Cathy's method for making knitted knockers with a 3-way magic loop technique
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Materials:
* Approx. half of one 50g ball of KnitPicks Shine Sport yarn
* US size 4 circular needle, 47"
* Half a dozen stitch markers, including one toggle marker
* Tapestry needle
* 15" of crochet thread in a contrasting color
* poly-fill fiber for stuffing (optional)

Setup:
 1. Cast on 3 sts using any method you like, leaving a tail about 3-5" long.
 2. Slide the sts to the other end of the circular needle (as if for i-cord).
 3. Hold the needle end with the sts in your left hand, and the empty end in
    your right hand.  Twist the right one clockwise so the cable is coiled
    like a loose horizontal spring.  It should run from the left needle down
    and toward you, then up in front, down in back, up in front, and over to
    the right needle.  At this point the number of coils is not critical, but
    later as you work, you'll be dropping coils on the left side and adding
    them on the right to keep the number at three.

Round 1:
  4. Knit into the front and back of the first cast-on st, then pull it off
     the left needle.
  5. Push the right needle away from you through the new sts on it, so they
     slide onto the cable.  Pull the now-empty right needle out to the back
     a bit to give yourself some cable; then coil it down in back, up in front,
     and into position to resume knitting.
  6. Repeat step 4 with the second cast-on st.
  7. Repeat step 5.
  8. Repeat step 4 with the third cast-on st.

Cable shift:
  9. Drop the now-empty left needle, letting it uncoil.  Locate the set of
     sts nearest to it, and push the cable through them until they slide onto
     the left needle.
 10. You should now have two loops of cable hanging down from your work: a
     large one on the left and a smaller one on the right.  And you have three
     "sections" of sts (analogous to "needles" when using dpns): one section
     currently on the left needle, one on the right needle, and a third
     section in the center, sitting on the cable between the two loops.
 11. Make the left loop smaller by pushing the cable through the center
     section of sts; this will make the right loop larger.
 12. Repeat step 5 to empty the right needle.  You should now have three
     neatly coiled loops and be ready to proceed with knitting the next
     section of sts on the left needle.

Round 2:
 13. k1, yo, k1
 14. Shift the cable as described above.
 15. Repeat steps 13-14 on the second section.
 16. Repeat steps 13-14 on the third section.

Round 3:
 17. Knit to the last two st in the section (e.g. for round 3 this means k1).
 18. In the first section only, place a distinctive marker to identify it.
 19. The next st should be a yo from the previous round.  To avoid a hole,
     twist it before knitting as follows: slip it to the right needle knitwise,
     return it to the left needle, and then knit it through the left (i.e.,
     front) leg.
 20. yo to make the increase for this round.
 21. Knit the last st.
 22. Shift the cable.
 23. Repeat steps 17 and 19-22 on the second section.
 24. Repeat steps 17 and 19-22 on the third section.

Rounds 4+:
 25. Work similar to round 3, slipping the marker whenever you come to it.
     Count the sts periodically to ensure you haven't forgotten any increases
     (placing additional markers can help to avoid re-counting the same sts
     over and over).  Eventually the cable will tend to form a three-leaf
     clover shape with loops at the corners of the triangular knocker, instead
     of a coiled spring -- that is fine.
 26. Continue until you have the following number of sts in each section (these
     are 2 sts fewer than the counts suggested by KnittedKnockers.org):
       Size A: 26   B: 28   C: 32   D: 34   E: 36

Edge:
 27. Purl around, shifting the cable between sections as usual, and making
     sure to twist the yos as in step 19 before purling through the left
     (front) leg.  Do not make any new yos.
 28. Purl around again, while placing the round gold ring of the toggle marker
     about 1/3 of the way in from the beginning of the third section.

Back, rnd A (toggle marker is round gold):
 29. Knit to the last two st in the first section, then k2tog and shift the
     cable.
 30. Repeat step 29 on the second section.
 31. Repeat step 29 on the third section.  When you reach the toggle marker,
     slip it by picking up the opposite ring (square silver instead of round
     gold).

Back, rnd B (toggle marker is square silver):
 32. ssk, then knit to the last two st in the first section, k2tog, and shift
     the cable.
 33. Repeat step 32 on the second section.
 34. Repeat step 32 on the third section.  When you reach the toggle marker,
     slip it by picking up the opposite ring (round gold instead of square
     silver).

Finishing:
 35. Alternate rnds A and B until you have 4 sts left in each section (for some
     sizes, this may require working rnd A twice in a row at the very end).
 36. Cut the yarn leaving a 10" tail, and thread it onto a tapestry needle.
 37. Cut the crochet thread into three 5" pieces, and tie them into small loops
     (to serve as handles for the recipient to loosen the drawstring later).
 38. Pass the tapestry needle through one of the thread loops, and then through
     all of the sts on your left needle.
 39. Withdraw the left needle, and shift the cable.
 40. Repeat steps 38-39 two more times, so that all sts are transferred from
     the circ to the drawstring, and remove the tapestry needle.
 41. (Optional) Stuff with poly-fill, over-filling so the recipient has plenty
     of stuffing to work with for making adjustments.
 42. Do not tighten drawstring completely; just tuck the yarn ends and thread
     loops inside the hole.

Jan. 12, 2017