I’ve been finding that when I knit socks my second sock ends up with a slightly tighter gauge than the first so I decided to try and combat this by knitting a pair of socks two-at-a-time.

Hearing good things about them, I ordered a 2.25mm 100cm (40″) HiyaHiya Sharps circular needle, dove in to my yarn stash for some beautiful Wren & Ollie sock yarn, I picked out the fun and free Zigzagular socks pattern, and I started knitting.

After successfully completing the cuff, I realised I’d bitten off more than I can chew – the left and right sock were different! In my rush I hadn’t considered that knitting two-at-a-time socks is most enjoyable when both socks are the same because it essentially means that you work a familiar pattern across both socks.

I persevered for a little while but it was slow knitting trying to switch my brain from sock to sock to make sure I was knitting the pattern in the right direction. Pretty soon I decided to slip one sock on to two DPNs to wait by the side while I knit the leg of one sock. When I reached the heel, I switched the needles and completed the leg of the other sock, and continued knitting the socks section by section.

Happily, both socks are the same size! Alternating between socks means that if I have tightened my gauge while knitting then it’s occurred in the same section of both socks and is not going to affect wear.

I’ll give the true two-at-a-time sock knitting method a go another day, but I’ll make sure I either tackle a plain sock or a basic all-over pattern that is the same on both socks.

Additional notes about these socks (including my toe modification) can be found on my Zigzagular socks Ravelry project page.

P.S. The Wren & Ollie yarn was great to work with and the random pops of colour kept me going when the pattern got fiddly.

P.P.S. I loved using the HiyaHiya Sharps circular needle! I think it’s time to contemplate a set of interchangeables…!