Sunday, February 15, 2009

And knit the toe section

Just a note or two on this aspect of the pattern. Magic Loopers know that you have the two needles facing to the right, and the knitting can ride on the cable of the circular needle, with the cable "loop" at one end separating the "front" needle and the "back needle". But since at the very beginning, the two sides are connected at the center, it can be difficult to visualize front and back needles. This is compounded by the purl side which wants to pop up and be dominant.
So to begin, I saw my needles as upper and lower. The lower (working needle) has the working yard trailing - the upper (holding the next stitches) needle is the one you will knit in to. After a row or two it looks as if you are knitting a flat piece, even though the two ends really are connected. And if anyone knows a better way to describe this, feel free to offer suggestions! After one or two rounds, you can start increasing, according to the directions, and the needles can be more "front" and "back" as they normally are in Magic Loop.

My Interpretation of Knit Picks Toe Up, Two at once, Magic Loop Socks - cast on







This drawing only shows the cast on for one sock on the cable of the circular needle, but you should have two sets of 12 cast on "stitches" (the half hitch knots on the needle.) Since you will
be picking up 12 stitches (knitwise, so all the "bumps" are on the "wrong side") and there are only 11 spaces between each hitch, add a stitch
to the working needle by bringing the yarn down and making a twist and slipping it on the needle. Then you will be lined up to reach through the space created under the cable of the needle and over the loop that connects the hitches. Pick up 11 more stitches and you are ready to commence with the toe section.
One photo showsthe back side of your casted on stitches - with the purl bumps showing. The other photo shows the "right" side - with 12 "stitches" on each side, ready to start knitting the Magic Loop method.

Saturday, February 14, 2009


You can use symbols, normally used for formulas
instead of colors. The trick is to type the symbol, then immediately click on the check mark on the formula bar to enter the symbol without making a formula. This gives a lot more keyboard options for charting patterns and stitches.