Stretchy Rib Cast On

This was adapted from a free Regia leaflet, called “Sock Pattern & How-to-knit Guide”. The instructions for the cast on in the leaflet made no sense to me at all. For example, the complete instructions for Round 2 read “*slip the K stitch purlwise yarn at front of work rep from *” – exactly like that, no punctuation or anything. As far as I can see, all it’s telling you to do is slip all the stitches in the round, so basically you’re doing absolutely nothing apart from moving stitches from one needle to another. So here we go with my interpretation which actually works (and, I hope, makes sense!).

Stretchy Rib Cast on for Top Down Socks

Cast on HALF the number of stitches required for the cuff using a contrasting waste yarn. My sock pattern needed 64 stitches altogether, so I cast on 32 stitches.

Now continue with your sock yarn.

Round 1: *Knit 1, yarn over needle. Repeat from * arranging knit stitches and made stitches (the yarn overs) across your 3 or 4 double pointed needles.

Round 2: *Yarn at back, slip the knit stitch purlwise. Yarn at front, purl the made stitch. Repeat from * making sure you include the very last made stitch at the end of the round.

Round 3: *Yarn at back, knit 1. Yarn at front, slip purl stitch purlwise. Continue from * to end of round

Round 4: * Yarn at back, slip knit stitch purlwise. Yarn at front, purl 1. Continue from * to the end of the round.

Now continue with normal knit 1 purl 1 rib as set. Remove the waste yarn.

When I first figured this out, I really didn’t believe that it would work. I was convinced that when I removed the waste yarn I would be left with open stitches. So, I knitted just 2 rounds of normal ribbing after the 4 cast on rounds, then removed the waste – see the picture above. If you try my version you might like to do the same, just in case…. far better to undo a few rounds than knit a complete sock with a wrecked cast on edge!

And here’s the yarn I’m using, Lana Grossa Maya Cotton which is 45% cotton, 42% wool, 13% nylon.