Well, I’ll swan. That was a favorite saying of my Granny, used to express surprise or amazement. I have no idea of the origins of the saying, but she was from south central Missouri and I don’t think I’ve heard the saying anywhere else. But it came back to me this week when I thought, "Well, I’ll swan. You can teach an old dog new tricks." I have made several attempts to knit socks on two circs, but every time have given up after about 4 rows. I just hate all those ends flopping around. On her blog Wendy mentioned that she used KnitPicks 16" circulars. Hmmm – might work. So I ordered a pair of size 0’s for my I Love Gansey socks and well, I’ll swan. They work. The cable is flexible enough and the ends long enough not to hurt my hands. And without those ends flopping around, I find it’s not too annoying. I’m finding this method quite helpful with the complicated pattern:
Will this become my preferred method? Too soon to tell, but I’ll be ordering a pair of size 1’s in the near future.
For anyone coming here from Marguerite’s blog for the amazing details of our road construction, here’s an update. We had been informed that Washington State Department of Transportation (affectionately known around here as "washdot") was going to lower the road at the end of our driveway by 8 feet and close down our driveway at least twice for 24 hours at a time. We did learn that they are only lowering our road 3 feet, but they are lowering it 8 feet about 100 yards down from us. That part is just about done. And after a lot of input (read whining and crying) they have revamped their plans and have informed us that they will try to keep the closure of our driveway down to less than 8 hours at a time. Most other streets exiting onto the highway in the construction area have other back exits, but our driveway does not. Why are they doing it? Because it’s there. They tell us it’s to lower two hills and increase the sight distance for safety. But in the 20+ years we’ve lived in this location, there has never been a fatality accident and very few of any kind. So, anyway – for your edification, here’s the beginnings of the 3 foot ditch:
We’ve been told digging will begin in earnest Sunday night. I’ll be out there taking pictures to keep you posted.
missouristar 
I was tempted to re-try the 2 circ method but I hate using 16″ circs cause they make my hands cramp. Are the KP really much better?
So glad you tried circulars for socks. I like that method for certain patterns. I did read about your construction woes on Marguerite’s blog. What a pain for both of you. Sometimes WyDot confuses us, too. And the Wisconsin DOT was just a total question mark most of the time. Knitting will keep you sane, I hope. Good luck.
Your road (minus the trench) is so pretty the way it is!
Now we have one more thing in common – completely incomprehesible road projects going on in front of our house.
At least for ours it makes a bit of sense to pave an unpaved road even though none of the residents want it paved.
How far back is your house? Is your driveway going to become a ski ramp? Or maybe you don’t have that much snow?
Got so interested in your road picture I almost forgot to admire your sock. It looks great. I’m knitting it on 24 inch #1 Addi Turbo circulars and wishing I had Options with the sharper points for that cable.
I’m not a very experienced sock knitter, and I feel as if I surmounted a huge hurdle when I figure out how to do them on DPNs. But I’ve been intrigued by the knitters who swear by the method of using two circular needles because it would eliminate any chance of ladders (and, I guess, keep stitches from falling off the ends of DPNs–is this true?). I read Wendy’s post also, but I’ve yet to start any sock knitting this year. I’ll be interested in your experience.
What a pain that must be having that road work outside your driveway. I hope it goes quickly.
I missed you! I can empathise, we have major road work going on all around us. Our street was done last year, but now all the roads are a real mess! ugh…
I never heard “I’ll swan” but it sounds like a version of “I swear”. (Googling just backed this up.) The road work project must make you feel like you’re back in RI. đŸ˜‰
Hey, my granny used to say “I’ll swan” too. That was the extent of her swearing. It may not really be swearing, but the intent was there. Good luck with the stupid road construction. Makes my pothole complaints sound really lame.