Reader Mail; On questions in comments; converting a sock pattern to Two Circulars Two-at-a-Time

A bit of housekeeping: I've had a few comments with questions of late. I can't always email you back - depending on how you logged in to leave the comment.

In particular, two very good questions:

On my post about avoiding holes in top-down sock gussets - I've been asked if there's a video. YES!  I did a quick video for Interweave - you can download it here.

And on the February Lady Sock, a reader is seeking some help. I always love helping out sock knitters, and you can always email me at kate at wisehildaknits dot com with specific questions. You can also email me through the Contact form at my website kateatherley.com. If you've not knit a sock before, I highly recommend starting with my top-down training sock pattern.  If you've got a specific question, let me know!

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And then a reader has left a comment asking about converting my Basic Ribbed Sock to two-at-a-time, on two circulars. I'm going to tackle that question in two steps: first, on working a sock on two circulars.

With the exception of the aforementioned Training sock pattern (and its toe-up counterpart), I write all my sock patterns to be needle-agnostic. That is, the instructions are written so that you can use DPNs, magic loop or two circular needles - or even those teeny-tiny little 8 or 9 inch long cicular needles. I've written on this before, so please excuse any possible repetition. Ultimately, the needles you use for working small circumference pieces like socks is entirely a personal choice. There's actually no difference in the process, no matter which needles you're using.

The analogy is give is that it's like writing - I don't mind which hand you hold your pen in, and how your wrap your fingers around it - the result is still the same.

Now, writing patterns this way does assume some knowledge on the pattern of the knitter... that the knitter has a sense of how to distribute the stitches across the needle configuration of choice for ease of working, but since socks generally aren't a beginner's project, I feel that's a safe assumption. I've written on this in detail, in KnitEdge magazine - issue two.

That having been said, the original Basic Ribbed Sock pattern was written many years ago, and I believe it did refer specifically to DPNs - I think that's all I knew at the time. I've since revised and updated it - with multiple sizes, and with non-needle-specific instructions. You can get that newer version on Ravelry here.

As to working two at a time... Well, it's an interesting question. If I was feeling glib, I'd say that once you've worked a few pairs that way, then it becomes obvious. But that's not entirely fair...   I'll finish this in a second post in the next day or two - stay tuned!