Toe-Up Baby Socks

Yesterday I started a pair of socks for Max.  It seemed to me that bought socks were not very good - they were not very warm for a start, and seemed to always shrink in the wash and become very tight.  Hence I decided to make him a pair from my not-so limited (I must have a hundred balls) supply of sock wool.


I chose a pattern that looked quick and easy (from HERE) and picked out a ball of variegated bluey pure merino wool form Posh Yarn. Yes, I know it won't go in the machine, but he'll grow out of them before they're dirty, for goodness sake!


Here's the first sock...

... and here you can see the second one just started...

I'm using the toe-up method, for the first time ever, and I like it very much, except that I find the final cast-off difficult.  When I knit socks from the top down, I always cast on with the long tail method, which gives a nice, stretchy edge to the rib, and I need to find a similarly stretchy cast-off method.  I tried an elastic bind off from You Tube, but it still isn't very stretchy for a plump little baby leg.  If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.