I used "double knitting" (creating a tube of fabric using 2 straight needles) for this little "pan handler" pattern (http://www.frugalhaus.com/scripts/panhndl.asp) from Frugal Haus.

I'm sort of fascinating by the idea of double knitting now.

I'm curious - why isn't it used more? I would think it would work great for ... cell phone cozies, chapstick holders, that sort of thing - instead of having to use DPN's.

So why isn't it used more - is there a disadvantage that I'm unaware of?

Does anyone know where I can get more info on double knitting? Not patterns... but how it works and how to do different things.

One last question... the instructions for the Frugal Haus pattern above that I did require dpn's for the bind off. So you knit on two straight needles, then have to switch to dpn's for the bind off. Is there a way to avoid using the dpn's? :??

Would love to know more, if there are any double knitting aficionados out there! :)

The problem with doubleknitting is that it just takes sooooo long. I made a purse for my neice that was doubleknit, a doubleknit checkerboard, and various other small items, just playing around with the concept of it. If you stick to small stuff, no problem, but anything big is just a PITA. IMHO, anyway.
Plus, it's pretty hard to do increasing and decreasing in any meaningful way. If you're just making a tube, no problem, but I tried to do a sock in dk.... it's doable, but it's not easy.
Here's (http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_3595376,00.html)a neat pattern that adds a little colorwork to double knitting, and here's (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/PATThoover.html)a nice baby blanket...

You can skip the dpns for your circular bind off. Just use a cable needle...
Knit your first st -
sl the next st to your cable needle-
knit the next st, and pass the first stitch that you knit over the second one.
Now, what I did was to put the bound off st back on the left needle, place the st on the cable needle on the right hand needle,
put the bound off stitch back onto the right needle, knit the next knit st, etc etc.
It sounds complex, but works pretty well, and is easy to understand once you start. You end up with the right hand needle full of slipped stitches (the back side) waiting to be bound off... just turn your work and continue binding off. Hope this helps!!!

Oh, and here's a page (http://knitting.about.com/library/bldkhowto.htm)with links to how-to's and etc....