Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Thing about Socks...

Or, at least, the Second Sock. It's just not as much fun as the first one. I've tried the 2 socks on 2 circulars thing before, and while I did manage to pull off a couple of pairs in a pretty decent amount of time, all the dangling needles and tangled strands of yarn drove me crazy. I think that if you could buy long circulars with different colored cables it would make a would of difference. (Knit Picks... you should really think about this.)

Now, since I've gotten in the habit of knitting socks via the magic loop, I've been very excited to try out my new 2-at-a-Time Socks book since the instructions are for knitting 2 socks at a time on one long needles.

I like the technique she uses and I caught on quite quickly, although I think it may be a bit more confusing if you weren't already familiar with the magic loop. I chose to start with some plain stockinette socks using the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn that I just received from Jimmy Beans Wool. It's their special color of the month, SWAK, but I'm calling it Chocolate Raspberry. Because I LOVE Raspberry Buttercreams from See's Candy and I love the rich, fun colors of this yarn.
SWAK socks

The author assures us to be patient as we work through the first few rounds and she's right... a bit of patience and untangling is necessary. But once I got going, I got into a groove and could knit effortlessly for some time without needing to untangle. I'm not finding it the type of knitting I can just keep setting aside when I'm busy helping kids with math, and I don't think I would carry it around for those moments when I just have time for a round or two, but it may prove to be a nice change of pace for some at home knitting sock knitting. I'll need to give it some time... which I intend to do.

I really don't think knitting 2 at a time is any faster, but it sure seems to get the job done quicker. Personally, I really like the fun and portability of knitting one at a time... but that's just me. I would still recommend the book for anyone who wants to knit 2 at a time. (I like it much better than the 2 circular method.)

Oh, and I've also been giving a bit of time to this...

Fun stuff!

7 comments:

Angelika said...

Second Sock Syndrom is not fun, but I don't know about the two at a time. One day I'll do a Lady Elenor too, I pormise, or something else, bigger than a dish rag, in entrelac.

Stefaneener said...

Lady Eleanor is sooooo wonderful. I don't know about socks two at once -- I have a really hard time with any socks. But sleeves -- two at once, definitely.

Auntie Pudentaine said...

That different colored cable thing is pure genius Tammy!! The only thing close, that I can think of, would be to use addi's but one regular and one addi lace. They are a different color. Only problem I can imagine is that the tips of the lace needles are a bit sharper but not enough to make it not worth it. Very clever you are!

You are kickin my booty on Eleanor to btw. I have been knitting too many things to make progress on any one...bad bad habit of mine!

Anonymous said...

I've never had SSS because I've always knit 2 at the same time. I've got that book and I'm tempted to try the magic loop method, but what if I like it? What will happen to all my wonderful 24" circular needles?

Jani said...

Love that berry colorway! I recently got the book 'Knitting Circles Around Socks' by Antje Gillingham ... wonder how (or if) her technique differs? I know she calls for circulars of two different lengths - not as obvious as using different colors, but at least there's some difference.

5elementknitr said...

I've called KnitPicks and made the "different colored cables" suggestion in the past. So far, no dice!

Good Yarns said...

I must knit faster...you cannot pass me up on this! I started last YEAR!