Socks on Circulars Book Review

Cat Bordhi's Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles
vs.
Mary Ann Beattie (Queen Kahuna) Crazy Toes & Heels Socks

Hands down the better book for learning how to knit 2 socks on 2 circulars is Crazy Toes and Heels Socks. This is the best $25.00 I've spent on a knitting book thus far. It's a colorful computer printed spiral bound manual. The entire book is in color and jam packed with illustrations.

My only tiny peeve is that the sock yarn is variegated and makes for busy sock illustrations.
Here's Queen Kahuna's freebie PDF file on her "Aloha Easy Toe Cast-On." This is a perfect example of the detail that she provides throughout her entire book.

For those of you that are very detail oriented, you'll love this book. I tend to jump around and skim a book first before I get into the meat of it, but if you've never knit 2 socks on 2 circulars before, this is the book for you. You learn step by step every aspect of knitting a sock; everything from selecting your materials (needles, yarn, accessories) to the anatomy of a sock, how to keep your socks yarns from tangling, how to cast on, etc. The chapters are orderly and follow the natural sock knitting process.

The main reason I purchased this book was for the "AfterThought Heel" and the fact that she teaches you to do Toe Up and Cuff down socks. She teaches you different types of heels and toes, so you're not just stuck with the good ole slipstitch heel.

Some might find that this book is too detailed because of the amount of information that is provided and the amount of reading that is required, but if you break it down into chunks and read a chapter at a time, it's less daunting.

Conversly, I returned Socks Soar on Two Circulars to KnitPicks yesterday. I found this book to be...well, kinda frumpy. It's a skinny black and white staple bound manual that is light on technique and heavy on frumpy outdated sock patterns. Compared to my Crazy Toes and Heels book this one had to go back.