How to Knit With Circular Needles

Circular knitting needles can save you a lot of time and frustration when working on a knitting project. They allow knitters to move quickly through rows, eliminate most finishing work and keep needles from sliding out of place. Knitting with circular needles for the first time can be daunting, especially when you are used to using two separate knitting needles. It just takes a little practice and a few easy steps.

Things You'll Need

• Circular knitting needles
• Ball of yarn

Instructions

1. Cast on stitches as you would using two separate knitting needles.

2. Holding the yarn from the ball in your right hand. Loop it over the index finger, under the second finger, over the ring finger and under the little finger.

3. Pick up the other end of the circular knitting needles using your right hand.

4. Insert the right-hand needle through the first loop on the left-hand needle, front to back.

5. Wrap the yarn in the right hand around the tip of the right-hand needle.

6. Pull the new loop on the right-hand needle through the old left-hand needle loop to the front of the work.

7. Pop the old loop off of the left-hand needle.

8. Repeat the above steps until the entire row has been knitted.

Tips & Warnings

• Place new nylon circular knitting needles in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes to relax the curl that comes from the packaging.

• Circular knitting needles usually do not have sizes marked on them like traditional knitting needles. Use a size checker before starting a new project.

• Often it’s easy to lose stitch count when using circular knitting needles. Stop and measure your work often to avoid getting off track.