knitting socks

[Marjie]

I am knitting socks for the first time. Directions said to cast on 56 stitched and divide them among four needles (14 on each). How do I do that?

Thanks!

[salmonmac]

They're thinking of using double pointed needles so you would knit 14 sts onto needle one, then knit the next 14sts onto needle two and so on. You don't have to use dpns however, you can use magic loop to make the socks if you use a circular needle with a long cable.

[Jan in CA]

You can also use 2 circulars of the same size.

I know from experience that the problem you'll have with being a new sock knitter is that if you switch methods the instructions might be confusing. Like the pattern will talk about doing something on needle 3, but if you don't have a needle 3 you might be confused. It's not impossible, but you'll need to use markers ever 14 stitches so you can know which section is which. This helps a lot, but if you need to put markers for any part of the pattern itself use a diff color or type.