i’m new to knitting and have only been done scarves, a hat and socks - nothing that required a large amount of stitches on the needle. i have a new, relatively simple (by the looks of it) pattern for a curly scarf that starts out with 200 stitches and increases to 300 by the end. off the top of my head, i wouldn’t think i can hold that many on my needle…?? do i need to slip some off and hold them with something, maybe, bringing them back and knitting as i go along, or something?? feeling duh, i know the solution is simple!
mel.
200 to 300 for a scarf? Seems odd to me…it’s too much for the width of the scarf but not long enough for the length. But maybe I’m just not seeing it. Could you post a bit more of the pattern…what the stitch pattern is, etc. Then maybe knowing how the scarf is put together I could give a bit more advice.
In general terms when casting on that number of stitches, you’re gonna be looking at using circular needles and then knitting flat (back and forth) on them.
I really can’t see any straight needles long enough to hold that many stitches. They’d be knocking the pictures off the walls!!! lol
You would definitely need a circular needle to hold that many stitches. Like the previous poster said though, you would be using a circular but not knitting in the round. So at the end of each row you would still turn your work as always. A longer needle is necessary to hold the # of stitches and it’s much easier on your wrists and arms to use a circular with that many stitches.
Probably is a scarf that is knit “sideways”, meaning instead of like 20 stitches and 100 rows or more, you knit 200-300 stitches for about 20 rows. Makes the pattern run the long way or “sideways.”
Definitely a circular needle 
Probably 32" at least
But then that seems almost too few stitches. Knit sideways with 200-300 stitches, it would seem like it would be a fairly short scarf.
I’m currently knitting a lap robe with 167 sts on the needles. With a worsted weight yarn, it’s a little over three feet wide. I would think fo a decent-length ‘sideways scarf’ you’d be looking at at least 400-500 sts.
But I’m just guessing…I’ve no experience knitting a scarf lengthwise. I think I’ve seen a pattern or two, but have never paid any attention to them.
It depends on the gauge, of course. 200 sts at 3.5 sts/inch is about 58 inches. At 5 st/inch the same 200 sts would only be 40". Gauge matters. 