Knitting in the round vs. circular neeldes

#1

My pattern for an afghan says for me to use 31" circular needle. Isn’t that the same as knitting in the round? If not, could you please help and explain what it is?

thanks

#2

You can use a circular needle for knitting in the round AND you can use a circular needle for knitting flat. You just pretend that the two ends of the needle aren’t attached by the cable and knit back and forth as you always would with straight needles. Make sure you don’t ‘join’ the stitches as you would if you were working in the round.

The reason that a lot of afghan patterns ask for a circular needle is because there are often a LOT of stitches that would be very difficult to hold all on a single straight needle. The work also gets very heavy on straight needles and is very hard on your arms/wrists. Knitting with a circular needle helps the weight of your project to rest in your lap and not have to be supported by your wrists.

Hope this helps.