I love the seamless toe that is created by Judy's Magic Cast-on for Toe-Up socks. See the Knitty article about Judy's Magic Cast-On. I find it best to use a circular for the first four rows and then move to four DPN's.
Below is a video showing the cast on with circular and two videos showing DPN's.
I was first introduced to Nancy Bush when her book Knitting On The Road caught my eye in the Lunenburg Library just after my birthday in 2012. The sock patterns intrigued me enough to want to learn how to knit.
This week I found her books on Vintage and Folk socks at the library and again she has inspired me to challenge myself with some new patterns and techniques.
The Gentleman's Sock with Railway Stitch and the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock are interesting places to start.
A cast-on technique that interest me most is the Norwegian Cast-O which gives you a purl stitch as the base, while a Long Tail Cast-on gives you a knit stitch as the base. By alternating the two techniques on the cast-on will make for a cleaner knit / purl ribbing for cuffs.
Nancy Bush illustrates the cast on.