Knitting With Circular Needles

Circular needles are an excellent option for many knitting projects. They work well for knitting flat or in the round, and can be easier on the hands for large projects. Circular knitting needles come in a wide variety of sizes and can be used in a number of different ways. Learning to use circulars can expand your knitting skills and allow you to reduce the amount of seaming and finishing required.

Things You'll Need

• Circular knitting needles in the size required Yarn

Instructions

1. Choose the right size knitting needles. While straight and double pointed needles can be used regardless of length, this is not true for circulars. Length is less of a concern for flat knitting on your circular needle, but is quite important if you will be knitting in the round. Typically, a hat knitted in the round requires a 16-inch needle, whereas a sweater may use a 27-inch or 36-inch circular. You should also choose the material you prefer for your circular needles. Wood, bamboo, plastic and metal circular needles are all available. Many knitters prefer different materials for specific yarns or projects.

2. Gauge swatch your knitting. Many knitters do find that their gauge is a bit different on a circular needle versus a straight or double points, especially when knitting in the round. Depending upon the importance of size in your finished project, you may even want to gauge in the round.

3. Read your pattern carefully. The first confusing pattern notation many knitters new to knitting in the round notice is the "join round" direction. Always make sure that your cast on stitches are flat and untwisted before joining your round. You can join simply by working directly into the first stitch cast on from the last. You may want to place a marker at the beginning of each round to keep your place. This does produce a slight jog in your knitting and may produce a loose first stitch. There are a number of tricks to avoid this; however, many projects will never show this join.

4. Begin knitting as the pattern indicates. When knitting in the round, if you knit all stitches, you will produce stockinette stitch without purling. Garter stitch requires that you knit a row, then purl a row. If you wish to create a reverse stockinette appearance on the right side of your knit fabric when knitting with a circular needle, purl every row. Increases and decreases are done just as they would be in flat knitting and short rows can be worked on a circular needle.

5. Try circular knitting needles for other knitting techniques as well. Some knitters prefer to use a very long circular knitting needle to knit small diameter items, like socks. This technique, called magic looping, is quite simple requiring only that you pull a loop of your needle cord through your knitting. You can also work small diameter items in the round by using two shorter circular needles. Work half the stitches on one needle and the other half on the other needle. These techniques can allow you to own fewer knitting needles and may be more appealing for some knitters than working with double point needles.

Tips & Warnings

• Interchangeable circular needles are a great choice for knitters who want a wide variety of needles.

• Watch for twists in your knitting. If you are carrying your knitting on circulars, consider using needle tips to prevent dropped stitches.