Too Tight Cast Off

How-to Questions
1

I just finished my first toe-up sock, but after casting off at the cuff, I discovered that I did it too tight! I can’t get the sock over my heel! Is there a trick to loosening the cast-off after the fact? (In searching the forum, I have discovered that the next time I should switch to a larger needle for my cast off, but I need advice for the first one.)

Thanks for the help!

NurseBrandy

2

You can just undo the BO row and redo it with a larger needle. Of course you’ve probably cut the yarn though…

3

i always do a sewn bind off for toe up socks! its really simple, and it allows for stretch.

4

Google ‘stretchy castoffs’ fof future socks. If you’ve cut the wool you could either undo a round to get extra wool, or use a felted or Russian join to add more. In future you will probably need not just any larger needle, but a much larger one. You could also use the EZ sewn castoff mentioned already (I use this sometimes although honestly I think it’s a bit ugly - looks like a purl row) or a tubular castoff is great-looking on ribbing and stretchy.
Sarah

5

You can undo the BO row, but you’ll probably have to undo at least a row below that so that you’ll have enough to do a looser bind off.

6

Thank you all for your advice. I KNEW I’d come to the right people for answers!

NurseBrandy