Friday, December 14, 2007

Cast-on Two Cuffs on One Magic Loop - Tutorial

I have been away from documentation for a long time so I am not confident in my writing abilities, but let me give this a whirl.


1) Get your Yarn and Needles Ready! I like to use a 40 inch circular needle, although a slightly shorter needle (such as 32") works as well.



2) Cast on all your stitches for the first sock (mitt, sleeve etc) on one needle. Let's call this Needle A.


3) Pushing those stitches back off the needle you will count exactly half of those stitches. Then pull the loop through the halfway point. Now you have half of the stitches on each needle. This is where you would join in the round if you were only knitting one sock. Let's now cast on the second set of stitches.


4) Cast on only half the stitches for the second sock onto Needle A.


5) Slip (as if to purl) those stitches from Needle A to Needle B .


6) Now your leading strand is at the back of Needle B (rather than at the tip). Continue to cast on the second half of your stitches on Needle A.




Here is One stitch cast on Needle A.



Here are 5 stitches cast on.



Here are all stitches cast on, half on each needle.




7) Join in the round, remembering not to twist your stitches. At this point, you can refer to more information on Magic Loop knitting. There is a You Tube by Knit Witch you can refer to as well.
8) Remember to swap leading yarn when you reach the second sock. Otherwise you will attach the 2 socks together, or learn how to tink. I've done it, I know.
I hope this is a useful tool. All comments are welcome.

16 comments:

Pat said...

SUPERB!!!
I will refer all who ask me right to this link!
I can't wait to try it on my next socks/mitts!

a friend to knit with said...

thank you so much!
i passed the book on because i didn't think i would like it, or do it, but you make it looks so easy!

Anonymous said...

thanks linda! i am actually starting a sock pair tomorrow using this technique although i have never done it! looking forward to it!! i am going to WEBS to the book launch of Melissa morgan oakes and her book, 2 socks at a time! she is great and it should be fun!!!
time to go stash diving!!
ps. not cheating on grey. i have it half done and have finished both christmas scarves. i have earned it!!!
marcy

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for making this fairly complicated technique simple! I've done quite a bit of two circular knitting for socks and stuff - and found instructions for doing two pair that way, just learned the magic loop for a pair of fingerless gloves, but wanted to knit another pair at the same time - I like to finish my projects - not have to do the same thing twice...

So your instructions were perfect, at a perfect time for me! Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

I had to do a lot of searching for a good presentation of how to cast on two socks for the magic loop, and yours is by far the best. What a tremendous help! Thank you for the clear explanation and helpful pictures.

Anonymous said...

i tried to get join Youtube for Knitwitch for a video, but I could not get it to except my information. Is there another site that I could go to?

Lee

Anonymous said...

Do you have a suggested pattern for making leg warmers using the 2-at-a-time sock method? I am a knitter but have never made sock but your presentation inspires me to learn.

Many thanks,
Cyndi

Linda said...

Hi Cindy, in case you are checking back here, I don't know how to get back to you. Leg warmers are pretty easy. I used a DK weight yarn and made them bigger than I would regular socks to compensate for the calf width and not have to worry about top or bottom. Then do lots of ribbing so it stays on well. Or not, if you want slouchy. I alternated a cable with a sts rib. easy peasy. Measure the widest part of the leg you need to accomodate and multiply by number of stitches you get (inches or cm) and you have approximately how many stitches you will need. Hope this helps, just off the top of my head.

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda,

You are amazing and your website is FABULOUS! I tried to e-mail you through the website but it would not work. What is your e-mail address? Many thanks for the information and I am going to study it and try to make my first leg warmers using your demo.

Cyndi

Linda said...

Hmmm that is odd Cyndi, supposedly if you click on "view my profile" on the left side of the screen you should see a link to my e-mail address. Oh....maybe you need to have a Blogger account to do that. Do you have a blog site?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Candy said...

You don't know how long I have searched for a way to do this. Thank you so much for sharing. Now I might be able to join the Yarn Harlot's 2010 Olympics.

Pauline said...

Thank you
With your instructions I finally got it. How to start two items on a magic loop has been such a mystery to me. I've read tons of instructions but yours was the first one I understood.
Happy knitting!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for that easy tutorial! I know it is a few years old but I do hope you will keep it on your blog. It saved me from throwing my yarn and needles across the room again. It is much clearer here than anywhere else I have seen it.
Thanks
Sue

Anya Z said...

Linda, thank you so much for posting this, you saved the day! I just cast on for my very first socks... top down ones. I followed the wrong pattern's instructions and mistakenly cast on for toe up socks.... wah! Luckily I found you, redid my cast on, and now I am good to go!

Anya Z said...

Linda, thank you so much for this tutorial, you saved the day! I was just casting on for my very first pair of socks... top down ones. I accidentally followed the wrong instructions and cast on for TOE UP socks! Ah! Luckily I found you and re-did it before I wasted even more of my time! Thanks :)