What is magic loop knitting?

Hoar Frost socks

I used to teach a class on this, and the most common response after I had run through the basics and a short demo was “oh, is that all it is”.

It really is quite straightforward once you understand the principle, but like many things it sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.

Essentially it is another way of knitting a tube in the round, along with DPNs and small circulars. It’s just another technique - with a slightly fancier name.

All you need is a circular needle with a long cable. For socks I like to use 2.5mm needles with an 80cm long cable.

It is important that the cable be long enough. 60cm is the bare minimum and personally I find the 100cm cables a bit too long - the extra loops always seem to get in my way.

The only other caveat I would add is that the cable itself needs to be reasonably flexible. Yes, you probably could use that grey plastic one that came free on the front of a magazine once but it is unlikely to be a pleasurable experience.

HOW TO MAGIC LOOP:

1. Cast on the required number of stitches - for socks for example - 64..

2. Work 2 rows of rib (not essential but it makes it easier to join.

3. Identify the halfway point - 32 sts - and slide stitches onto the cable portion.

4. Pull the cable through the halfway point to make a long loop. Stop when the two sets of stitches are resting on the needle tips.

5. Align the stitches with the cast on edge facing inwards and the tips facing away from you.

6. Hold working yarn in right hand and slide the stitches on the RH needle back down onto the cable.

7. Insert the now free RH needle tip into the first stitch on the LH needle and work in rib for 32 stitches.

8. Once you’ve worked these 32 stitches, you’ll have them on the RH needle, with the 2nd set of stitches still on the cable. Slide them back up to the LH needle.

9. With your right hand, pull the RH needle tip away from you allowing the stitches on the RH needle to slide back onto the cable.

10. This frees up with RH needle to work across the 2nd set of stitches.

Points to remember: Once you’ve worked across half the stitches always slide both sets of stitches back onto the needle tips. Then you can pull the RH needle out, sliding those stitches safely back onto the cable. This ensures that your stitches stay in two, neat manageable halves. All you are doing is working one half of the stitches, pulling the cable through and then working across the 2nd half.

You can use magic loop to knit anything that requires a tube to be knit in the round. It lends itself particularly well to socks especially if they have a pattern as one needle will hold the plain sole/back of leg stitches whilst all the pattern action happens on the other needle. Magic loop can also be used for mitts, hats - I often use it for baby hats when there aren’t enough stitches to stretch around my cable, or indeed sleeves.

The world is your (knitting) oyster.

Tips for perfectly matched stripy socks

#SocktoberTips #2
Top tips for perfectly matching stripy socks - without the hassle of knitting 2 at a time

1. Wind yarn into 2 X 45g balls before you start - with 10g left for heels/toes. Or use 10g of contrast yarn.

2. I prefer to work toe-up as I find it easier to get a good match.

3. Work a short row heel to avoid longer rows (and thinner colour bands) over the heel. The Fish Lips Kiss heel works well.

4. If you like your socks to match perfectly look for indie dyers who sell matched 50g skeins - @muststashyarn is a favourite. And here in the UK Needle and Fred also offers this type of yarn as does Ripplescrafts, although they always teens to sell out very quickly

Socktober Tips #1: It's all about the yarn

https://payhip.com/LouiseTilbrookDesigns

Of all the countless articles and endless advice written about sock knitting I feel that the one thing which should be top of the list, rarely is.

What am I talking about? The yarn of course.

You can have the perfect stitch pattern, the perfect needles and create socks that are the perfect fit with amazingly matchy stripes. But none of that matters at all if the yarn isn’t up to the job.

A lot is written about so-called sock yarns - often taken to mean a 4ply or fingering weight yarn which usually (but not always) is a wool blend with up to 25% nylon. This often leads to the assumption that this is the only type of yarn suitable for sock knitting. But in reality it is perfectly possible, desirable even, to knit a sock in 100% natural fibres.

Nylon is added to give strength to a yarn, a job it does admirably. But the same effect can be achieved by adding another fibre such as alpaca or mohair to the blend.

If you want to read more about this and maybe experiment with some nylon free socks for yourself, this article by the Wovember team in conjunction with Sue of Blacker Yarns is a great place to start.

Another crucial factor which is often overlooked is the matter of gauge. People often complain that their socks wear through quickly, especially in high friction areas and may blame the yarn. If this is a problem for you it might be worth switching down a needle size or two. Friction is reduced considerably when the fabric has a tighter weave - the fibres literally have less room to rub against each other - and the resulting sock will be much longer lasting. Knitting socks on 2.5mm needles used to be my default but increasingly I have noticed much better results (and increased longevity of heels/toes) by switching down to 2.25mm needles.

Whilst no one wants a bullet proof sock*, aiming for a slightly denser fabric than you might usually go for could work wonders.

* This reminds me of when, as a sock newbie I decided to knit a DK weight sock on my regular 2.5mm needles. What could possibly go wrong I reasoned - surely you always used ‘sock needles’ to knit socks.

The end result was a pair of booties that quite literally stood up by themselves.

And that’s never a good look.

To sign up to receive these #SocktoberTips as emails, please use this link