How to Make a Cuff and Bind off Stitches
of a Toe-Up Sock
This is the final part of the Sneaker Socks knit-along. First, we knitted the toe part of the sock, then we made the foot part, carefully shaped the heel and now the sock looks almost finished.
The only thing that’s still missing is the cuff. The task of this part of the knit-along is to make that cuff and to bind off stitches using an elastic bind off.
In fact, we’ll use two different types of bind off – an elaborate but slightly difficult one and a much easier but not as sleek-looking one. Depending on how much challenge you are ready to add to this project, you can use either of these ways to finish off the top of your sock.
Watch this part of the knit-along in a detailed video tutorial.
Because Sneaker socks are low-cut socks, the step of the pattern that explains how to make the cuff (it is step 7 on page 6 of the pattern) is the shortest of all steps. It only has 7 words: “work in 1×1 ribbing for 4 rounds”.
That means that this part of the knit-along begins with relaxed knitting and purling. It is a good start before things get slightly more challenging.
The challenge is to bind off stitches in such a way that keeps the edge stretchy enough to put the sock on, but not too stretchy to make the edge loose and baggy.
We’ll start by following the pattern instructions and bind off stitches using the Italian (also called tubular) bind off. This bind off forms a beautiful edge that doesn’t have a ridge and looks well-finished.
This bind off is perfect for finishing toe-up socks, but it requires a bit of concentration and could be slightly challenging.
If you do not feel like adding another challenge to this project (after all, we’ve just survived the heel shaping!), skip to this part of the video and finish off your sock with a much simpler yarn over bind off.
This bind off gives enough stretch to the edge but it doesn’t look as impeccable as the Italian bind off.
The last thing to do before we can proudly put the new sock on is to remove the marker and weave in loose ends.
If you chose to hide the cast-on tail at the time when you were shaping the toe part of the sock, there is only one yarn tail to weave in – the one we created when we finished binding off stitches.
Now, that the sock is finished, it will be much easier to repeat all nine steps of the pattern and knit another sock that will complete the pair.
If you enjoyed this tutorial,
here’s something else you might find helpful:
“Neat Side Edges” Book
Learn twelve ways to make side edges of a knitted project nice and tidy. Plus, ways to fix side edges, and a way to improve edges of finished projects.
Happy knitting!
