Cast off on ribbing?

[poisonedapple]

I wanted to know if there was a different/better way to cast off with knitting. Well Im pretty sure there has to be, because my sweaters are loose on the bottom where the ribbing is, where as mine is more tight, even when I cast off loosely, its not as stretchy as the ribbing. So is there a good cast off method for ribbing?

[Alison]

I cast off in rib--that is, I still k1 p1 or k2 p2 as I'm casting off. I also use the modified conventional cast off, which Lucy Neatby teaches in her classes, but I can't find it online anywhere! I don't think I could describe it either, without yarn and needles in my hands. It doesn't put as much strain on the stitch that you are casting off, and it's also quicker, because you put the LHN through the stitch to be cast off on the RHN before you knit/purl the next stitch. And you can also go up a needle size to cast off as well, that sometimes help.

Alison

[Siana]

I have heard the suspended cast off is much better for ribbing. I tried it with the first soaker I made (a day ago!), I was throughly confused... maybe you will have better luck with it. I will definately need to practice before I can tell you if it really is any good.

Siana.

[poisonedapple]

Thanks! I ended up just casting off with bigger needles doing the k2p2 with the cast off as I usually do and it gave it much more stretchiness, it will stretch as far as the ribbing does. Ill look more into the suspension cast off, havent tried that one yet, thanks for the tip.