Hello,
I’m trying my hand at those little thread doilies of yore, you know the ones where you start with 4 sts on 4dpns and knit outward in lace pattern. Unfortunately, I can’t keep the dpns in order. The needles go all over the place, and I can’t tell which order I’m supposed to knit them. Does anyone have any suggestions/tips for keeping things straight?
Patience? lol :shrug:
For me, the most awkward times for using DPNS are 1. the cast-on and first row, and 2. when you only have a small amount of stitches on each DPN.
It just seems to me like it would be a little awkward to work no matter what I would do… maybe once you’ve worked a couple rows and some increases it’ll get more stable?
Good luck 
Working with dpn’s and laceweight is going to be awkward for the first few rounds, but don’t worry!
I found out a trick for working on dpns and just a few stitches while starting a much larger piece. Cast on and put your stitches on just 2 needles. Use a third to do the knitting with for the first few rounds until you get a decent amount of stitches, then rearrange them over the 3 needles and begin using the 4th. It’s much easier to manage that way.
Thanks all!
I will keep trying it, this time on fewer needles to start. I would say “I’ll frog and start again”, but I don’t know if you can call it a proper frog when you’re only ripping out 16 sts.
Aaaaaah, that’s just starting over… 
Of course it could be starting over if you’ve got 16" done!
Also be sure to mark the begining of the round and, if you’re totally brain-dead, like me, mark the right side of your work. I have, a time or two, picked it up and started working upsidedown and not noticed for a few rounds.
You might like ML or 2 circs (good for later when you will be needing a circ anyway!)
Just remember that the dpn stage will be over soon enough, and then you can switch to a 16" circular.