DK Weight Sock Toe Series: 3 Ways to Finish Your Sock Without Using the Kitchener Stitch

The Rose Opal Knits DK Weight Sock Recipe starts at the cuff and ends at the toe. The recipe suggests different toe options but leaves the details of the toe up to the knitter. This sock series has three toe options with instructions for small, medium, and large sizes.

When writing our sock recipe, I decided to omit specific instructions about the toe decreases because I believe that how the toe looks and feels is very personal. Daphne and I don’t usually knit the same type of toe. She prefers a wedge toe, and I prefer a round toe. She isn’t a fan of the Kitchener stitch, but I like it. One can find basic formulas for knitting sock toes on the internet by doing a quick search. All the knitter has to do is plug in their sock numbers into a method of decreasing, and then alternate between even and decrease rounds until they get down to the number of stitches they prefer. Knowing how easy it is to find that information on the internet led me to publish the recipe without detailed instructions for a particular toe style.

After the DK weight sock recipe was published, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t complete. That uncomplete feeling led me to research the different toe styles, decreases, and finishing options. Then I spent several days working out numbers and knitting multiple toes on my sample sock. I finally settled on three toe styles, Round Toe, Star Toe, and Barn Toe. These three toes are similar because they are more round than wedge in appearance and are closed in the same manner. However, they fit differently in length, and the decreases give each toe pattern its look.

Ultimately, I still believe that how a sock toe fits and looks is essential to the satisfaction of wearing a hand-knit sock. I hope that the toe patterns in this series are helpful. Knit them as they are written or use them as a starting point to modify for a perfect fit.

The series will start with the Round Toe, followed by the Star Toe, and will end with the Barn Toe.