Attaching Cuffs to Tall Socks?

[Bugbear]

I brought this up as an idea in another thread, but it wasn't quite what the OP had been trying to explain.
How would one go about attaching a cuff to the top of a tall sock?
My Lewis hose have an attached cuff, for example.
Also how would one go about keeping a cut edge of a knitted sock from unraveling?

The thought was to cut off the upper part of the legs of one pair of soccer socks, like if they are worn out, and sew, or attach in some way, these onto a similar pair as a cuff. Or, perhaps, use them as hose toppers, only on a pair of tall soccer socks or the like. The issue was how to get enough stretch in the sewn part that it would still expand enough to get one's foot or widest part of the leg through.

Any advice from the knowledgeable?

I'm not sure I would be able to do this if it is possible, but I am curious. Thanks.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

When my wife attached one of her hand knit cuffs to a machine knit sock from House of Cheviot, she hand sews it on using the same yarn she knit the cuff with. She has a large needle she uses special for that purpose. I've never paid that close attention when she is doing it, but it doesn't seem to be anything magical.

The socks she uses have a finished top (i.e. they are not cut). But I have seen her cut other knit items she has made (these would be hand knit) and she machine stitches the edge where she is going to cut, to keep it from unraveling.

I'd be afraid that if you were to do this on a sock, though, the machine stitching would tend to remove some of the stretch from the sock, if not done properly. So if you try it, just make sure you are not permanently stitching your socks with a 6" opening at the calf!

[Bugbear]

Thanks Matt.

It was a long, long time ago, but I seem to vaguely remember one of my grandmothers working on socks, and sewing with the yarn and large needle like you describe. Also using thread on the cut end of a sock, and stretching it while hand sewing.

[Bugbear]

Another thought is cutting back, at the toe, the socks or cheap hose that have too long of a foot, and sewing a seam across the top of the toe area like some of the socks seem to have. That way the heel of the sock isn't halfway up the ankle when you put it on.

Don't know if that is possible or how it would be done, but there does seem to be some sort of a seam there on several socks I have.

[piperdbh]

The stretchiest way to do it would be thus:
After you've cut the top off a pre-made sock, use double-pointed needles to pick up all the stitches. Have your cuff made up to the final round, preferably using the same number of stitches as your sock. Slip the sock inside the ring formed by your cuff, and use a suspended three-needle bind-off to attach the two fabrics.
The easiest way would be to machine-sew the two pieces together using a three-step zigzag. It wouldn't look as good, but it would be much faster.

[Bugbear]

Thanks, Piperdbh. I'll look into the "three-step zigzag" stitches, though I only hand sew.

Just in case it wasn't clear, I was talking about cutting the leg tops off of one pair of socks, then using them for the cuffs on another, uncut pair of socks that were tall like soccer socks. Kind of sounds like we're thinking of it a little differently. That's ok, I don't explain things very well.

[piperdbh]

It sounds like a whole lot of work, Ted. Are you thinking of starting a kilted desert soccer team?

[Bugbear]

It sounds like a whole lot of work, Ted. Are you thinking of starting a kilted desert soccer team?

No, actually, I'm starting to feel that I would rather just wear the tall soccer socks or the like that have no cuff, than the kilt hose; Better yet, athletic sandals with the ankle straps etc. this being with my canvas kilt, of course. It just came up in another thread about how to make the stitches stretchy enough on knitted stuff.

[tundramanq]

piper - you left me in the dust in knowledge and equipment when you went multi needle. My old machine only knows single needle straight and zigzag. I think it would only handle double needle one behind the other with a vertical bobbin.

[piperdbh]

... multi needle...

Knitting needles, that is.