I am knitting another cowl/neck warmer and using size 8 circular needles with a 16inch length. Now that I’ve finished a couple rounds, my stitches are getting so “scrunched up” I feel like I need a longer cable. What is the easiest and safest way to go about changing to a longer cabled needle?
Thanks.
Pauline
Just start knitting it off onto the new needles/cable. If you don’t have another set of needles to use then put the stitches on waste yarn, change cable to the bigger one and then slip the stitches back onto your needles.
Fixed, I just knit them over like Jan said.
Interchangeable you have choices. You can cap the right side of the cable and knit to a new one (also capped on the left).
Options has a connector (I assume others do too) so you can screw the two cables together to pull the longer one through. This is handy if you don’t need to knit and just want to free up a cable length that’s being used as a stitch holder.
You can not cap and slip to a smaller needle and swap to the right size needles when you’re done.
With interchangeable knitting circularly I like to knit off a smaller needle so I don’t even have to cap the cables to knit over. I can set the longer cable up the same as the shorter one (let’s say size 5 and 7 on each).
Okay, so it will work out if I just start a new round with a longer needle, it won’t interfere with my round?
If you’re scrunched on fixed you might want a tip protector that fits tight (or a cork) to keep the stitches from falling off the former right hand needle until you get enough stitches over to the new set that they’re not scrunched.
But yes. It’s the same as knitting with the one circular it’s just not in a circle again until the end of the round.
Ok, I found a longer cable so I’ll switch it today. I always keep tip protectors on the ends, I’m so afraid of stitches falling off! Even when I put my work down for the day.
Thank you.
Correct. You’ve got this! 
It’s ok if your stitches are scrunched up on the needle. Anything longer than 16 inches would be too big for a neck cowl.
Circular needles come in various length, and this can become a limitation. The good thing is that stitches can squish up very close together, so you can get lots and lots of them on one needle, and it won’t hurt at all.
However, it is my belief (and it’s only my own personal belief) that 16-inch needles are not worth much. They are so limiting! You cannot do much with them. I personally find them so constricting when using them – I need more room.
That is why I say that you should only get ONE length of circular needles, and use them for everything you knit. Yes, you can. I use 40-inch needles all the time. There is no need at all to get a whole series of lengths – too expensive! The long circs will work for all the knitting I do, from sweaers, to afghans to fingers on gloves!! They can do it all. I really don’t see the point of having needles in various lengths. However, that is me. If you want to spend money needlessly on needles of all lengths, go ahead. (By the way, I have a really nice bridge I could sell you – cheap!)
Well, it certainly feels better now that I’ve switched the stitches to a longer cable. With a shorter cable, there is always the feeling that I’m going to lose stitches off the ends if I’m not careful. I like that idea of having just one cable length but I think sometimes, for me 40 would be too much since I rarely do large projects. I do use 40 when doing the magic loop.
Thanks
I like 40" for magic loop, too on hats. For socks I used a 32" Those are the two lengths I’ve used the most, but on occasion I’ve used others. Depends on the project for me. In my knitting group I’ve found that different people like different lengths for the same project. Nice we have a choice.