Socks can be plain. Socks can be fancy. Either way they cover your feet and make you feel cozy. Some fellow Socktoberists have prepared some fun tutorials on how to add that extra little something to your plain sock.
**Suitable for beginners and experienced sock creators alike!
KNIT PICOT EDGINGS / BIND-OFFS
pi·cot (p
k
, p
-k
n. A series of small embroidered loops forming an ornamental edging on some ribbon and lace.
tr.v. pi·coted (-k
ng), pi·cots (-k
To trim with small embroidered loops.
[French, from Old French, from pic, point, from piquer, to prick]
Picot-edge ribbons can be dated to early 19th century Europe, when they were very popular in fashion as a trim on everyday wear and special costumes. "Ribbon-weavers reaped the benefits for the two years picot-edged ribbon topped the fashion charts." (more info here) The weaving world first experimented with the new technique, but soon after, needle crafters began to work the pretty picot edge into tatted lace, crochet, and knitting as a special edging and trim.
There are many knitting patterns that can be adapted to include a picot trim. Socks are the perfect garment as they have a straight cast-on / bind-off.
Vicki at Knitorious put together a very nice picot tutorial, I Can Picot, Too!, that includes some great technical photos. Click on the picture below to read more about her tutorial:
Roseann at Possessed to Knit shows some of her picot tricks and tips on her recent blog post. Click on the picture below to read more about Roseann's picot process:
Kristi of Fiber Fool has prepared a wonderfully detailed side-by-side comparison of picot edges and techniques. Her details are very technical and so interesting; she has even calculated stretchability of each of the bind-offs!
Knitty Gritty featured Jenna Adorno's step-by-step video tutorial of a picot edge on her sweater "Ultrafemme". Although it is a sweater in the video, the same technique can be used for socks. See the video link on the sidebar!
Some of the lovely picot-edged socks that I have seen on the Socktoberfest Flickr Group…
1) Ketutar's "Dragon Toes" picot edge
2) Michelle's Picot Edge Trekking Socks
3) Linda "MomCat" Cherry Tree Hill Picot
4) SunshinePop's FeatherFan with picot edge
Have you tried picot edging? Did you enjoy the process? Would you recommend it to others? If you have any other hints or tips, please feel free to share in the comments! 
Ohhhhh perfect timming!!!! I’ve been thinking about doing picot edges for ages!!!! Thank you!!!
I love, love, love a picot edge. This summer I knitted the Simply Lovely Lace Socks (IK Spring 2006) with picot trim. It was my first attempt at the technique, and once I got the concept of how it worked, I found it easy to do – and the results are just fabulous. Especially for socks. No tips or hints, but I do highly recommend it!
oh thank you! i have tried many a time to get the right picot edge to my opal flamingo sock.s
i googled and searched and did each sock with a different technique…now i might have to rip them back again–once i decide on something from this great tutorial!
thanks!
I love these picot socks and I can’t wait to see them finished.
I am going to try doing toe-up picot on my current sock cuffs, so wish me luck. I’m using yarn pirate’s culture club yarn and any pattern stitch was making them too loud and crazy. I’m hoping the picot cuff will jazz them up.
I really need to take pictures and make a blog post! I love your socktoberfest posts and your scarf looks AWESOME
Thanks for all the information! Picot edging makes the socks so pretty
Thanks for all the great links – I’ve never tried a picot edge, but with all this information, how can I go wrong? (must finish socks on needles before starting new ones!)
I think a picot edge is beautiful, too. I just did my first one a month ago, and it won’t be my last.
I tried picot for the first time last month and used instructions you didn’t link to here, if anyone wants yet another set.
I have only done a picot edge once. I really like the way it looks but didn’t like the non-stretchyness of it. I will probably try it again though.
I did a picot edging on a pinwheel baby blanket (pic on blog) and I liked it a lot. I had to steam it down to lay flat, but it was easy to do.
I used a picot edge of my Trekking socks and loved how pretty it looks. I had to fiddle with them quite a bit to get them right, so here’s a bit of what I learned if one is doing the folded down picot hem on two Circs:
When you do the initial cast on, leave a really long tail. After you knit the required number of rows and the picto turning row, use the tail and a DPN to pick up stitches along ONLY HALF of the cast on edge. Knit the stitches on the DPN together with those on the needle. Using the rest of the tail, pick up stitches from the other half of the CO edge, and knit together. Works like a charm.
I did picot edge on my latest pair of jaywalkers, I love it! Pitures are on my blog in the socktoberfest entry. I will definitely do it again.
I love picot edging – it was revolutionary for me when I discovered how to do it. My first experience was on my first pair of socks, I forget the name but they are from Weekend Knitting.
And I am using it on my own design, some knee-high floral lace socks.
Nice! I love the side by side comparisons. This is a great resource!
I love picot edging and after I did it the first time, I remember thinking that I would ALWAYS do a picot edge around the cuff of a sock!!! But, I don’t always!!!
i love a picot edge. it’s girlie and pretty without being too frou-frou.
Well, now I’m going to have to knit a picot edge on my next pair of lacy socks.
i just finished my first picot cuffed sock and i loved t. it looks so cute and giry, and really it was much easier than i thought it would be.
thanks, that will be very useful indeed!
THANK YOU!! I tried a few weeks ago and just didn’t get it. I’m going to through all the tutorials and tips this weekend and then try again!
I love picot edged socks! I knit the IK Summer ’06 lace socks for daughter #2 and they turned out beautifully. What I really like about a picot edge is that you can turn it down and knit it in to you sock giving you a nice flexible sock cuff. I am knitting the socks from the latest Jo Sharp book with a picot edge currently for myself. Thanks for sharing this with all us sock knitters!!
very nice tutorials! i love the way picot-edged socks look too. i noticed that all three of your examples involve a turned-down hem. there’s another type of picot edge that you create by casting on extra sts on the bind-off row and then immediately bind them off. this creates little picot bumps, similar to those you would find on the ribbons you described. this is a good bind-off for toe-up socks, because it is very stretchy. you can also create these little bumps on the cast on row, if you are going top-down, but i’ve never tried that.
You always supply us with the best links! I just finished my Socktoberfest socks! It was my first time to knit a pair of socks other than the plain ones. I had decided to challenge myself for Socktoberfest and so happy I did. Thank you Lolly for Hosting it!
A picot edge is fine on socks, or other small items, like sweater sleeves. But omg…a +3 stitch picot on a triangular shawl just takes for-ev-er!
I have a sock started, but I am comfortable with the fact that it will probably never come off the needles, not this month, nor the next, nor anytime in 2007.
oooohhhh great tips! thanks a lot for sharing! I’ll give it a try for my “tabby socks”
Thanks for Picot 101! I haven’t incoporated picot edging into any of my socks yet, but I’m glad I now know where to go when I do! For now, I’m striping away on my Soctoberfest knee highs, and loving it!
Great information. Thanks for sharing. I like the picot edge – I’ve never used it on socks, but used it on my Norwegian mittens and it’s very pretty.
I’ve put picot edges on a number of pairs of socks. I love doing it. Very fun. As a bonus, it makes the top yarn end totally easy to deal with. LOL
I just tried a picot edging on a sock for the first time in honour of socktober fest!! I love it! Hopefully it will make it on the blog soon. . .
I just posted some photos of my picot toped socks on both Flicker and on my blog. But I am definitely going to try some of the suggestions for my picts cuffs since I prefer toe up socks.
My favorite combo is the Broadripple sock pattern (72 stitches on #1 needles) with a picot edge in Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock yarn. Nothing prettier….
Thanks for all of the great info. I have never done a knit picot edge. I have done numerous crochet picots and have found them to be incredibly fun to do. I’ll have to give the knit ones a try now
I bet I’m doing the same socks from Weekend Knitting that Heather mentioned above — I don’t have the book in front of me, but IIRC they’re called Petticoat Socks. The pattern has two sets of instructions for the edging, one using a provisonal cast-on and dpns, and one using two sets of two circs (two in the recommended size plus two smaller).
I did the four-circ method — in a nutshell, the smaller circs hold the lower loops of your cast-on (which you do while holding a large and a small together) while you knit the picot edge on the larger needles. Then, to close the edge, you knit together one loop from a larger needle plus one from its corresponding smaller needle all the way around. Once you’ve done that, you ditch the smaller needles and do the rest of the knitting normally.
Here’s a hint: Don’t accidentally omit four rows from your edging. The result will be appealing, but not picot, and you’ll be left lamenting “but it doesn’t look like the pictures!” to anyone who’ll listen until you discover your error an hour or so later. *chuckle*
I love your wonderful and nice Socks. The Colour is really Wonderful, sorry for my horrible Englisch, liebe Grüße aus Deutschland…lovely Greetings from Germany Heike
I’m addicted to the top down picot-edge and designed various socks featuring this technique;
1. Picot with ribbon – http://designsbyblackdog.blogspot.com/2006/07/picot-eyelet-socks-yarn-regia-havanna.html
2. Lorna’s Laces One Hnk Picot – http://designsbyblackdog.blogspot.com/2006/08/lornas-laces-one-hank-socks-thats.html
3. Flickering Flames Picot – http://designsbyblackdog.blogspot.com/2006/09/flickering-flames-socks-yarn-my-own.html
ENJOY! x
I like making the picot edge socks in Jo Sharp’s Knit 1 that I made two pairs. Thanks for all the picot links.
I haven’t done the picot edge yet, but I do like the look & want to give it a try. Now that I’m done with my hats I’ve knit for donations, I can go back to socks!
This is great news as I’d thought abut doing a picot edge, but hadn’t got my druthers to try it. Now with all these tutorials, I can’t help but to get it right!
I love the picot edging! My grandmother and your great-grandmother, Jessie, did the most lovely tatted picot lace. She would tat edgings for baby things and lovely little lady’s handkerchiefs. It is a lovely touch! XXOO
[...] The yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Flame. I am excited to knit with it, especially since I have heard great things about this yarn and have not knit with it before. (Although I have eyed this colorway online) The colors are so fun that I think I am going to do a simple sock so that the colors will really show…and also so I can get them on my feet faster. I may do a picot edge which I haven’t tried before…there are links to a few picot tutorials at Lolly’s site. [...]