Which Sock Needle Are You?

What sock needle are you?

We all have a preference when it comes to knitting needles and it's really hard to change our mind!

Do you love the structure of working with DPNs, the ease of using magic loop or the speed of using shorties? Find out your sock knitting style 🔮

DPN champion

No stitch will be left behind in the process. With Double Pointed Needles you get the feeling you're knitting with straight needles but are working in the round. Your stitches are nicely separated between 3 or 4 needles and you use 1 to knit. This makes it super easy to keep count, and your hands may feel quite comfortable with a long straight needle to hold onto.

DPNs are the most "traditional" way to knit in small circumferences, and many people swear by it. You may have seen some of the fastest knitters in the world who knit in the Shetland style using extra long DPNs tucked under their arm.

Those who prefer a different method may feel overwhelmed by having to manage so many needles and prefer just one long or short circular needle instead.

Magic Loop wiz

You have 10+ knitting projects on the go and no time to mess around. You don't have to dig around to find your sock needles and are only working with two tips (instead of 4/5 as for DPNs). You can also save time with magic loop by knitting two socks at a time!

Magic Loop can help to minimize the gaps between needles that you may experience with DPNs, and may feel more comfortable to hold onto than shorties.

However, some people who are not Magic Loop fans may prefer not to have to move the cable around and are looking for something even more streamlined...

Try magic loop with fixed circular needles or interchangeable needles with a 80cm-100cm cable. Tin Can Knits has a great step-by-step tutorial for magic loop. Once you have the technique down, you can also try knitting two socks at a time following La Mercerie's tutorial.

Shortie needle visionary

You've seen what DPNs and Magic Loop have to offer and thought 'No, thank you. There must be a better way'. Well, there certainly is a different way!

Addi's Sock Wonder and ChiaoGoo's Fixed Sock needles are circular needles at just the right size for knitting socks in the round without needing to mess with loops or multiple needle tips. If you can get your hands accustomed to holding such a small needle, it can make your sock knitting very fast!

For those who aren't fans of the shorties, they will point to the challenge of holding onto something so small (usually 20-25 cms), and will also point out that you will need to employ an alternative needle to work the even smaller toe box section of the sock.

Addi's Crasy Trio Sock needles take the DPN route but bend the rules with 3 flexible needles that have a sock-friendly shape. This way you only need to work across two needles and use the third flexible DPN as your working needle.

There's really no right or wrong needle choice. They all have their benefits and downsides. If you haven't found your style yet or would like to try a new one, there's no time like Socktober!

There's no harm in trying them all until you find the method that works the best for you.

Last few weeks of socktober

If you've been knitting along with us this Socktober, don't forget to share your progress on Instagram! Tag us @loopinewoolco on your posts and use the hashtags #LoopineSocktoberKAL2024 and #LoopineSocktoberKAL so we can ooh and ahh at your gorgeous socks. There will also be prizes (more on that next week).

We hope you're enjoying the last few weeks of Socktober. We will announce the prizes next week so, if you haven't yet, make sure you share your progress with us on Instagram to be in to win some goodies.

Happy Knitting 🤗
xx The Loopine Team