Kall me Krazy: Knitting Two Socks at Once - One Inside The Other.

Ever since I read about this technique in War & Peace, I had wanted to try it. Although one might think with the surge of DIY video's on youtube and how-to websites, one would be able to find follow-along instructions on this with ease, alas, it is not the case. So, I put this on the back of mind always subconsciously searching for tips on how one might achieve this.

Then, last week, a box of Knitting Traditions Magazine (published by Interweave) was delivered to my store.

I am enamored with this publication. Yes, it seems to be a compilation of previously published patterns and articles recycled into a new book with new packaging. However, that does not detract from its rich content and off-the-beaten-path ideas and patterns. It is just how I like it.

Caryl, upon flipping through its pages, was reading out loud each title. When she said, "knitting two socks at once - one inside the other", I immediately grabbed it from her hands with glee.

Needless to say, the only thing to do was to pick out the yarn and start on the project that night. Double knitting is daunting. Is time consuming. Takes concentration. Add to it - heel flaps, turns and gussets - two at the same time on double-pointed needles and you've got yourself a project.

For your history buffs out there, this technique of knitting one sock inside the other was used at the beginning of the last century and was popular for knitting socks for soldiers during WWI. I found a pattern on the Australian War Memorial website by the Lady Mayoress's League dating Sept. 1917 here.

First thing I decided to do was to knit two different colored socks. No, I will not have matching socks at the end but it will prevent me from pulling out my hair during. I picked two strongly contrasting colors in Claudia Hand Painted Fingering - Tomato Soup and Tranquility. Different enough, but pretty together. The changes in color in the yarns due to their hand-painted quality will keep me interested in knitting a PLAIN stockinette pair of socks.

It was advised in the article to cast on separately for the 2 socks, knit an inch or so of ribbing then slip all the stitches onto one set DPN's after putting one sock inside the other. Which is what I did. I used the German Twisted Cast-On for stretchiness.

One word of precaution, if you're slipping all the stitches purl-wise then be sure to knit into the back of your inside sock stitches on the first round - or alternatively, slip one knit-wise, slip one purl-wise.

Also, it was written to evenly distribute the stitches onto 3 needles instead of 4. I had gone ahead of myself, slipped them onto 4 then realized the mistake, had an inner dialogue about whether I should re-do the work and distribute them onto 3 needles instead which would be faithful to the pattern or just leave it since I would only be knitting the leg now and then deal with re-distributing when I got to the heel flap or translate the pattern in my head for 4 needles instead as I go along. I decided to just do it right and stick to the pattern strictly since it is my first time doing this. So, 3 needles it is.

The purpose of writing this is so that I can point out any pit falls along the way for anyone interested in trying this. However, I would advise to not attempt this if you have never knitted a sock, are not familiar with the concept of double knitting, have not used DPN's or knitted in the round, cannot knit with both hands at the same time ...

As the pattern suggests, I am doing my purling in blue (outer sock) and knitting in peach (inner sock), mixing English and Continental style - blue in my right hand for purling English style and peach in my left hand for knitting Continental style. This is the way the pattern calls for and I am sticking to it.

After the first couple of rounds, I am getting into the rhythm of this combination of styles and knitting/purling. It is a lot like doing stranded color-work only you also have to purl and there are no pretty motifs appearing before your eyes only rows upon rows of stockinette. On size 2 DPN's. I will persevere.

Because the inner sock is not readily visible to you, it is very easy to drop stitches on the inside without even noticing it. Have a crochet hook at the ready because you will likely drop some stitches, especially when using DPN's - go for the longer ones 7" or 8" to mitigate this. Every once in awhile, peer inside to make sure there are no dropped stitches. Because of the alternating colors I chose to use, it makes it much easier for me to keep track of any problems since I always start with a blue stitch and end with a peach stitch on each needle.

Another word of precaution, your first stitch on each needle will be a purl stitch since you are purling the outside sock and knitting the inside sock so the right-side of each sock touches each other. Because of this, some laddering will occur. I was having difficulty purling the first stitch (really not a big fan of DPN's), didn't like the laddering plus a strange ridge started to appear so I cleverly (or thought so at the time) slipped the first stitch of each needle onto the previous needle ... that way, my first stitch on each needle will be a knit stitch therefore, eliminating the laddering problem. Theoretically speaking.

However, in practice, as I started to work a couple more rounds, a hole started to appear in the outer sock at each DPN transfer point. Too late, I am not ripping back. I will have to darn those holes after I'm done knitting the whole thing. With my tail between my legs, I slipped the last stitch of each needle back onto the following needle, thus, going back to what I had before which is my laddering. I will take the laddering over the holes any day.

Folks, that's all for this episode of the double-knitted socks saga. Sorry I couldn't leave you with a prettier picture. Onwards with 5 inches of stockinette. Will touch base when I get to the heels.