You’ve probably heard how wonderful it is to knit socks two-at-a-time.
Books and magazines that explain how to do it are flying off the shelves, and sock knitters everywhere are finally finishing both socks at once. It is the ultimate cure for second-sock syndrome.
But even if you never intend to knit socks, learning how to knit two tubes at a time can improve your knitting experience dramatically.
Why? Because when you can knit both mittens, gloves, arm warmers, legwarmers, or sweater-sleeves at the same time, both pieces of your project will look the same, and you’ll actually finish faster than if you made the pieces individually.
Knitting two-at-a-time is faster because you skip all the counting, thinking, and measuring on the second item – a big time-saver on projects like shaped sweater-sleeves. The pieces come out identical, without any extra thinking on your part!
Two-at-a-Time is twice as nice!
You also go faster because it’s more motivating to see your entire project moving to completion on your needles. In my experience, it takes only about 50% longer to make two sleeves at a time than it does to make one.
The best part is, with two-at-a-time, when you’re done, you’re done. No more thinking, “Now all I have to do is do it all over again…”
You’ll bind off and put the pair of mittens directly on your hands or into a gift box, and skip happily to the yarn store to start a new project – which, now that you know two-at-a-time, might even be a pair of socks!
If you are comfortable with knitting in the round on Magic Loop, you can start your next Magic Loop project two-at-a-time: all you need to learn is a special way of casting on.
You’ll also have more success using a longer circular needle than you would normally use for Magic Loop, since you’ll have twice as many stitches. I like a 47-inch-long circular needle.
Follow along with the video below, or use the photos to guide you step-by-step. If you are excited about learning to knit two-at-a-time, check out my Two-at-a-Time Socks Video Knitting Class!
Materials:
- One 47-inch-long circular needle
- Yarn separated into two balls of equal size
Here’s a photo tutorial illustrating the same concept – use whichever you find most helpful. There’s also a tip on keeping your yarn from tangling at the end.
Step 1: Using a long-tail cast-on and one of the balls of yarn (let’s call it Ball A – shown here in red) and leaving enough tail for all the stitches your pattern calls for, onto one end of the circular needle, cast on HALF the stitches required.
Step 2: Push the stitches from Ball A away from the tip of the needle. Using yarn from Ball B (shown here in yellow), onto the same needle tip, cast on ALL the stitches called for in the pattern.
Step 3: Push both sets of stitches onto the cable part of the circular needle.
Step 4: At the midpoint of the stitches from Ball B (the larger set of stitches), bend the cable and pull a large loop of cable out, as shown in the photo below. Pull the loop until the stitches reach the needle tips..
Step 5: Arrange the stitches as in the photo below, with the stitches from Ball A pushed onto the needle-tip. Notice how the yarn is coming off the wrong end of the stitches? That’s on purpose.
Step 6: Holding the needle-tips together at the base and in your right hand as shown in the photo below, cast on the remaining stitches from Ball A onto the empty needle tip. Make sure the needle-tips are together at the base so that you don’t get a stretched-out piece of yarn between the needles.
Step 7: Turn both needle-tips towards the right (“ready position”) and make sure all the bumps from the cast-on row are facing in, like the teeth of an alligator. This prevents you from creating any twists in the round.
Step 8: With the working yarn (Ball A) draped over the back needle-tip, pull the back needle-tip out and to the right, and then point it back towards the left needle-tip, just as you would for Magic Loop.
Begin working across the stitches from Ball A.
When you finish working the stitches from Ball A, drop that yarn and pick up the yarn from Ball B. Knit across the next set of stitches using the yarn from Ball B.
Step 9: Return to ready position. Repeat Step 8, only this time you’ll first knit the stitches from Ball B, and finish with the stitches from Ball A.
You’re on your way! Repeat steps 8-9, shaping your pieces according to your pattern. Make sure to keep your balls of yarn in separate bags or containers on either side of you, so they don’t get tangled.
Another trick to keeping your yarn from tangling is to hold the working yarn from one ball of yarn to the front of your work, while the other working yarn stays to the back.
Related Articles:
If you haven’t already bought it, I highly recommend:
Mastering Magic Loop Socks Video E-Book
What did you think about this two-at-a-time cast-on? Share or Leave a comment below.
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You’ve done it again, Liat, cranked out another great teaching video! I’m sure I’ll likely have to refer to the video the first few times I do this, but don’t anticipate a problem. You’ve successfully removed the fear element that’s prevented me from attempting this. Thank you!
Thanks for commenting, Renna! Now you can make all of your mittens two-at-a-time, too!
Liat’s Limitless Cast-On is simply amazing! Your instructions are so clear and calm. You anticipate each problem and solve it before it happens…you’ll make every knitter a SUPERSTAR!
Thanks, Mom! I sure hope so! :) xoxo
At the end of watching your videos I always make the same comment,”I get it now” I may never use my DPNS again!
Hi Liat
I watched the video Liat’s Limitless Cast-On for Two-at-a-Time ANYTHING! ….and I would really like to have that in a DVD …the question is… is that included in the LEARN TO KNIT SOCKS DVD? Or is that a different class? I was just wondering which is the right link to order that one :) I just started a my two at a time sleeves..by the way …thank you soooooo sooo much it was really helpful ! but I know myself and I am very likely to have to watch it again …LOL…so I’d like to have the cd :) for later usage :)
Norma.
Hi Norma! I’m so excited you like the cast-on! You’ll never do sleeves, socks, or mittens one-at-a-time again! This cast-on video is included in the Learn to Knit Socks Video E-Book – the DVD is coming in a few months. Keep me updated on your progress!
Thanks so much for the video. I did my first pair of socks toe-down 2aat and now wanted to try cuff-down. I was struggling to figure out how to do the cast-on and the one method that I saw had you casting on both and”working from the center”, which I thought would lead to problems tracking. I really like your method and your video was great quality.
Hi JoLene,
You’re so welcome! I’m glad I helped you get started on your cuff-down, two-at-a-time socks!
Your tutorial is great! Thank you so much! I’ve tried it 3x time, and I keep running into the same problem. My stitches of the tube that was cast on in two separate parts end up twisted after I knit the first row. The only thing I can figure out is that it is something with my cast on. When you go to cast on the 2nd half of the stitches for the first tube with the yarn ends hanging off the back of the first half of the cast on stitches, the yarn end that is connected to the ball of yarn is closest to you – more in a position to wrap that end around your thumb. It’s the yarn end that is NOT connected to the ball of yarn that needs to go around the thumb. I find that in order for me to get the correct yarn end over my thumb to cast on the 2nd half of the stitches, the two ends end up twisting a bit. I’m thinking this might be why my stitches keep twisting as soon as I knit the first half of the first round. Does it matter which yarn end is around my thumb at this point? Help!!
Hi Shelley!
Thank you so much for the compliment. :) I’m sorry that you’ve been having trouble with the cast-on, but can you do me a favor and copy and paste your question to
This way, everyone can benefit from seeing the answer and we can get you up and running right away! Thanks!
Hi, Liat! Cut and paste it to where? LOL!
Oh my goodness!
Please copy and paste it to KNITFreedom.com/forum :)
Thanks!
Will do, Liat! Thank you!
hi i would like a basic glove pattern i can’t use dpns. the pattern calls for it i do know a little magic .i don’t know how to knit socks or anything but your nice basic hats i made about 6 using your pattern. what i would like to know if i can adopt this glove pattern and use magic loop i have been trying to do the pattern sense Nov. i’m done with dpns. i just viewed you 2 at a time. i don’t know where to start in learning ‘ Socks or what please help. i’m so down right now . your 2-at-a-time video is awsome.Thank You again!
I love this tutorial because it is not a video.
I printed it out and will keep it by my side when I start my socks and mittens.
Videos just do not help me at all. It has to be the written word.
Thanks a million.
I would love to see a video knitting two socks at a time toe up.
What size are your 47 inch circulars? I am looking to buy some but have to buy separate needles and cable. What size would be best for an all around needle?
Hi Marcia,
I’m using size 7′s in the photo tutorial, and size 10s in the video tutorial. I think size 7 is always a good size to start out with if you are going to be buying Magic Loop needles, because you’ll use it for everything. Here’s another post I wrote that might help you: The Best Needles For Magic Loop”
Can’t wait until after surgery and I can start knitting again. Have 3 projects in line, then will be doing two socks at a time! Love your videos and written instructions!!
Sue, I hope all goes well with your surgery. :) I’m glad that you enjoy the videos. I hope you get back to them soon!
I just had the crazy idea to cast on 2 at a time hats for my husband and son for Christmas. This would work for that to as long as my cable is long enough right?
Haha absolutely! Try it!
Surgery is over and I am back to knitting! Have one project done, another on the needles. Takes a little longer now, but strength is building back. Liat, do you have a video for seaming? Have a cowl/hat that needs seaming at the top.
Welcome back, Sue! So glad you’re on the mend. Here is the section of the blog archive where you can find everything on seaming. You may want mattress stitch, in which case, here is the mattress stitch blog post directly. :)
Thanks Liat. The project I need to seam is a cowl/hat combo with the cowl knittend in the round and the hat portion knitted flat. The seam would be on the bind off edge. I seamed it, but it doesn’t look right. Doing the mattress stitch on the bind off edges leaves a lip look.
Can you post a new thread in the forum and link to the pattern? That will be the easiest way for me to see what seaming technique would be best. Thanks!
Liat, I looked at the three needle bindoff on your forum. it will be perfect for this project, so I will redo what I have done wrong, and use the three needle bind off. That will work perfectly!
Hooray! I’m so glad. Thanks for letting me know!
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Wow, what great clear directions! (I didn’t watch the video.) I am making teeny tiny sweaters used for gift card “packages” so have only 20 stitches for each sleeve. I was worried about using the wrong yarn strand but you’d really have to try hard to do that. I also had no problems with the yarn getting tangled even though I was working from both ends of a single skein – I just threaded the two strands through different handles of my knitting tote bag. I found I could carry both strands on the lower fingers of my left hand and then simply pull up the strand that I needed at the time onto my index/2nd finger (continental knitting style, obviously). Every once in a while I would have to untwist the stands, but only 8 rows or so.
Thanks so much!
Hooray! I’m so glad the photo tutorial helped you understand how to do this cast-on. The little gift card packages sound sooo cute! I might have to copy your idea… :)
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Thank you so much for this tutorial! I love the photo tutorial, it really helped me figure out how to do sleeves two at a time, which I thought I’d never be able to do.
You are very welcome, Sarah. Keep up the great work!
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This is a great video–very clear and easy to follow. The only thing I don’t get is why it’s okay to knit through the back loop. Won’t that make your stitches twisted?
I suppose I should break out some yarn and needles and try!
Haha it’s because I had a bad habit of twisting my stitches when I do the long-tail cast-on! I have broken that habit now, but I wasn’t even aware of it when I made this video! Sorry about that :)
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very good video and instructions! thank you! what kind of yarn do you use for socks? wool,cotton?
Thank you! I use wool or a wool/nylon blend. I like MadelineTosh and Malabrigo sock yarn. :)
I did everything and is ok until now…I just finished the heel turn and picked up all the stitces,but now I don’t know what to Elli.which needle…which sock.maybe an extra needle? Any help please!