Two at a time ACCOMPLISHED

Cafe au Lait Mitts

It's official.  I'm magic looping.  Having just finished my first magic loop project, I feel accomplished.  I feel masterful.  I feel a tingly sensation all over.  There is great satisfaction with making a pair of  mittens, socks or sleeves two at a time, I must say.  It was for that reason alone that I felt compelled to learn and hone this skill.  The thing about Magic Loop is, it can be daunting.  It probably slowed me up, and didn't help with sanity maintenance that I was working  an 8 row- lace pattern repeat, coupled with a brand new technique. Doing lace fucks with me in the best of circumstances, so I probably should have known better.  Be that as it may, I did it, and have manged to do so without hurting myself or anyone else.

The concept itself is not that complicated.  Essentially  you are just knitting as the pattern dictates.  If you can count, you can pretty much translate any pattern calling for dpn's to Magic Loop.  The cast on can be confusing, and that is simply because of the tendency to over think which will complicate the process.  Not to mention that it is kind of messy.  Yarn seems to be coming out of everywhere, and those first few rounds will convince you that you have no idea what you are doing.  Trying to figure out where everything is supposed to be, in addition to keeping from twisting the rounds, lest you have to rip out, and start over, is enough to make the most well adjusted, grounded, and emotionally stable individual to completely short circuit. As knitters, we are all too familiar with the term "frogging" otherwise translated "ripping it out", can have some frustrating connotations, just based on the way the stitches are set up in this technique.  I will be the first one to admit that this can be a colossal nightmare.  The benefits though, do offer quite the pay off.  You get the pair, at the same time.  It is easy to carry with you.  I for one, had this project, when I wasn't working on it, stuffed haphazardly in my bag. Those stitches would have never survived on dpn's.  I have come to see that Magic Loop is a good technique to know.

What I would recommend to make learning this technique easier is to NOT do it two at a time the first time in.  Better you do one of the pair for your introduction. Learning how to manipulate the stitches on a long circular needle is vital.  By the time you have completed the second of the pair, you will likely feel a profound level of comfort with the scooting, and pulling process that goes on.  When getting ready to advance to working the pair at the same time, I would suggest, a simple sock, mitt, or better yet, a simple legwarmer pattern.  This way the focus is on the new technique, and not a complicated stitch pattern.  What I found helpful, was labeling each needle/side that you are working.  I would recommend using locking stitch markers of different colors, and placing it on the end of each cast on edge.

Assorted colors of scrap yarn is fine too.  The idea is to help you keep track of what you are working on. This will assist in keeping your work straight in your head, so that when yarn is coming from every direction (and it will be), this will help reorient you. The one thing that my knitting/teacher buddy Kris Percival said that was extremely helpful in making sense of the execution of this technique, was the reminder that the working yarn is always in the back.  And finally, make sure you have taken your medication.

TWO-TIMER

I've decided to give this Magic Loop thing some serious attention.  I've decided that this is yet another technique that requires my mastery.  And why?  Well, because it is practical.  I have put off making mittens, gloves and legwarmers (which seem to have made a fashion comeback) and other such items, until said time that I have mastered Magic Loop.  Magic Looping is using one very long circular needle, as opposed to double pointed needles, which is presently the way I do it.  The benefit of Magic loop is traveling is much easier, and I would suspect you'd  worry less then you would transporting work on dpn's.  But most importantly, with Magic loop, you get to do two at a time.  So if you are going to say make mittens, gloves, sleeves, or socks, you can do the pair as opposed to dpn's which you generally do one at a time.  Long ago, in my attempt to make a pair of socks, I knit one sock.  I still have that one sock.  Never got around to making the other.  Magic loop would prevent such a travesty from happening in the future.  Then I put off jumping on the Magic Loop band wagon, because, well, I actually am quite comfortable working with dpns.  And then I further distanced myself from the whole Magic Loop experience, having convinced myself that this technique is best served by sock knitters.  I am not a sock knitter.  As you probably guessed, because I made just one useless sock.  One lonely sock.  And it wasn't for anyone in particular.  I just wanted to prove to myself that I could make socks if I wanted too.  Or in my case, a sock. But I have come to see the error of my ways.  Why Magic Loop, really is Magic!  To think that the next time I make a sweater, I could just do it Magic Loop style, as opposed to the one lonely sleeve at a time.  I could bang out mittens, legwarmers two at a time.  And so I plan to sit in on my knitting compadres Magic Loop Class.  Wish me luck!