Workshop: MUMTU Socks Pt5: Round 1

1. Intro, Items Needed, Stitches Used
2. Gauge, Measurements, Primary Stitch Count
3. Orientation, Glossary, Visualizing Magic Loop
4. Pack Kit, Cast On
5. Round 1 (You are here!)
6. Toes
7. Foot, Gusset
8. Heel Extension
9. Heel Flap
10. Leg & Cuff, Bind Off
11. Charts for Customizing Your Fit

STEP 5: Knitting the First Round

Round 1 is slightly different than subsequent rounds. Once you have cast on the required number of stitches, do the following:

1. Drop the yarn tail.
   
   
2. Turn the needles and place them into your left hand, right side up, tips pointing right.
   
   Needle 1 is now on top; Needle 2 on bottom. The working yarn is on the right-hand side of each sock. The purl side of the fabric is facing away from you. This is Neutral Position: the right-hand sock is Sock 1 and the left-hand sock is Sock 2.
   
   
3. Pull Needle 2 (now on bottom) all the way to the right so the stitches of both socks are on the cable instead of Needle 2.
   Pick up the working yarn with your right hand. Situate the tail so it lies between the working yarn and the needle (so it looks like it’s passing underneath/behind the working yarn). In the picture below, you can see that the tail yarn is wrapped around Needle 1 and held out of the way as I prepare to knit the first stitch:
   
   In the next picture, I have inserted Needle 2 into the first stitch on Needle 1:
   
   And now I draw the new loop through. You can see that this new loop can only be created if the tail is held properly.
   
   
   
4. Using Needle 2, knit the row of stitches off of Needle 1.
   
   
   Don’t worry if the first stitch gets loose while you are knitting. You can use the tail to snug it up once we’ve gotten a few rounds into the toe.
   
   Make sure you drop the working yarn for Sock 1 and pick up the working yarn for Sock 2 before knitting the Sock 2 stitches!
   
   In the above picture, I have knit the first row of Sock 1 and am about to move on to the first row of Sock 2.
   
   
5. Once you have completed the first row and it looks like this ...
   
   
   turn the work...
   
   so the working yarn is at right and Needle 2 is on top (still pulled off the stitches).
   
   
6. Push Needle 2 back in so the stitches are on it again.
   
   This is Neutral Position.
   
   
7. Pull Needle 1 (now on bottom) all the way to the right so the stitches are on the cable.
   
   
   Using Needle 1 (now loose), knit stitches from Needle 2. Be careful with this row! The cast-on method situated the loops on Needle 2 twisted. As a result, on this first round only, you must knit them through the back loops in order to untwist them.
   
   
   After this round, the stitches will not be twisted again, and you can knit them through the front loop, as usual.
   

Push Needle 1 back onto the stitches and turn the work to Neutral Position.


At this point, you have completed 1 round and are ready to start the toe increases.

Take a look at your work. There are two “rows” of stitches between your needles now, comprising the front and back of the first round. The center line of your sock toe is between those two rows of stitches. Because this is an invisible cast-on technique, you want to keep your cast-on tension consistent with your normal tension/gauge.
• If the stitches appear too loose, it means you cast on too loosely. Next time, tighten each loop up individually.
• If the stitches are too tight, you might want to try casting on with a pair of larger needles and then transferring to your magic loop needles.

Return to Part 4 of the MUMTU Socks Workshop.
Proceed to Part 6 of the MUMTU Socks Workshop.