How to Knit in the Round

When I started knitting I didn’t really get it. Same with crochet. With both of these crafts it finally clicked when I started in the round. It seems to flow much easier and I seem to find it less awkward to keep track of where I am in a pattern. I’m sure there are a lot of people who would much rather knit straight but given the choice, I’ll usually pick something knitted in the round.

There are a few methods of doing this, which I’ll lay out here. I am not comfortable enough with some of the methods to be able to instruct from scratch, so I’ll provide you with the links and resources to learn as quickly as I did.

Double Pointed Needles

These are needles that do not have the stopper at one end. They’re pointed on both sides – hence the name – and they’re usually quite a bit shorter than regular straight needles. They’re used a lot in knitting socks.

This is my preferred method for knitting socks and mittens/gloves. It looks a bit fiddly but once you realise you’re only ever knitting on two of the needles, it becomes much easier. The only problem is trying to avoid the obvious line through the bits where the needles switch, something I haven’t quite got the hang of yet. I learned through YouTube videos such as this one, though if you search for ‘knitting on double pointed needles’ a lot of tips and tutorials come up.

The most important thing with knitting on DPNs is that you don’t get the first stitches twisted. If you do, your sock is going to look more than a little strange and will be rather unwearable!

Circular Needles

These are needles specifically designed for knitting in the round; they’re generally used for larger projects than socks etc. They’re two straight needles attached to a flexible cord which comes in a variety of lengths.

I recently used a 16″ circular to knit my mum a hat, shown in the previous post. I also used the same needle to knit myself a headband using an offcentre rib stitch which I’m sure has a name but I have no idea what that would be! It was entirely improvised. Knitting on circulars is quite useful because you can slip the project down onto the cord when transporting. I’ve never had anything fall of circular needles, unlike DPNs; I have also used circular needles to knit straight just for the portability factor.

Have a look at this tutorial or this video. It’s quite a simple process, possibly the simplest of methods knitting in the round. All you need to bear in mind is picking the right size!

Magic Loop Knitting

This is the newest method for me. It’s where you use one long-cabled circular needle and knit small projects in the round – for example, I’m using this to knit mittens. You split the stitches down the middle with the cable. It’s very clever. I understand a lot of people prefer this to knitting with DPNs.

I only tried it a couple of days ago and for some reason I’d expected it to be a lot more difficult. It wasn’t – it was easy peasy! Me and a friend were watching TV so I didn’t want to watch a video on youtube which is my usual method of learning a tricky new skill in knitting. Turns out I didn’t need to: this tutorial from KnitPicks was more than enough.

It may look complicated and confusing but I promise it’s not. I’m not sure I’m completely sold on it; I still prefer knitting on DPNs but that’s a personal preference. The best thing about knitting is that there are so many ways to achieve the same or similar effects and it’s fun to try each of them out when you’re learning to know your own preferences.

So how do you do it?

What have I been knitting (& crocheting)?

Escapism Mitts

Pattern: Sojourn Mitts (Ravelry)

Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt’s Alpaca/Silk

Started: November 9th 2011

Finished: November 14th 2011

I started these mitts when my lovely best friend sent me a skein of this gorgeous yarn. I couldn’t help myself from casting on even though it’s almost Christmas and I have lots of gifts to knit. It was also a bit of a difficult time emotionally, hence the title ‘escapism’: it distracted me from the lovely imbalance of hormones in my head thanks to my medication. I wear these all the time. Dad even said they look professional, which is sweet even if inaccurate. There are plenty of mistakes but that’s what makes them not mass-produced. I would recommend this pattern to anyone.

Motherbot Hat

Pattern: Sockhead Hat

Yarn: Some random purple variegated sock yarn

Started: 1st December 2011

Finished: 5th December 2011

A christmas present for my mum. I was going to knit her socks, but then she asked for a hat. I’d already bought this yarn (I lost the label, hence unable to tell you the brand) so I found a pattern that fit the weight. This is a slouchy pattern but my mum has quite a small head so I decided to reduce the pattern quite a lot. She really liked it. We’re not so much with the waiting to give presents in my family…

Beretion

Pattern: The Columbia Beret (Ravelry)

Yarn: BC Garn Baby Alpaca

Started: About a year ago

Finished: November 2011

It’s not that I took months to make this relatively simple design. It’s that I had real trouble picking something suitable for the lovely soft yarn. It’s laceweight, which I equally adore and fear, since it seems somewhat harder to make into a finished object. This beret is quite appropriate since Jen wears one frequently. I’m assured she likes it. 🙂

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I know all of these pictures are dubious in quality. Unfortunately at the moment I only have an iPhone to take photos with and soon I won’t even have that – I’m giving it to my mum when I go to Canada in a week. However I know I’ve got a camera somewhere. Just gotta find it!

30 Days of Knitting (part cinq)

21: Do you knit gifts for friends and family for the holidays or birthdays?

I do. In fact, that takes up most of my knitting time.

It’s a pretty stressful endeavour and I can see why a lot of knitters don’t do it – there’s a whole group for ‘selfish knitters’ on Ravelry, for example. Knitting for someone you like or love means you have to make something that looks perfect, or near enough. Knitting for someone else means hours and hours of work without any guarantee that the person will like that piece of soul you’re giving them. So basically I don’t knit for anyone unless it’s my choice to do so; if someone asks, I’m likely to say no.

I suppose that makes me a bit of a selfish knitter but for the people who ask for knitted socks like I can chuck them out in an hour really need to think about how much care and work goes into something handmade!

22: Have you ever stricken someone off your to-knit-for list because they didn’t appreciate/take care of your last knitted gift to them?

No, not exactly. But there are people I pre-emptively won’t knit for. See above.

23: If you had the supplies (and patience) for it, what project would you start today?

Click pic for Ravelry pattern...

This is the Iona dress which I think is absolutely beautiful. It’s elegant and would take just about forever to knit but I really want to do it. One day, man. One day.

Aside from that I would really love to knit a jumper (sweater for you American folks) made entirely of malabrigo. It would be so squishy and I would be the cuddliest person in the whole wide world. Why yes, I do love malabrigo just a little too much.

24: Have you ever made your own pattern or dyed your own yarn? How did it turn out?

I haven’t done either – yet. I have plans to do both. Watch this space.

25: Do you have a knitting book or a place where you keep patterns, ideas, size measurements? Post a picture of it!

Um. Ever heard of Ravelry?

Seriously though. I have a lot of knitting books but I don’t use them much at all. I have only used one paper pattern the whole time I’ve been knitting. 99% of my patterns come from Ravelry and that’s where I’ve spent most of my knitting life, too, honing my skills by reading about other people’s troubles and interests. I love that website. It took me a while to get used to it but it’s much easier to carry around than a folder full of patterns and such!

That said, in case of apocalypse I really need to set up a folder of patterns and suchlike one day. A real life paper-based folder. Radical, I know.

Click for source

When the world looks like that, I wanna be able to barter my way into the new flourishing trade economy with my mad skillz. Which, by the way, is why I intend to learn to spin my own yarn in the new year. No one can accuse me of not thinking ahead!

30 Days of Knitting

Nanowrimo ate my life in November, along with less pleasant events. Still, December has come and I’ve decided to do a meme I’ve seen floating around. Happily I shall be in Canada very soon (at last!) so I’m not doing it daily; I’ll do five a day.

1: What was your first finished project?

The first thing I knitted was a blue scarf intended to be for my girlfriend but instead ended up being part of mine and Sophie’s yarnbombing escapades over a year later.

It didn’t stay up on that lamppost for long, alas, but I think me and Sophie were pretty proud of it anyway. Straight after knitting that I turned my attention to crochet and ignored knitting for months and months until relatively recently.

2: What is currently on your needles?

Ha! What isn’t?

I’m the kind of knitter, I have discovered, who casts on everything that looks fun at once. However with Christmas coming up soon I’ve had to curtail that instinct and am banning myself from knitting anything that is not intended as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately I didn’t add the clause in that a gift to myself didn’t count which ended in some rather lovely alpaca/silk-blend fingerless gloves in a beautiful jade colour.

They’re no longer on the needles though. What I am knitting now is a Sockhead Hat for my mum in some purple variegated sock yarn; Long Night’s Journey Into Day, a lovely pair of warm cushy bedsocks in hot pink malabrigo for my little sister; some Sox in King Cole yarn (purple) for my girlfriend – almost finished except for the toe of one; and another pair of socks for the girlfriend from this gorgeous yarn from Tosh Yarns in the colourway Fjord. I’d link a pattern but though I’m currently a few inches into Hedgerow Socks I’m thinking of switching since it’s wrong for the yarn. (All links to Ravelry.)

3: Do you have any other WIPs (works in progress)?

Yes, lots. I cast on all the time. I don’t keep track of them very well, though; I tend to stumble across things I’m knitting when I’ve forgotten I even had the yarn. I am close to finishing a beautiful shrug made from some Mithril Yarn by Sanguine Gryphon though. Just some seaming left to do.

4: How did you learn how to knit?

Weymouth Stitch ‘n’ Bitch! When Sophie – see above – decided to start it up, I went along despite having no experience and no urge to get involved in knitting or suchlike because Sophie is awesome and it sounded interesting enough. I picked up the needles there and could not get the hang of the knitting malarky, though I had a very distracted teacher! In the end I learnt primarily googling “how to knit” and magically ending up on youtube, although then I moved straight on to crochet which seemed much more intuitive and calming to me.

5: How long did it take from the time you learned how to knit, to finish your first project?

The scarf above took about three weeks from first casting on.

I’ll be continuing this meme tomorrow, though it’s passed midnight while I’ve been writing this so technically I’ll continue today! I shall not neglect you again, blog-readers. I shall make plans next November so it’s not abandoned.