I’ve begun knitting a circular shawl using size 30 mercerized cotton on size 4 dpns and one of the steps is to pull the center tight once there’s enough rounds to work with ([I]the cast-on was one of the most annoying I’ve ever done! No wooden dpns & the metal ones just wanted to play slip-n-slide!:rofling: It’s like knitting cobwebs!!!)
[/I]Anyway, I’ve pulled the thread tight but don’t know how to secure it so it doesn’t open up again. Any suggestions?
Make a knot like when you’re knotting the thread after sewing on a button…
Treat it like the top of a hat or the toe of a sock and pull it through the loops again.
I’ve made a few circular shawls and I weave it in the same way I would with any other yarn end. I’ve never had a problem with the end coming loose.
You’re right about getting started. It’s a huge pain. If I am using really light yarn like laceweight I often will use 2 circs to get started. Much easier than dpns.
This is how I’ve done my center on circular shawls too… never had a problem with them…
It is rough getting it started… Mom and me signed up for the Civil War Shawl KALand that is the only thing I’m dreading… those first few rounds :teehee:
Thank you all. 
I think a small knot followed with weaving in the tail should do the trick… (crossing fingers here.)
I’ve transferred to a circ so I don’t have to worry about the dpns slipslidin’ away. I can’t wait to see how it grows!
Did you use Emily Ocker’s circular beginning? If you did, just pull the yarn tight and it should stay in place.
No, it’s Jane Sowerby’s “Victorian Lace Today” They may be the same though as it seems to be holding quite well and I haven’t tied it off or woven it in yet.
They may be called different things–are you making a loop of yarn, making single crochets in it, and then transferring them to the DPN’s? If so, it’s Emily Ocker’s. It is described in all of E.Z.'s books.
Nope CK. It’s actually a looped cast-on (aka invisible cast-on) that is done using a circle of the working yarn to start your cast-on instead of a piece of waste yarn. If you can find a copy to look at, it’s on page 167 of “Victorian Lace Today”. I tried to find an image online but was not successful in my endeavors.
Which shawl are you doing? The only circular shawl I noticed in VLT is the Cap Shawl unless I am mistaken. That calls for what the author refers to as the Circle cast on, which from the diagrams looks identical to Emily Ocker’s cast on:
http://www.spellingtuesday.com/circular_co.html
The instructions in VLT say that you can tighten the circle by pulling the yarn.
Yes, that is the one I’m doing.
As for the circle cast-on, 
I looked again and the only difference is that I am using knitting needles exclusively. The crochet hook threw me off in recognizing that it was the same technique. Thank you BOTH (Calamintha & ContiKnitter) for your input!