SOCK KNITTING 1: Those Pesky Needles

sock knitting 1
Originally uploaded by yarnzie

Okay, so those cocktail sticks look a little scary at first, I mean, how on earth can anybody knit with those!

The first thing to remember is that, just like with normal knitting, you are only ever knitting with two needles.

I've cast on these sample stitches on big needles to make them as clear as possible. I want you to look at the orientation of the needles, rather than the ugly cup ring on my old school bible (which was the first thing that came to hand when I was doing this!)

To start, we'll just use my good old standby sock pattern. It fits a standard woman's foot, and you can always add length if you need. I'll tell you how. A 2.5mm set of dpns should see you right.

So:

1. Cast on 60 stitches. If it helps, cast them on using normal needles.

2. When you have your 60 stitches, cast on one more (all will become clear) and then divide the stitches between three of your dpns. The extra stitch should be left on the last needle (the right vertical needle in the picture).

3. Lay the three needles on the table, just like in the photograph and make sure that the cast on edge is towards the inside of the needles, like in the picture.

Important things to note:

* The short end (tail end) of yarn is Needle One
* Which means that the needle with the working yarn is Needle 3
* The horizontal is needle is Needle 2
* The cast on edge should be laying inside the three-sided box made by the needles.