THIS was THE reason why I could not find success with knitting in two colors on double pointed needles.  I had gone through 4-5 trials, and to no avail until something just clicked and I got it, but a little seed was planted when I saw a video on uTube that helped me make the connection.  I could never figure out how to manage the float where the needles joined at the end of the row, and my last stitch before changing needles always got stretched out.  Hopefully a picture tells a thousand words better than I can explain how I managed to solve the problem.  For in case someone out there is struggling with the same problem I wanted to provide a little tutorial with the hopes that it will help empower other knitters to overcome this little dilemna if you are struggling with the same thing.

To help keep the float at the right tension without stretching out the last stitch on the left needle in use, I try to align the needle I will switch to ‘as if’ it were part of the current needle I am holding on the left and have my left thumb hold it in place as I reach the last few stitches.  Then as I knit the last stitch, I am able to  hold the two left needles parallel to one another and this seems to prevent the last stitch from stretching while keeping the tension of the float in the back just right.  I had hoped to capture this in full motion on video in September, but the day was so hot, my fingers were not gliding because of all the moisture in my hands.  Oh, I also meant to mention, the other super thing that helped me out was when I changed to ebony needles.  They are so soft and pliable they bend quite a bit which makes everything less stiff and it feels much more natural.  Instead of making my hands conform to the needles, the needles sort of conform to my hands.  I use Sox Stix by Lantern Moon.  (Yarn by Koigu, Pattern by Nancy Bush/Estonia).