I don’t know how I got sucked down the Ravelry hole but it doesn’t really matter.  If you’ve ever searched for something, you can understand how one thing leads to another to another and so on and so on. I resurfaced with a project: Latvian Bloom Socks by Dela Hausmann.  The graph for the colorwork is marked in four sections which would correspond to four double-point needles (dpn) containing 18 stitches each.  See my little paper tags attached to the sock section??

Using Knit Picks Stroll in Ash, Black and Bare, I’m already into the foot section.

I prefer to knit with dpn but notice that my colorwork stitches pucker a bit when I switch from dpn to the next.  I try to keep the yarn that is carried across the back as loose as possible without going overboard.  I even knit inside out but I like to look at my progress and I didn’t want to fiddle with turning it right side out and back again.  It’s too easy to lose stitches that way.

It’s slow going.  I tried Magic Loop but my 24″ circular needle isn’t really long enough for that technique and the 16″ is too long for the circumference of the sock.  So I tried to use both needles by knitting a round on one then when back at the beginning of that round, I use the second needle to knit the next round to make a sort of flexible needle. Unfortunately, the straight part of the 24″ needle is too long to keep the sock in a comfortable circle.  I’m not sure if I’ve explained that correctly.  Trust me, it’s not relaxing.

Since switching to circular needles, I still needed to follow the graph which is laid out by needle (1, 2, 3, and 4).  I made some stitch markers to remind me what needle I’m working with: one bead for needle #1, 2 beads for needle #2, 3 beads for needle #3, and 4 beads for needle #4.  This little trick works for me.

Anyway, I ordered some 9-inch US #1 (2.25 mm) and US #1.5 (2.50 mm) circular needles.  They should arrive today.   I’ll let you know how this all works out.