Look, Ma, no ladders!

I'm guessing most knitters have a bag of tricks they use without really thinking about it. None of my little quirks are unique, but there is one I frequently apply when knitting socks on DPNs. To avoid laddering between needles, I developed the habit of shifting the work one stitch to the "right" as I move from needle to needle.



First, I place a stitch marker to indicate the beginning of the round (usually this is at the middle of the back of the sock), then I knit one stitch from needle 1 to needle 4 (or 3 if you are using only four needles). In other words, if I start with 14 stitches per needle, now I have 15 stitches on the last needle and 13 stitches on the first. Then I knit to the end of needle 1 and knit a stitch from needle 2 onto needle 1. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Initially, learning this trick was a bit confusing because the stitch marker moves as you go. But now it is second nature.

Laddering is not much of a problem for me anymore, but I still like to knit socks like this. I knit both socks at the same time, alternating between them, and this method provides me with an easy row counting method. I knit a needleful of stitches on one sock, then a needleful on the other sock, until done. No second sock syndrome for me!



These socks are a "stocking stuffer" for my son-in-law. When I picked out the yarn, I thought it was mostly shades of brown, but now that I am knitting it, the purple really stands out. Not that there is anything wrong with men wearing purple socks.

The Bog Jacket marches on. I'm ready to add the "phony seams", although I am having trouble visualizing the technique from the verbal description. I looked for some online help, but EZ's legacy is well guarded. Guess I will just give it a go and see how it turns out.