Toe Up Socks with a Top Down Toe

I am neither a fan nor foe of the toe up sock. I've used the Universal Toe Up sock pattern from Knitty. Works well for me. I've also done many top down socks with the same success. From reading blogs, the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club board, and listening to the Lime and Violet podcast, I noticed many people don't like the crochet cast on method and the short row toe common to many toe up sock patterns.

I remembered a trick from my brief machine knitting days. Waste yarn.

To make a toe up sock with your choice of a toe, here is one method.

Taking waste yarn of the same or similar weight, cast on the number of instep stitches for your toe up sock of choice. Knit 4 or 5 rows. Switch to the yarn for your sock. Knit the length of your sock (minus the toe length), do a heel and the leg. Bind off.





Now you have a sock without a toe and waste yarn on the toe end.

Using your needles, pick up the back loops of the sock yarn next to the waste yarn. In this example, the waste yarn is pink, the picked up stitches are rainbow colored.





Once all the stitches are on the needle, unravel the waste yarn.





Attach your working yarn and knit your top down toe of choice.



Sock yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Rainbow