How to Knit in the Round on Circular Needles in 5 Easy Steps
Today, we are going to fall in love with our Circular Needles. In just five easy steps, you can start knitting in the round like a pro!
Knitting on circular needles is essentially just your two knitting needles and instead of them being separate. You keep knitting around and around rather than going back and forth like you’re used to doing with just your straight knitting needles.
You can knit hats with just straight knitting needles, but to make them quickly, I prefer using circular needles!
KNITTING TECHNIQUES to Knit on Circular Needles
• Slip Knot
• Cast On – Long-Tail Method
• Knit
HOW TO KNIT IN THE ROUND ON CIRCULAR NEEDLES IN 5 EASY STEPS
Step 1 – Cast On Stitches Onto Circular Needle.
The cast on is similar to how we cast on on our regular straight needles. And if you’d like to see a complete tutorial on casting on, this is the long-tail method. So, just on the right needle, we are going to cast on the number of stitches that your pattern requires. And when you’re done, then your stitches will go all the way around your circular needle.
Step 2 – Be Careful Not to Twist Your Stitches.
What does that mean? Well, after casting on, the stitches might wrap around in a twist. So, you need to make sure before you do your first round of knitting that all of your stitches are straight. So, that means that the edge of your knitting is in the middle of your circle.
Step 3 – Join the Yarn.
This is often called Joining in the Round. I’m going to put a stitch marker on, I just like to use a bit of yarn for my stitch marker and since I am a right-hand knitter, I am going to take both the tail and my yarn for my first stitch and go ahead and just knit it through. That just helps me feel like it’s a little bit more secure in joining in the round.
And once you’ve done that, you can let go of that yarn tail, and take your one strand of yarn, and continue knitting around and around. Pretty simple stuff!
Step 4 – Knit and Scootch.
As we’re knitting in the round, on your right side you have to “scootch” your stitches down the needle, because they begin to bunch up. To continue knitting, you need to scootch your stitches on the left up the needle.
Step 5 – Weave in the Yarn Tail.
Instead of having to weave in our yarn end, here on the edge of our knitting, we are going to go ahead and on the second round of knitting take both the yarn tail and your yarn, after moving your stitch marker, and knit them together right like this, knit it nice and tight, and what I like to do is I like to knit three stitches with both the yarn tail and my yarn together.
This way, I don’t have to weave in that yarn tail when I’m done knitting. It is ready to cut off any time. We can even do it right now, and it will hold right in there in those stitches that we just knit.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING STUDIO KNIT
I hope you are inspired to try knitting in the round on circular needles in your next knitting project.
