The joys of mini circulars

Small circs in action on a stockinette West Yorkshire Spinners sock

Any method of sock knitting has it's firm devotees be it DPNs or magic loop but each of them is associated with a degree of unnesecssary needle wrangling. With DPNs I find it interrupts my knitting flow to have to transition from one needle to the other and no matter how hard I try I always waste valuable time in retensioning the yarn between each needle.

The same can be said for magic loop, where the speed I gain in knitting straight across for 32st is countered by the time spent moving the cable through and retensioning the yarn.

For this reason, one of my favourite methods for portable, travel sock knitting is to use a small circular needle. I typically use one which is 9" (23cm) diameter and of all the brands I tend to prefer Hiya Hiya for their super pointy tips.

If you haven't already tried one I do urge you to give it a go, although there a few things you might like to bear in mind

1. Don't expect to hold the needles as you would do normally. The tips are very small and if, like I do, you tend to rest the needle in the palm of your hand this might seem strange to you. Instead the movements happen at the tips of your fingers and work best if you release your death grip and try to hold the tips very lightly.

2. Give it time and practice a little every day. In the same way as you would allow yourself time to learn when transitioning from being an 'English thrower' to continental knitting, don't expect to jump straight in to using small circulars overnight. It takes time to develop new muscle memory and your fingers have to get used to making small, more controlled movements.

3. Stop and stretch your fingers after every few rounds. When knitting self-stripe yarn I usually stop briefly at each colour transition. Because you can knit around and around, without removing your fingers from the needles it is easy to give yourself cramp if you're not careful.

It really is worth trying these out if you do a lot of sock knitting on the go. It's worth noting that I only ever use these needles for plain, vanilla sock knitting. I use a long cable and magic loop for the toe, heel and cuff. For some reason, no matter how much I try, I really can't get the hang of purling with a small circular and so I have much speedier results working the ribbed sock cuffs via magic loop. For the die-hard sock knitter these needles really help you to wring as much productivity out of your down time as possible. For example, I can knit socks in the cinema or whilst standing in post office queues with no problems at all and quickly stuff it back in my project bag as needed, without fear of losing stitches or - horrors - dropping a needle.

Why not give it a go and see what you think. If you do decide to try, do pop back and let me know how you got on, I'd love to know.

Avoid heel flap holes

Everyone likes a good sturdy heel flap and gusset but quite often there can be gaps where you pick up stitches along the heel flap. The slipped stitches provide a great line to follow when picking up the stitches but they can be a little loose. But knitting them through the back loop on the next round helps to tighten them up a treat and gives a good solid heel flap which will be hard wearing and hole free.

Happy heels

Toe-up Have Fun Socks pattern with a fish lips kiss heel

If you've followed me on social media for any length of time you will certainly know that I am a huge fan of self stripe sock yarn. Toe up socks, knitted in plain stocking stitch with a fun stripey yarn are my go to project of choice. There is something about watching the stripes neatly line up as you knit which is immensely satisfying. The problem can come at the heels though, when the extra yarn needed to cover the back of the heel can interrupt the smooth flow of stripes along the front of the sock.

Sock tip #7: to preserve your sock stripes wind off 10g sock yarn before you cast on and use this to knit the heels. 

You can of course use a contrast yarn for your heels too but if you want your heels to roughly match the rest of your sock then simply wind off 5-10g sock yarn before you cast on. Whether you are working a short row heel (such as the fish lips kiss heel) or a traditional heel flap, most heel constructions require you to work back and forth (flat). When you reach this section of the sock simply join your spare 10g sock yarn and work the heel, before re-starting with the original yarn when you come back to working in the round.

This keeps the stripe sequence consistent along the front of the sock and will bring pleasure to your stripe-loving knitterly heart.

Not all ribbing is created equal

The cuff of the Catbells sock

When it comes to sock cuffs a bit of experimentation can often help get the perfect rubbed cuff. Obviously you need a firm cuff which isn't too loose and saggy bit it needs to stay put without cutting off your circulation.

Sock tip #6: Try a twisted rib for a better fitting cuff.

Often a ribbed cuff just calls for a K1 P1 rib but I find that can be a bit too floppy unless I go down a needle size. And let's face it, by the time I reach the cuff I usually want the darned thing off my needles as quick as possible. I prefer instead to work a twisted rib - K1tbl, P1. The twisted stitch - whilst I know isn't everyone's favourite - really does add a bit of extra firmness to the cuff whilst keeping it sufficiently stretchy.

I'm not a huge fan of ribbing at the best of times but I can usually manage an inch or two of twisted rib before dashing headlong into the cast off. I think it was Elizabeth Zimmerman who once said that you should work your ribbed sock cuff for 1.5 inches or until you are sick of ribbing. I think she had it just about right.

Try a different toe increase.

If you like toe-up socks as much as I do, why not try a different type of toe increase? Most patterns have you start with Judy's magic cast on (or similar) and then increase by working Kfb ( knit into front and back) or M1 L/R make 1 left/right.

Now I don't know about you but I'm fairly confident that no one is going to be staring at my sock toes hard enough to be able to distinguish a make 1 left from a make 1 right. Life is far too short for that.

Instead, why not try a yo increase? On your increase round work a yo in place of the standard increase - usually 1 stitch in from each side of the toe. Then on the alternating plain rounds knit that yo through the back loop.

This gives a great unidirectional increase which is neat, tidy and doesn't involve trying to work out your make 1 left from your make 1 right.

PIN FOR LATER:

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

How to knit a rounded toe

How to knit an afterthought heel

How to knit from a sock blank

Avoid twisting your cuffs

Even though I am normally a die hard toe-up girl I do recognise that there are times when a cuff down sock is preferred. Sometimes a design works out better that way and sometimes people, despite my best efforts at persuasion will still insist on preferring a cuff down approach.

And when I teach beginner sock knitters, cuff down is usually the way I start.

Today's little tip is designed to make life easier for anyone who is new to sock knitting or anyone else for that matter who hates ribbing as much as I do.

Sock tip #4 Start off your sock cuff flat and then join.

Ribbing is bad enough but trying to do it whilst juggling unfamiliar tiny needles and working in the round is just too much.

I normally advise casting on the total number of stitches for your sock - say 64 - onto 1 DPN (or 1 needle if you are using magic loop). Work 2 rounds of rib and then join to knit in the round. This makes it so much easier to obey the next crucial instruction which always follows that statement ' being careful not to twist'.

I'm sure no one ever intentionally twisted a sock cuff - fairly sure that mobius socks aren't a 'thing' - but when you only have 1 row of newly cast on stitches it's easily done.

Having 2 rows of rib already established makes the process a lot less stressful and you can easily divide the cuff stitches onto your needles and continue the rib in the round.