I am beginning what we have come to call the "Tolstoy Socks" today. This is actually a technique described (albeit briefly) in the latest edition of Knitting Traditions Magazine. We're calling it the Tolstoy sock because it was described by Tolstoy in War and Peace and has been resurrected for the indefatiguably courageous knitter. The method involves knitting two socks at once, one inside the other. If you have ever done "double knitting" the method is similar. The author of the article recommended knitting the ribbing of the two socks separately and then joining them. This didn't feel right to me. Kind of like walking down past the moguls and then putting your skiis on for the rest of the run. So I dove in right at the beginning. Its going pretty well. The cast on was a bit akward. If you are going to try this I would cast on all the stitches on to two separate DPN's and then alternately slip them on to your working needles. Here's my start:
If anyone would like to join us in Coralville we will be knitting these socks as a KAL on Friday afternoons. It's not a class but if I stay a step ahead I should be able to help. That's why I started early.
If you know me, you know that I often say "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." I believe this technique falls into that category. The risk of not being able to separate the socks when you are done is a bit daunting. However, from what I'm seeing so far, I think if you twist the yarns (thereby joining the two socks) it is readily apparant in the next row and can be easily fixed. So if you are intrigued, join us. It will be fun if nothing else.