Knitting in the round

#1

Does anyone have a link to a free and easy pattern for knitting in the round? I want to give this a go but the thought of it is daunting. I have loads of bulky and dk yarn, so preferably in either of those. I have circular needles (what can I say? I bought all the stuff when I got into knitting…). I think they are all full size in mm, so no half mil sizes, i.e. 4mm, 5mm etc. I will have to dig them out and check (semi packed for moving so I need to make sure I haven’t packed them away!).

Would love some ideas, please and thank you.

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#2

How long are your needles? Knowing that is essential to helping you with tutorials. A good first project could be a hat and there are many, many free patterns for hats.

I hope your move goes smoothly.

#3

Yes, the length of your needles/cables is vital. Smaller circumference can be knit with longer cables uing maguc loop but a larger circumference just won’t fit on a short cable.
If your cables are long enough, maybe a cowl, the measurements don’t need to be as exact as a sweater and it can be made without shaping just a straight tube, but you can make it more challenging by including a stitch pattern or cable, or plain stockinette or garter for more basic relaxing knit.
I’ve never worn cowls before but I’m quite into the idea at the moment as an additional accessory for a sweater.

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#4

Any hat can be a cowl, just don’t decrease at the top, and voilá! A cowl that fits easily over your head and yet stays close enough to your neck to keep your throat warm!

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#5

Yep. I think of a detached turtleneck as a neck warmer. I hate pulling snug things over my head so don’t have any. :laughing: I rarely need a hat.

#6

These are labeled as “piece of cake”, and in the round, and free on ravelry!-)

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=knitting&availability=free&pa=in-the-round&difficulties=1&sort=best&view=captioned_thumbs

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#7

Here is the same free search at ravelry, except it is showing only for bulky and dk yarn, as well as in the round and piece of cake.

#8

I am relatively new to knitting, and I have only knitted one thing in the round, a hat. I think it turned out pretty good except for the fact that it was too big for my head (which isn’t exactly small). Before beginning it, I practiced just knitting in the round. I just found a few youtube videos about knitting in the round and knitted with no aim. Then, I unraveled it. You could make a headband that way. The trick would be casting on the right amount of stitches to fit around your head. If you do a hat you have to do decreases as you work toward the crown, which isn’t too hard, but you have to switch to shorter length needles when it starts to get small.

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#9

All useful things to learn and you’re learning them fast. For those decreases at the crown you can use double-pointed needles or magic loop or you can knit with 2 circular needles. There are even hat patterns with no decreases at the crown, just gathered stitches or a squared off top.

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#10

Using magic loop I use the same needle from cast on to finish. Using two circs wouldn’t mean switching to dpn.

#11

I did use magic loop. Well, I think I didn’t do it properly but it worked. I just pull some cable out the back about halfway around the row. But with the hat I was knitting, it decreased to very few stitches and it was pretty tight near the end, so I had to switch to short ones. Walmart had these short ones where like not only was the cable short but the needle part itself was pretty short. That helped a lot. I really didn’t learn that fast. I just played around with the needles and learned to join in the round at first. Then, I eventually figured out that there would be a problem if you wanted to a smaller circle. So, I found magic loop videos. I had the circular needles for months and just picked them up once in a while and learned these things before I felt comfortable even attempting the hat. I was doing scarves mainly. Once I learned to knit and how you could make all kinds of patterns by using different combos of stitches, I just wanted to knit. So I did a scarf for everyone and his dog last year for Christmas. I like flat knitting. I like straight needles. If I knew anyone who wanted a scarf right now, I’d still be doing that. Well, I am not sure anyone wanted a scarf in the first place, but they got them.

I have DPNs but I haven’t gathered up the gumption to learn to use them.

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#12

One of the easiest ways to learn dpns is the crown of a hat. You have the body already knit so there’s a base for the dpns (you don’t have them flying around every which way). You may or may not like using them but worth a try. You are the adventurer here!

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#13

Yeah, I might try it again. Maybe I will do another hat this year for someone for Christmas.

#14

DPN are good for many things. Glove fingers. Dropping down stitches to fix a miscrossed cable or other mistake. Holding a few stitches for whatever reason. Cable needles for cable crossings I don’t do without a stitch holder or recalcitrant yarn that just won’t cooperate for no cable needle crosses. I don’t choose to use them for hats or socks. I am always and forever having to chase down a dropped needle using dpn. YMMV and I know many knitters think they’re great.

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#15

I find knitting with DPNs as friendly as knitting with a porcupine in my lap. :grimacing:

But that was just my first and only experience with them.

It may have been my homemade bamboo DPNs at fault, but I am not willing to risk it. lol.

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#16

I was the source of great hilarity to my family when my metal dpn came shooting out of my knitting onto the floor. It was somewhat like the ice spear sliding out of the gutter into the neighbor’s house in Christmas Vacation.
I gave dpns up until I tried bamboo.

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#17

My favorite circular method is to use two circulars of the same size and length (but I suggest different color cording to help prevent picking up the end of the wrong needle.)

As a starter project, I suggest:

  • a scarf,
  • hat,
  • leg warmers (Winter is comming, hopefully less menacing than the GOT line ref.),
  • Pillow case,
  • Shopping or market bag,
  • Dice bag,
  • or a Pocket.

Experience the freedom of:

  1. No laddering or stretching between needle changes.
  2. No poking your body by uncontrollable DPN points.
  3. No dropping an empty needle.
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#18

DPN I mostly use for dropping down stitches to correct mistakes but I will use them for glove fingers. I mainly use magic loop because with two circs no matter what I do to avoid it I soon slip up and have all the stitches on one needle. I’m glad we have options. I did buy some inexpensive carbonized DPN with glove fingers in mind and I have red wool yarn for the gloves … somewhere. DPN also are great for holding stitches when knitting cables.