/small to make it. Since I haven’t memorized my MIL’s foot measurements, this is going to be tricky.

On the plus side, the toes look like kitty ears when arranged on two circular needles.