afuna: Cat under a blanket. Text: "Cats are just little people with Fur and Fangs" (Default)
[personal profile] afuna
So, I thought when people said that they knit two socks at the same time, that they had the socks on two different sets of needles, and they'd knit on Set A with yarn ball A, then after reaching the end of the round, they'd knit on Set B with yarn ball B. That would be a pain, and also what if you forgot to knit a row on Set B after doing it on Set A?

Today I decided to figure out what that was all about and discovered that I was wrong (as often happens; this time quite happily so because I think I will be able to use this technique!)

It turns out that doing two socks at once usually means you'll need two balls of yarn (one for each sock), but just one set of needles. You cast them on as two separate projects, work on them as two separate projects, just, both are on the same set of needles so you aren't putting down/picking up all the time, and there's no risk of unsynchronization.

I found a lovely tutorial for Two Toe-Up Socks on One Circular Needle which describes how to do it using circular knitting via the Magic Loop method. Let's call this one method 1.

I don't think it works for DPNs. You'd need a separate set of DPNs for the other sock which could be expensive, and also means that you'd need to put down set A and pick up set B after each row. However, I'm pretty sure that there's nothing stopping you from being able to use two circular needles.



I found another method which described how to do it using double-knitting, and it's neat.

Problem:

a.) I just did a double-knit colorwork project, and I hated holding two strands at the same time, to the point that instead of knitting/purling on alternate colors, once I got to an area of solid blocks of colors, I worked each row twice, once for each color, slipping the other color, so that I'd only need to be holding one strand at a time.

At some point I will need to learn, because all colorwork (except mosaic) requires you to be able to handle two strands of yarn at once, but that day is not today. It probably will also not be tomorrow.

b.) The tone of the piece turned me off completely. I don't knit to show off! I don't learn new techniques to show off! It was all meant jokingly, and yet ugh. Just completely turned off.



However, what caught my attention is that it's basically the same thing as the first method, except that instead of having two projects strung on the cable of a cable needle, you have two socks, one knit inside the other, and done by knitting yarn A then yarn B then yarn A then yarn B. This technique works for DPNs; It would also be good for if you have circular needles that are just too short to accomodate two socks at once.


A variant on method 2 (which was double-knitting) is to knit one sock inside the other, but only need to hold one color at a time. You'd knit one row at a time, by knitting yarn A, slipping yarn B for one row, then re-knitting the same row by knitting yarn B, slipping yarn A. This would still yield two separate socks, and it's basically the same way that I "cheated" on the double-knit colorwork project once the pattern was such that I needed only one strand at a time to knit each fabric, only one color at a time.

Problem:
You may end up with some loose stitches from slipping the stitches. It didn't matter so much in the hat I was making, but may make more obvious differences in a sock. Any unevenness will probably even out with blocking, but still something to watch out for.



Of all the methods, method 0 (my initial idea of knitting two socks at a time) and my variant on method 2 both suffer from not enforcing a sync of the state between the two socks -- which is probably why I haven't seen them in any tutorial! *G*

Method 2 looks interesting, but is really not for me at this time, and method 1 looks promising and flexible, makes knitting two socks not that much more painful than knitting one (especially since you'd be able to carry across the rhythm of the row from sock A to sock B). I'll probably try this out next time I'm tempted to do a sock (or a glove? *g*)

Date: 2010-12-04 10:13 am (UTC)
pinesandmaples: Text only; reads "Not everything will be okay, but some things will." (knitting: isn't yarn fantastic?)
From: [personal profile] pinesandmaples
I am a DPN user all the way. When I knit two socks at once, I do it in sections instead of row-by-row (which would get tedious). Cuff A, then cuff B. Leg A, then leg B. Heel A, then heel B. You see how this will unfold, I'm sure.

Yes, you will need two sets of DPNs; but the needles I prefer (metal-that-is-not-Addi or plastic) are in the $5 range so I'm not out too much money anyway. Plus, why wouldn't I have multiple sets of the size I use the most often?

Date: 2010-12-04 07:23 pm (UTC)
pinesandmaples: Text only; reads "Not everything will be okay, but some things will." (theme: shiny)
From: [personal profile] pinesandmaples
I can't claim the idea. Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops recommends doing her Soctober Mystery Socks that way, and I've knit two pairs now. When I'm knitting on my own (instead of with a knit-a-long), I usually don't do two at a time. But when I know I will struggle to finish a pair, I employ that technique.

The main reason I'm a DPN user is because socks are my portable knitting, and I could never manage all of my stuff + two circs + no death on transit in Philly. And now I'm old and grumpy and stuck in my ways. Just having two needles is lovely, but it looks so confusing! (I know it's not, and I can manage the technique fine. But I'm old and grumpy. We covered that, yes? Hee!) I also doubt my circs would like the challenge.

I've been told that Addis are the very best for the two socks on two circs style, but I'm always tempted by Bryspun Flex circs because of the lovely join.

Date: 2010-12-04 10:55 am (UTC)
james: (Default)
From: [personal profile] james
I love double knitting for making the fingers of gloves (or half fingers). It's so much easier to have it on two dpns rather than using four to knit around 16 stitches!

I've learned the 'make one sock inside the other' double knitting technique, and agree the concept is beyond awesome. But it takes too much attention for me and I don't actually suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, so I don't bother.

Date: 2010-12-04 08:50 pm (UTC)
james: (Default)
From: [personal profile] james
When you're knitting glove fingers, you knit around and around to make a tube. Double knitting allows you to knit back and forth, thus using fewer needles, and yet still make a tube.

Which might only make sense once you cast on and actually try it...

Date: 2010-12-06 11:44 am (UTC)
james: (Default)
From: [personal profile] james
Yes, slipping every other stitch. Try it! You will love doing fingers this way. So much less fiddly.

Date: 2010-12-04 07:14 pm (UTC)
pinesandmaples: My hands making the rock symbol.  (knitting: gloves)
From: [personal profile] pinesandmaples
I've learned the 'make one sock inside the other' double knitting technique, and agree the concept is beyond awesome.

I've seen it done but never done it myself. How do patterned socks fare in that technique? Badly?

Date: 2010-12-04 08:51 pm (UTC)
james: (Default)
From: [personal profile] james
It depends on how dark your yarn is and how closely you pay attention. ;-) But I've knit ribbing before using the double knitting method, and all I had to do was remember what stitch I was supposed to be doing - the technique itself worked fine.

Date: 2010-12-04 04:49 pm (UTC)
lurksnomore: (Knitting)
From: [personal profile] lurksnomore
I love the magic loop method, and make all my socks toe-up, two at a time that way. You can certainly knit socks one at a time that way, though. If you have a shorter cable, knit them one at a time, with a longer cable, you can do two.

I haven't tried the double knitting technique and agree it looks way cool, but I always knit while doing other things, and that looks like to requires a lot more attention that I would probably give it--at least in the learning stages. I do have a preference for circulars over dpns for socks, but happily use either for other things.

Date: 2010-12-05 03:27 am (UTC)
chemicallace: My hands knitting two socks, with the word "knit" in the lower left corner. (Knitting)
From: [personal profile] chemicallace
I knit two socks at a time with two circular needles. While it requires duplicate needles, if you're always using two of those size it's not any more of a waste than the odd extra long circular for the magic loop and I don't like pulling the extra cable through.

Honestly, I wouldn't even knit socks before I figured out how to do them two at a time if they weren't individual Christmas stockings. I knew even if I did do the second stocking, my tension would change slightly as I became more familiar with the pattern and I wanted that to happen on both socks at the same time.