Skill Builder: Round and Round

Ann and Kay’s Skill Set: Beginning Knitting is a tidy little book—a perfect set of nine lessons to get a new knitter started with confidence.

And there’s the Skill Set Box of Joy, a complete kit designed to provide all the materials that are referenced in Skill Set.

At some point in your knitting journey, you’ll want to knit a tube, like a sweater body or a sock leg.

There are two kinds of knitting in the round. Although closely related, the two types require different tools and somewhat different methods.

Some things we knit in the round are big, like sweaters; some things we knit are small, like mittens and socks.

Big Things

Sweaters, adult-size hats, cowls are all big enough to fit comfortably on a standard circular needle, and be worked with the “usual” method for working in the round. There isn’t really a distinct term for this; to disambiguate, I refer to this as “full circumference” or “full needle” knitting in the round.

The needles we use for this type of knitting are marked with two measurements—the usual needle size, of course, but also the length, measured from tip to tip.

Individual (often referred to as “fixed”) circular needles are typically offered in the following lengths: 16″ (40 cm), 20″ (50 cm), 24″ (60 cm), 32″ (80 cm), 40″ (100 cm).

If you have a set of interchangeable needles, you can usually build needles with lengths in those ranges, but they might not match exactly. For example, I have a set that makes a bunch of slightly non-standard sizes, including 30″ (75 cm) and 36″ (90 cm).

What length of needle you use for this type of knitting depends on the circumference of the piece you’re knitting. The needle needs to be at least a little shorter.

For example, if you’re working on a cowl that’s going to be about 40″ (100 cm) around, you’ll be able to comfortably knit that on a 32″ (80 cm) circular needle. Although you can easily find a 40″ (100 cm) long needles, you’d find it challenging to knit; the stitches will be a bit too stretched out and difficult to move around.

There’s usually a range of needle sizes that will work for a project. For example, for that 40″ cowl, you can likely work very comfortably on a 24-32″ inch (60-80 cm) long needle.

Small Things

It’s different when the knitting is too small to fit on any of those needles. For example, an adult hat fits very nicely on a 16″ (40 cm) long circular, but you run into trouble when you start the decreases for the crown. If making a top-down sleeve, things might get dicey as you head towards the cuff.

Some manufacturers make shorter circular needles: 12″ (30 cm) and even 8-9″ (20-23 cm) long ones. To make the needles of these lengths, the needle tips themselves have to be pretty darn short. Although many love them, some knitters find that they’re uncomfortable to hold and knit with—I’m in this category myself!

If they work well for you, then this means you can use them to make (most of) a kid-sized hat, and on the tiniest, you can work most of a sock or a mitten (toes and thumbs still won’t fit though!)

Then what if the thing we’re working on is too small to fill the shortest (or at least your personal preferred shortest) circular needle? For many knitters, socks and mittens fit into this category; mitten thumbs, sock toes, and hat crowns definitely do.

You then need a different way to work in the round.

It gets a little confusing here because there are multiple ways to do this.

You can use traditional double-pointed needles, which comes in sets of four or five. Some DPN-enthusiasts distribute their stitches across three needles and use a fourth to knit with; others distribute their stitches across four needles and use a fifth to knit with.

You occasionally see sets of six needles. These are typically the wooden or bamboo ones, and you have extra(s) in case of breakage.

A relatively new product on the market are flexible double-pointed needles. These come in sets of three.

You can also use a longer circular needle (typically 32″ (80 cm) and sometimes 40″ (100 cm) but no shorter!) with a very flexible cord; this way of working is called “magic loop.”  

Or you can use two shorter—typically 16″ (40 cm)—circular needles; this method of working is called, perhaps not surprisingly, “two circulars.”

For all of these, the end result is the same! Which you use is entirely a matter of personal preference. Don’t let anyone tell you one is better than another—what works best for you is all about how you hold your needles and your work.

Now that you’ve picked your needles, it’s time to join without twisting and start knitting.

Fortunately, there’s a few columns in our back catalogue to help you out.

For tips on joining and working in the round, click here.

I’ve also written an explainer on ladders: what they are and how to avoid them.

Looking for even more about knitting techniques? Modern Daily Knitting is full of tips and tidbits.