How To Join Knitting In The Round

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Are you ready to enter the world of circular knitting? It’s a fun and rewarding journey that we’ll take together. When starting your adventure with circular knitters, it can be difficult to know where to begin if you are new to this knitted project. But don’t worry! here are some tips for knitting in the round for all my fellow crochet enthusiasts who want nothing but success when working on their next big project; let me help guide you along the way as we create something magical together!

What is Knitting in the Round?

Knitting in the round is a creative way to work up tube-shaped items such as socks, hats, and sweaters. This method allows for more complex stitch patterns than knitting flat because after completing one row of stitches, you can start another without turning your project around.

There are different techniques to create circular knitting. One technique is joining the cast on stitches to form a circle you would use when creating things like socks or sleeves, but it’s also possible to knit flat pieces in circles, too if desired.

There are two types of needles you can use for knitting in the round. Circular needles are preferred because they allow thicker projects to be knitted faster and with less difficulty.

Needles for Knitting in the Round

Circular Knitting Needles

Curious about circular knitting needles? These popular tools are used for creating flat pieces of fabric by holding the stitches and joining them in a circle.

Your stitches will be even and regular with circular needles. This is because the cable allows you to make a wider scarf or blanket, so your work can lay flat on itself more easily without any twisting of the stitch pattern’s design.

There are many different lengths for cables from 4-10 inches long, depending how big of a project you have in mind!

Circular knitting needles are generally shorter than the circumference of what you’re making to make it easier to manipulate.

Double Pointed Knitting Needles

Double pointed needles are a type of knitting needle with two ends. They can be used for circular projects and have sets that contain 4-5 pairs each. Most people use 1/3 or 1/4 stitches to start the project, then join in the round later on.

The only downside to this method is that you need one needle to knit stitches from the first needle and then use that same needle to knit the stitches on the second.

When working on smaller projects, we tend to prefer double-pointed needles. However, circular ones work better for most larger ones and make it easier to create neat stitches.

Straight Needles

Knitting in the round on straight needles is of experienced knitters game. It can be scary for beginners, so perhaps avoid trying it until you’re more comfortable using circular or double-pointed needles first.

How to Knit in the Round

How to Cast on in the Round

There are two common ways in knitting to cast on stitches for a tube: the long tail and knitted methods. Each one has its benefits; we will walk through them both.

Long Tail Cast On

In the same way, it works for flat knitting, long-tail cast-on is our favorite method when using circular needles. If you’re familiar with this technique from previous projects, it will work just as well in a smaller area.

To long-tail cast on your circular needles:

Make a slip-knot, slide this knot on one needle and hold it in your right hand
Take the yarn in your left hand, with palm facing you, place the tail of the yarn over left thumb
Place the working yarn over left index finger and take the tip of right needle and place it under the yarn on thumb

Go under the yarn over index finger and move back through the loop on your thumb
The stitch should now be complete and you can let it go onto right needle and tighten it.
Repeat this until you have the required number of stitches on the cable.

Here’s a helpful video tutorial to help you understand how this is done:

Knitted Cast On

If you are a beginner, we highly recommend the long tail cast on. It is easier and works for almost all knitting types. If you want to learn another method though check out this video:

How to Join knitting in the Round

There are a variety of ways to join knitting in the round.

Before you start, your cast-on stitches must have no twisting as this will impact how they look on needles later. If there is any visible twist then take them out and begin again! When ready to continue onto another circular needle, follow these steps:

Hold the needle with the working yarn in right hand, the other needle in left hand.
Bring the needles’ tips together, and insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle.

Make a knit stitch with working yarn.
Place stitch marker and continue knitting the next stitch until you reach the stitch marker.
Then, move the stitch marker from left needle to right needle, this will let you know you have finished one round.

The stitch marker is helpful for counting rounds. It’s important to keep track of how many you’ve done so far, because other methods might be more comfortable than the one described here. Experiment with some of these different techniques until finding your preference!

How Do You Join Knitting in the Round Without a Gap?

Fix your loose stitches and increase the longevity of your projects with this quick trick.

To avoid a gap, you can cast on an additional stitch before knitting. When slipping your first stitch onto the left needle, take that extra yarn and slip it over your first slipped stitch. Then put this loop back onto the right needle with all of your other stitches; pull these two pieces tightly together until they cannot be seen anymore to close up any gaps in between each knit or purl row (McGowan).

This will give you a gapless join that looks seamless. Check out this video for more info on this seamless join:

How to Bind Off in the Round

You can bind off using circular needles by following a similar process as you would on straight needles.

To bind off:

Knit two stitches off your left-handed needle to your right-handed needle.
Start the bind off: take the first stitch with the left needle tip (furthest on the right) and pull it over the second stitch.

Hold the right stitch over the left stitch and take it off the needle. You will now have one stitch remaining on the right needle.
Knit another stitch onto the right needle
Repeat the process: pull the stitch on the right over the left stitch and take it off the needle

Knit another stitch and repeat this process until you get the last stitch. At this point, cut your yarn and pull through the loop.

The above steps should give you a neat bind off when done correctly.

Conclusion

Circular knitting is very similar to flat knitting. While there are differences, they can be overcome by any beginner knitter.

Don’t worry if you want to make something circular but aren’t sure how yet or what the best approach would look like! Start with a simple pattern and begin your journey into this exciting type of knitwear today!

Follow the tips and guidelines we have covered here. We hope you found this guide helpful!