Knitting With Flare... Sort of

My finger is healing - it isn't swollen anymore and I can type with it now. The blood blisters have hardened into something like scabs under the skin, but are still tender if I apply pressure to them, like when pinching a knitting needle between my thumb and index finger. So, I've been slowly working up to a new style of knitting - sort of like the people who hold their champagne glasses with their pinkie straight out I now hold my left knitting needle between my thumb and middle finger with my index finger pointed up and out of the way. It's a form of flare... or, you know, mostly silly looking. But it works well enough without too much hand cramping for light projects, like socks.

So I cast on some fun socks for Xandermommy. Since the yarn that I chose for her socks came with fewer yards than a lot of sock yarn, I had already decided to do them toe-up to make sure they would be the same. And, based on a small test swatch to test out my new "flare grip", I found that knitting on circulars seemed kinder to my hand. Having already tried the 2 on 2 method, I decided it was time to give Magic Loop a try, too. And so my first 2 at a time Magic Loop, toe-up socks were born.

Technically I should probably use a longer circular needle when doing 2 socks at a time and size 3 needles may have been a bit large for the yarn, but the pattern is stretchy and forgiving and they seem to be the right size anyway. And now she gets seamless toes and short row heels, which I still love doing. I wasn't quite on the ball, though, so pictures will follow in a future post.