Confused knitter on circular needle

Hi first time with circular needle and I am confused.

I purchased 3.5 needle and casted on 100 stitches as required. However it is impossible to knit. The pattern states 3.5 needle x 40cm. So I have looked and I think it means the total length point to point is 40cm. Mine is 80cm. I can adapt them but the needles themselves are 14cm long which means I need 12cm of cable? Is this correct and is it possible to knit with such a short cable? Thank you

A 3.5mm needle is the diameter of the needle. The length is indeed measure tip to tip so your pattern is calling for 40cm total length.
A 40cm needle is typically used for knitting hats and maybe sleeves in a sweater. It works very well in those cases with most yarn weights.
What are you making or what is the name of your pattern?

You can probably use the longer needle with a technique called “magic loop”.

Basically you pull out a loop of cord at two points on your knitting, which takes care of the extra length. It means you can knit small circumferences with a long circular needle.

It’s not too hard to do although the first few rounds can be tricky when you don’t have much knitting yet.

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Another technique, which might be easier to do, is called the Traveling Loop. If your needle/cable is only a little too big, the traveling loop is easier/quicker. Magic circle is great for knitting really small circumferes (e.g. sleeves) or if you’re cable is just too long for the traveling loop. Here’s a video on traveling loop:

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