Circular needles

I really love knitting and I found a pattern that calls for circular needles.,
Which I have a lot of, so I went for it.
But how in the world do you handle the circular needles?
They seem to be all over the place, twisting and turning on me, are there any secrets or help with handling circular needles while knitting that anyone can help me with? :yarn:

I find that the problem with twisting lessens as the project grows. What are you knitting? What length of needle are you using? What brand circular needle are you using? Some are more easily managed than others. I recently got some swivel cables to go with my interchangeable tips and love them. They behave better for me.

The ones with the swivel cable are a bit less twisty although I would still prefer straight to circular to be honest. Even though I would prefer straight I tend to make more things with the circulars, I put up with them for their other positive aspects and I used fixed circulars for a few years before changing to interchangeable with swivels cables.

Are you knitting in the round or using the circulars for flat knitting? In the round your project fabric will bunch up and twist on your lap as you produce the rounds. The temptation is to keep on kntting but I think it’s more comfortable to turn the work frequently to avoid this bunching and twisting and to maintain even tension. It can help to prevent the fabric pulling on the cables.
Also, for me, the size of project makes a big difference. I literally cannot work a small circumference on them no matter what size the cable or with magic loop. The angle I hold my needles at does not fit with circulars and small circumference circles.

If the cable is pulling on your needle and altering the angle or movement (I find this, the needle is no longer independent as straight needles are) you could try wedging the cable and/or fabric under your arm, for me it’s usually on the right side, it’s hard to explain though, but to try to keep it out to the side/back seems to help me.

You could try knitting on the “inside” of the circulars rather than the “outside”, which may be more comfortable for you, the RS is on the far side of the circle rather than the near side, you may feel you have more control.

If your cable is very bouncy and sort of stuck in the circle it was packaged in you can warm it and straighten it out a bit. Warm water or hold them to the out side of a warm cup of tea to soften the cable and allow it to de-spring (i hung a long one on a warm radiator ith some weight on it which worked too).
Long cables are especially annoying in my opinion but do become more controlled after some fabric is on them, if this is the case you might start with a shorter cable if you can, change to longer when needed, or just look forward to it getting a bit better further on.

I think it’s partly to do with the brand of needle. My ancient cheap ones are a pain.
If the cable is long, I try to make sure that it goes around the back of the work, rather than the front, and I anchor the middle of the cable with a bit of the project ( when it’s long enough!) :rofl::rofl:

Maybe you have too long of a cable for your project? It’s good if the cable is approximately the same length as what you’re knitting–that way the weight of the project helps control the cable. This is one reason many of us use interchangeables…you can start with a shorter cable and then change as the project grows.

There are also cables with swivels, and cables made of braided steel covered in plastic, both of which are more relaxed than plastic cables. Also, some brands of plastic cables are softer than others. I found that KnitPicks worked better than Lykke cables, and I like Lantern Moon even better.

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Thanks so much !

For me that’s too long. I have a blanket that’s appr. 60" on a 32" circ. I had it on a longer one (40" I think) and didn’t like it. It’s far easier to keep my stitches from spreading over the length of the cable and for me it’s easier that way.

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Your knitting is beautiful. I had some needles with the bent tips like yours and I think they contributed to the problem of feeling like the needle was fighting me.

For me, it’s easier to find mistakes if I can spread the whole thing out from time to time. I use cable locks to keep it bunched toward where I’m working, but then it’s still easy to spread it out. It’s so fun to see how other people do things!

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I never heard of cable locks before - always new thing to learn here! I use a thin elastic band on the cable to keep stitches up to one end when needed which is a tip I picked up from this forum too.

What are cable locks? Can you share a link showing them?

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Here’s one on my Stephen West project.

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Thanks for the information on cable locks and for the glimpse of a Stephen West shawl in process. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished project!

Thanks. I’ve actually used a small binder clip on the cable. It works. It annoys me. lol