Circulars Take the Round
Tuesday July 22, 2008
Knitting in the round with two circulars. (c) Sarah E. White.All the same, I'm not wild about double-pointed needles. Sometimes the ones I have are too short for what I need to do, or I don't have them in large enough sizes for, say, a hat knit in bulky yarn.
That's why I love knitting in the round with two circular needles. Once you look at the pictures you'll see this is really easy to do and can make your work a little easier to deal with. I used this technique on a fingerless gloves pattern knit with Rowan Big Wool, but you can use the technique on any project that calls for double-pointed needles.
Do you prefer working with two circulars or double-pointed needles? I'd love to hear your reasons.
Comments
I do NOT like circular needles, though I do use them on occasion. I much prefer double-pointed needles. And… I must be strange… but I don’t mind stitching up a seam when a project is finished; I much prefer it to knitting “in the round.” Of course, I DO NOT knit socks (and never could see any reason to do so). Oh well, that’s what makes knitting so fun… there’s something for everyone!
I’m another fan of the double-pointed needles, but it seems like the majority of people like the circular ones. I only tried circular needles once or twice, but it felt like it was in my way and kept annoying me.
The double pointed needles looked much scarier, and took me a few minutes to learn how to make sure they don’t twist, but they didn’t take long to feel natural to me.
I LOVE knitting in the round. I like knitting sweaters because they are large enough to use a circular needle, but on small projects I always use double points. I agree with Amy that it took a bit to get used to them, but I really do enjoy the continuous knitting, even on small projects.
I enjoy my circular needles. I also like my double-pointed needles. I don’t have enough fine circular needles to try doing socks with that method, so I can’t say how I’d enjoy it, although I worry that my stitches might be too crowded for me to maintain a workable tension.
If you want longer dp’s, take a pair of wooden or bamboo needles the length you want them, cut the knob off and sharpen that end with a pencil sharpener, sand them and wax the point. It worked for me with a hat, before I learned to use the magic loop.
I LOVE circular needles and using two in place of double pointed needles which I do NOT like. I have never been able to master holding double pionts. I DO like not having to sew seams !!!
I love knitting in the round on both DPN’s & circs. I don’t own any straight needles. But I find knitting on 2 circs a bit fiddly. I much prefer knitting in the round on one long (47″ or 60″) circ - much less confusing. There is nothing like the newish Addi lace needles - they have gold tips which have a coating that makes them a bit less slick than regular Addis.
I learned to use 2 circular needles to knit socks and just love knitting with circular needles! I try to adapt patterns to be able to use them instead of straight needles, usually not too hard to do. Once you see how easy it is, I can’t imaging going back…..