craftgrrl | Soles for knitted things? (Reply)

I bought a pattern for Prairie Boots and Pleated Flats from cocoknits.

First off.. the pattern is confusing. I've never knit with two circular needles at once. Can someone explain that to me?

Rnd 1 — pick up sts from around the edges of sole:
Beginning with center of heel (the cast-on edge) pick up and knit 2 sts from heel, 37
(39, 41, 43, 45) sts from edge of sole (one for each ridge) and 3 sts from held toe
sts ending at center of toe. (42, 44, 46, 48, 50 sts on 1st circ needle.)

Continuing with the other circ needle, k3 rem toe sts, pick up and k 37 (39, 41, 43,
45)sts along remaining side, k2 sts at heel, ending at center heel. (42, 44, 46, 48, 50
sts on 2nd circ needle.) The beginning of the round is at the center heel. Ballet flat
uppers are worked in the round on two circ needles using St st.

Could I just use double pointed needles? Am I knitting each side seperatly. I read it over and over and just didn't understand :/.

Second, is there any way to put a sole on knitted shoes so they won't damage. I've heard that eventually wool shoes will felt themselves, but it just seems like they'd look a little jacked up, ya know? I've about heard sewing leather patches to the bottoms. Has anyone done this before? I wanted to know if it'd be sturdy enough.