How To: Picot Cast On for Your Handknit Sock

After I posted my first thrown together picot cast on, I received several requests for the "pattern".  Since I had just come up with it on the fly, I wanted to test it on the second sock before I gave it to you here.  Well, last night I stayed up past my bedtime getting that picot edging done on sock number two.  So without further ado. . .

The Picot Cast On Tutorial for Hand Knit Socks

1. Determine the number of stitches you will be using for the "leg" portion of your sock.  This should be an even number -- but you were going to use an even number anyway, weren't you?  Also determine the needle size you will use.  We'll refer to this as the "leg needle", or LN from now on.  I don't care if you use dps, or two circs or one circ -- they should all work!
2. Gather your yarn, needles that are 2 sizes larger than your leg needles and needles that are one size smaller.
3. Cast on with the needles two sizes larger than your LN's using the long tail (plain old) cast on.  The number of stitches should be the same as the number of stitches you will be using in the leg portion of your sock.
4. Switch to the needles one size smaller than the LN's.  Knit 7 rows with the smaller needles.  Yep -- just seven rows of stockinette stitch.
5. Switch to the LN's.  You will be using them from here on out.  Get ready -- it's time for the picot part of the picot cast on!
6. For one row you will repeat (K2Tog, yo) for the entire row.  Some Notes - All you are doing is knitting two stitches together and then bringing the yarn to the front between the two needles, thereby creating an additional stitch.  So you are decreasing and increasing at the same time.  *** You should have the same number of stitches at the end of this row as you started with! ***
7. Knit seven rows.  Yep, just seven rows of plain old stockinette again.
8. (This row is a bit tricky, but once you get started you will appreciate the fact that you will have no finishing to do at the end of knitting the sock!)  You are going to knit each stitch of this row with a stitch of the cast on edge.  So here's what you do. . . find the first stitch of the cast on edge, pick it up with the tip of your right hand needle, slip it onto the left hand needle and then knit it with the next stitch.  Keep going in this manner, picking up a stitch from the cast on edge and knitting it with the next stitch on the needle.  What you are going to see is the piece you have knit folding in half along that row of (K2Tog, yo)'s that you did -- this is what makes the picot!  And by knitting the cast on edge with this row, you are saving yourself the trouble of having to sew the edge down later.

Well, after that you just go on with your sock as planned. 

Some thoughts. . . I'm thinking you can use just one needle size, but I like to have a cast on that is stretchy so that I'm not struggling to get it over my foot.  And I chose the smaller needle for the inside since there is no ribbing to help keep the sock up -- I'm thinking this will help a bit.  And you probably can sew down the cast on edge later, but why would you want to?  Then you would have to worry about keeping the sewing loose enough (like the cast on) so that you could easily get the sock on and off. 

I hope that you found my tutorial for making a picot edged sock useful! 

Comments

[Donna K.]

Thanks for the instructions. I have a pair of socks I want to start in Opal Petticoat and I think a picot edging will be perfect.

[Marnie]

I love doing this sort of thing on my socks, hats and, occassionally, the bottom of sweaters. I did a similar tutorial, with pictures, a little while back
http://marniemaclean.com/words/2005/01/no-sew-hem.html

[Marnie]

Oops, I don't think my comment went through.
Anyway, what I attempted to say was that I love this technique for more than socks. I've used it on hats and hems of sleeves and sweaters. I did up a little photo tutorial a while ago.
http://marniemaclean.com/words/2005/01/no-sew-hem.html

[mimsie]

Good stuff, thanks.

[Imbrium]

Neat! Thank you! I'll have to try that with my next pair of socks.

[AmyP]

That cast on is extra cool - thank you. I look forward to using it on a pair of socks sometime soon.
P.S.: thank you for hosting the knitting blog's ring too. We all love you for it. :)

[christine]

Thanks, Julie! You made it seem so easy! I love the look of a picot hem.....

[Bonne Marie]

HOW did you know I needed this? I will be casting on shortly for a new sock adventure and was going to try this - thanks for paving the way with gold for me...

[Lynne]

I was just thinking about a picot edge for my next socks! THank you thank you, Kim!

[Nanette]

I knit in my picot hems as I go as well. You can also do a plain P row instead of the K2TOG, YO row for the hem fold part.

One thing I always do is make sure when I'm knitting the cast on stitches with the regular stitches that the cast on stitches line up PERFECTLY. I've done this badly and skewed the whole picot hem. It is pretty obvious and drives me nuts!

[Kelly]

Thanks for the pattern. I will have try this on the socks I'm going to be making for my mother-in-law.

[Carrie]

Thank you for posting this! I've been wanting to do a picot edge on a pair of socks and your directions will be helpful.

[Jewels]

You rock BoogaJ, I do appreciate the work you do on Knitting blog ring

[Maggie]

I love picot hems. When I do it, I usually use a provisional cast on, like Marnie described on her site. I find it much stretchier to pick up live stitches at the cast on edge.

[Helen]

Hi Boogaj! Thanks for posting this - you have finally answered a question thats been bugging me :-) - what is the difference between a YO (yarn over) and YF (yarn forward). In the UK we generally see "yarn forward" ie, pass the yarn to the front as if you were going to purl the next stitch - ie BETWEEN the needles. I have always read YO as bringing the yarn up and OVER the right needle (and, if the next st is knit, then wrapping it back under the needle) - but whenever I do this in a pattern it doesn't seem to work and I end up doing my usual "yarn forward". Your description of a YO is the same as my definition of a YF - so the mystery is finally solved. Thanks - Brill!!
Cheers
Helen

[Cyndy]

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Cyndy]

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Teri R]

Julie,
Thanks for the lesson!

I don't have a knit blog, but I read them. Would it make your job of running the knittingblog ring easier to delete the 'dead' blogs from the ring? Yesterday I surfed through the list, randomly picking blogs that sounded interesting. I ran across quite a few that had fewer than one post a month. In addition, some were just not there at all.

[Miriam]

I always do my picots with a provisional cast on and then pick up the cast on stitches and knit them together with the newer stitches in the same way Marnie's tutorial says to do. Either way it's just a great way to work the top of socks :)

[Amanda]

I have done picot edging on socks before and found it to be a real pain because I sewed the top down at the end. That is a really great idea to just knit it together. Maybe I will give it another shot.