Experimenting with Circular Needle Socks

I've knit quite a few socks now with double point needles from the top down. I started with bamboo needles borrowed from sariebeth, then graduated to a set of various sizes of polished wood DPNs that I purchased for myself after Christmas (6" length, rather than the smaller standard sock length). I've tried several different patterns and needle sizes and eventually different heel styles and I feel like I generally have the hang of it. I haven't poked my eye out or stabbed myself and it no longer feels like I'm trying to play a game of Cat's Cradle against a gang of toothpicks when I start working the ribbing at the cuff.

Of course that means it was obviously time for a new challenge! So, when I was placing an order for some new needles for a Mystery Project, I succumbed to temptation and included a kit to get started on knitting socks on two circular needles. Once my order arrived I started the internal debate of just how many new things to try at once. A single sock on two circulars: new... knitting socks from the toe up instead of top down: new... knitting 2 socks simultaneously: new. I suppose even I have my limits for how far out I'm willing to venture, but it was really my pattern choice that kept me to 2 out of the 3. I didn't think my attempts to translate a top-down pattern to a toe-up pattern for my first ever attempt with socks on two circulars was likely to work out well. And just in case the whole experience was going to be frustrating, I decided to experiment with the new methods on child-sized socks.

The whole 2-at-a-time, 2-circular thing definitely took some getting used to. I kept getting the yarn trapped between and/or wrapped around the cords. It felt a lot fiddlier than working with DPNs when I had to keep untangling the yarn from the dangling needles. I didn't always have the tension quite right between the two sides, so I can see some laddering in some of the purl stitches where they were looser than they should have been between the needles, although the most noticeable spots are near the top where I was first starting. It also felt like I was knitting much slower, which I probably was given all the fiddling with tangling yarn.

Still, it was fun to try and I haven't given up on the concept. I can see how it would be a great solution for people with Second Sock Syndrome that never want to start over just to finish a pair. There was also a point where I ran out of yarn for one sock and transferred it off to some spare needles. There was much less fiddling and untangling required when working with only one sock at a time on the circulars. Overall I'm still happy with the result (even though I'm still concerned that I haven't mastered child sock sizing), but the circular needle method definitely didn't make me a suddenly speedy knitter. I guess that was a bit of a bad expectation anyway, huh?