New knitting trick

So I picked up this book . . .

. . . having read reviews about it in two different knitting magazines. After I paid for it, I sat down in the coffee shop part of my favourite local book store and did a quick scan through. The first thing that caught my eye was this cool trick for casting on stitches . . . a perfect way to begin a sock from the toe . . . with NO SEAM!  Pix not the greatest as I took them with my cell phone while Mizz Bootz was doing her best to HELP, so bear with me, please, while I try to explain this great new trick.

First, you cast on 1/2 of the stitches you want in your first circular row . . . in this case 6:

 Then you knit once in the front AND ONCE IN THE BACK of each stitch across . . . thereby DOUBLING the number of stitches on your needles:

 Then you PULL OUT THE NEEDLE!  Scary, I know, but it's part of the magic . . . with a little squeeze, 6 of the stitches will magically line up in one direction and 6 of the stitches will line up in the other direction:

 Then you re-insert your knit needle in the 6 stitches lined up one way . . .

 . . . then insert another knit needle in the 6 stitches lined up the OTHER way.

 At that point, you can start KNITTING IN THE ROUND . . . around and around and around without changing direction.  I increase 1 stitch at each end of each needle every second row to shape the toe of my sock.

 After a couple of rows, you can divide the stitches on each needle onto 2 knit needles so that 4 needles are holding your work.

 That's my favourite way of knitting socks . . . 2 needles for the front and 2 needles for the back.  I keep increasing 1 stitch on each side of the front and increasing 1 stitch on each side of the back until I have a total of 64 stitches . . . or 16 stitches on each of the 4 needles.  That's my calculation for fingering weight yarn on size 2.25 mm knit needles to fit my size 9 feet.

 Eventually, it turns into a sock:

 Well, there is the whole HEEL TURNING thing, but that's a different post!  I had so much fun with this new trick that I knitted a second pair of socks in less "spring-like" colours (it's still winter in this part of the world).

Good way to entertain myself last weekend, eh?  Now . . . WHERE ARE MY NEW SOCKS???

(In Mizz Bootz bed!)