Your favorite sock cuff ribbing?

General Knitting
1

Good morning all,

I’m just about to the point where I can finally start the cuff ribbing on my current socks (toe-up). What’s your favorite cuff ribbing? K2, P2? or K1, P1? Is one stretchier than the other? I haven’t done enough socks to have a favorite so thought I’d get some input.

Thanks!

2

I find k1,p1 to be stretchier for socks and for the borders and neckband of sweaters, too.

3

Thanks, salmonmac, I appreciate your input!

4

I do K2, P2. I find it’s the perfect fit for my leg, tight enough to stay up but loose enough not to dig in.

5

Thanks, Brenda, I was trying to think why I prefer 2x2 rib, that says it well. All I could think of was it has a little more body to it than 1x1 and that doesn’t say it well at all. Either one is nice.

6

Thanks, Brenda! Exactly the kind of opinion I needed. I looked back at the few socks I’ve done and found that I’ve only used K1,P1 ribbing for the cuff. No wonder I didn’t know whether I’d prefer K2, P2 ribbing. I’m definitely going to give it a try this time! :slight_smile:

7

I would definitely say give it a go, I’ve done socks with 1.1, 2.2 and 3.1 ribbing but prefer the 2.2 for me, so I stick with that unless I’m making a patterned sock that requires a specific rib. I also wear my knitted socks mostly in the cooler weather so I like them to be a little bit longer, which means they’re fitting a bit higher up my calf muscles. But as we’re all different shapes and sizes you might have to knit a couple of different ribs and decide for yourself what fits you best anyway.

8

Brenda, you really are a font of good info here! Thanks for making yet another excellent point. I will change needle sizes to adjust the ribbing to fit as desired. Sometimes if I go tall enough on the cuff I’ll need to go from, say, size 1 to size 2 needles to make it a bit larger. I almost always go down a needle size or 2 when I start the ribbing.

9

I tend to use a k3p1…no idea which one is stretchier. When I think about stretch I worry more about the bind off at the cuff (I knit from the toe up). Nothing sucks more than making a pair of socks and then realizing the bind-off at the top fo the cuff is too tight for you to get your foot in.