2022 Geek-A-Long: Choosing the Right Needles

Socks have been gracing the WIP baskets of knitters since around 500 AD. In the 1500 years since then, humans invented countless techniques and tools to improve the experience of making one of the most prolific items in our wardrobes. Despite it’s long history, and both utilitarian and artistic value, few knitters start making socks early in their fibermancy training. Most knitters I’ve talked to (and I was one of these too!) make a sweater before they make a sock. In retrospect, that’s just wild! Socks are way less of a commitment than a sweater. And they are economical. You can make a full pair of large socks out of just one 100 gram skein of sock weight yarn. By contrast, even in small sizes, you’re unlikely to make it to the end of a sweater on fewer than three or four skeins. Also, socks are a small, portable project.

Basically, I want to walk up to new knitting converts and ask them if they’ve heard the Sock News. But frequently, newer knitters and even some seasoned knitting enthusiasts shy away from that first sock. While there are lots of reasons that a knitter might be hesitant to start socks, the most common reason I hear is that they don’t want to deal with those ridiculous little needles. I get it. Double Pointed Needles (DPNs) look like underfed toothpicks. And there are just so many options. Should you use double pointed needles? Extra long circular needles for Magic Loop? Extra short circular needles? One of the many sock specific options in between?

We can’t cover all the options here, I’d need to write you a 400 page thesis to do that, but we wanted to take a look at the two most popular types of sock needles: Double Pointed Needles (DPNs) and Long Circulars (Magic Loop). L&L is a house divided on the controversial topic of sock needles. I prefer Magic Loop and Jac prefers DPNs. We couldn’t agree on which one to tell you to start with, so we’ve decided to deviate from the usual structure and share the byline on this post. We’re not going to do a play by play of how to execute the techniques this week, we’ll demonstrate both methods in the tutorial videos that will be coming your way in February. Today, we’re going over the advantages to each system. If you’re new to sock knitting, or if you’ve only tried one of these, give them both a shot and see which one you like best!

[Pictured Above: Fire Bolt Socks by Jac knitted with Vacation Yarn in ‘Craven’ and ‘Palpatine’; modeled by Megan-Anne]

Knitting Socks on Long Circular Needles – Megan-Anne

Magic Loop sock knitting is where it’s at. Have you ever looked at your knitting and thought to yourself: “Hey, you know what would make this 20% cooler? MORE POINTY BITS! Like, this is fun, but there are only two sharp points to contend with.”

No. No, you haven’t said that and neither have I. Well, OK, maybe once or twice when a vampire needed to be staked and I wished I had four weapons instead of two. But other than that, I don’t want all those needle tips in my life. In all seriousness though, it’s not about the pointy-ness of it all. I’m a professional. I only poke myself with unattended knitting needles once or twice a week, max. The real reason I’ll reach for a pair of 36″ circulars every time is that I am a stitch dropper. When working on DPNs, there are so many more needle tips to drop stitches off of! I like to increase my odds of keeping my stitches restrained by decreasing the number of options they have to make an escape attempt. Magic Loop sock knitting works by pulling the cable of your long circulars through the halfway point of your stitches so that a large loop of cable sticks out and you will work one half of the stitches while the other half hangs out, safe and secure on the cable of the needle.

It’s not the fastest technique for sock knitting, you have to turn your work twice every round (when you reach the half way point where the cable loop is, and at the beginning of each round). Most people who don’t like magic loop don’t want all that turning. But I’ll take the slow down of turning my work over picking up stitches any day.

[Pictured Above: The Sweater Vest of Socks by Jac; knitted with a Mini Vacation Yarn Set in ‘Crowned Prince of Faerie’]

Knitting Socks on Double Pointed Needles – Jac

Alright, so let me start this off by admitting that we are no longer a house divided. I don’t want any of you showing up with the receipts from my own Instagram with pics of me using long circulars.

I was a die hard DPN user before Megan-Anne lured me over to the dark side with its magicy loops. I was convinced that having to flip my needles would drive me insane and slow me down. Admittedly, when I was first learning Magic Loop, I felt that way. Now I soar like the wind and don’t drop half my stitches when I shove my knitting into my purse or wherever. But, this is supposed to be why I believe you should learn how to learn how to knit socks on DPNs (and then make the jump to long circulars later).

Casting on with DPNs feels fiddly. Preventing a jog between the needles can be a problem. BUT. If you learn the seemingly easier method (Magic Loop) first, learning the supposedly more complicated method later (DPNs) will feel weirder and be much harder later on. It’s the same reason why I recommend people who are interested in fiber arts to learn crochet before getting into knitting. In my personal experiences and with what I’ve seen and heard from others, jumping from DPNs to Magic Loop or from Crochet to Knitting is annoying, but doable. Going from Magic Loop to DPNS or Knitting to Crochet, is hard. The learning curve seems to become very steep for whatever reason. Don’t fall into that trap. One day, you’re going to need DPNs to put a thumb on that mitt or maybe you’ll need to put a crocheted edge on a Geek-A-Long blanket, and you’ll be whining at your sister that DPNs are stupid and who could possibly ever single crochet faster than one stitch per minute and could she please just do it for you?

I’m looking at you, Megan-Anne.

So, do yourself a favor and give Double Pointed Needles a try. Knit a couple pairs of basic, vanilla socks. Don’t be that kid who always wore slip on shoes or ones with Velcro straps and now the idea of tying your own shoes feels impossible. Sometimes DPNs are the best tool for the job, and knitting socks with them is a great way to learn and hone that skill before you’re staring down the thumb of a mitten, knowing with absolute certainty that you won’t be able to get away with using long circular needles.

~Megan-Anne & Jac

REAL TALK: If you’ve never knit socks before, experiment with needles to find what’s most comfortable for you! There are no one-size-fits-all needles. Knit one sock on DPNS and the second on Magic Loop. Try things out and see what you like.

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