This is a tab cast-on for toe-up socks, similar to the garter tab cast-on that Steven West uses for shawls. It is an easy way to begin a toe-up sock.

This pattern is just for the toe part of a toe-up sock, not a pattern for an entire sock. The gauge shown above is just one possibility, this pattern is for whatever size sock you want to knit with your yarn and your needles.

Note added on Sept 22, 2015: A similar toe cast-on has been done before! See Susan Sedlak’s Knit By the Dozen Socks at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knit-by-the-dozen... for a slightly different version of this type of toe and a nice sock pattern than includes a short-row heel.