Socks on circs problem - argh!

#1

Hello,

I am using 2 circular needles to knit socks for the first time. I have knit socks before on dpn’s, but after hearing the rave reviews of knitting on 2 circulars, I decided to try that. The method is much simpler, but I am running into a problem with one of my needles.

Everytime I go to move my stitches from the middle of the cord, to the end of the needle, so I can knit them, they keep getting caught in the spot where the needle meets the cords, and I have to manually move the stitches one by one. It’s taking so much time to do that, that I think it would be much quicker to use dpn’s instead. I am using two different brands of needles, and the needle giving me the most trouble is the size 2 needle from my Boye Needlemaster set. The other needle is a cheapie, and it’s working just fine!

Does anybody have any suggestions about dealing with this problem?

And OT from this question - I had a dream last night that I posted a picture of a pair of socks in the What’cha Knittin’ section, and nobody commented on the socks, but everybody told me that I grow really nice leg hair! :shock:

Thanks in advance!
~babydill~

#2

I have heard various complaints about joins, I haven’t had any problem with any of mine. All I can suggest is change to a different circ.

Kath

#3

I had a lot of trouble when I knit socks on two pairs of circs made with Boye interchangeables – one of my sets had a bad join too. It drove me crazy. That’s what made me decide I’d never ever buy a whole Boye interchangeable set. But anyway, I put some scotch tape around the bad join, and though it didn’t entirely fix the problem, it made it a lot more bearable.

Good luck!

(Now my Addis…those are the best for two-circ knitting!)

#4

And I have a little 12 inch addi turbo circ. that I am beginning to knit a sock on. No more two circs, just one!! Very cool! samm

#5

samm, I have been curious if the 12" circ would work for the majority of the sock. What size needle are you using? I must say the dpn arent as bad as I thought they would be, but I love circular needles.

Thanks
Cindy :XX:

#6

I too am curious how you use 1 circ that is 12in by itself to make a sock.
Last I knew to do magic loop with one circ you needed a very very long cord.

Kath

#7

i would guess that she is just knitting in the round but i am trying to imagine how big that sock would be. :thinking: i knitted a scarf in the round for my mother on a 12 inch circ and it seemed kinda big when it was done, but i think some of that may come in how it was finished (it was a magic scarf) i think i don’t want to know how they come out though…cuz then i would have to invest in a whole set of 12 inch addis! :rollseyes:

#8

I had the same problem and ended up buying 2 addi Turbos, made all the difference. For the price of the addi’s I better knit a lot of socks.

#9

I haven’t tried my Boye’s for 2-circ socks yet – I have some Susan Bates circulars that I’m using for that.

Just recently, though, I ran across a blog – http://rosemaryknits.blogspot.com/ – where the blogger made her own circular needles. She uses Teflon plumber’s tape for the joins and says it make a wonderfully smooth join. So, I’m wondering if you put a wrap or two of plumber’s tape around the join on your Boyes if it would ease your pain!!

Good luck … the 2 socks on 2 circs is a great method.

#10

:shock: I can’t believe that somebody made their own circulars!

The spot that is causing me problem is not actually where the needle tip screws onto the cord part, but where the plastic of the cord meets the metal end. I don’t know how to describe it so it makes more sense. Because of where it is, I don’t think taping it would help much. I might try though. Otherwise, I may have to take a roadtrip soon (or order off of ebay) and buy some Addis. As far as I know, I can’t get them here in my city.

I can’t figure out how somebody could knit a sock on one circular, but especially how they would turn a heel using only one needle! Way too complicated for me! I wrote hell instead of heel the first time around. I think my feelings of turning a heel were really showing through! :wink: :blush:

I have to play around with this a bit more, and see if I can’t figure out a way to work with what I have, instead of having to buy more needles right away.

Thanks for the suggestions and/or commiserating. You guys are great! :thumbsup:

~babydill~

#11

I’ve done socks on 2 circs and my circs are not great ones (gotta get me some of these addi turbos that everyone talks about). I found that my knitting (like my personality on occasion) is wrapped a bit too tight! So when using circs I try to knit a little more loosely and that seems to make the transition between the cord and needle a bit easier.

Probably not the best advice since you’re already into the sock project, but thought I’d mention it for future reference.

Lynn

P.S. Most of my needles belonged to my grandmother who first taught me to knit when I was a kid. Never did anything with it until recently, but was glad that my sister and I had hung on to her knitting things since she passed about 15 years ago. Luckily my sister doesn’t knit so there were no battles over her doo-dads.

#12

I would second the suggestion to try different needles. I like my Clover bamboo circulars, but I don’t know if they go much smaller than size 3. I have used Addi Nutura and Addi Turbo for socks and both have worked great. Good luck!

#13

Babydill, that’s the exact place my join was wonky too…I’d show you a pic but I threw that cable away! :rollseyes: The tape really did help…the yarn snagged a teeny bit on the tape but not nearly as much as it did in the gap. :smiley:

#14

I tried knitting socks with my Boyes as well and the joins were miserable. I bought a 30" Addi and am using the magic loop method which has been working fine so far. In MHO the purchase price of a 30" #2 and #3 Addi was well worth the price in reduced aggravation.

#15

I just made socks on two circs using my Boye interchangeables. I know exactly what you’re talking about. That white plastic-y part that’s got the teeny lines on it, where the cord becomes bigger as it gets to the metal section, right?
It was frustrating and also made the dreaded laddering worse, because of all the tugging, etc. I’ll tell you what I did. When you turn the work to start a new half-round of knitting, don’t even bother sliding the stitches up onto the back needle part. Just leave them on the cable portion. This helps in two ways: No need to deal with the annoying join, and the stitches are small enough back there such that when you knit the stitches on the working needle, you get NO LADDERS.
Of course, this doesn’t eliminate getting the stitches onto the front/working needle and dealing with the join, but it is half the battle.
For this very reason, I just bought double pointed needles on ebay. I might not like them because they’re metal, but it will be interesting to compare the two methods.
Yes folks, even with knitting for 35 years, I’ve avoided DPNs all this time.! :wink: