Haven’t knitted since I was a kid, and when I went to the local knitting shop to get started on a small project, they suggested I try making a cowl with circular needles.
I did a long-tail cast on, but now I’m finding it impossible to join the round and start my first row.
I do a few stitches, but ultimately my right needle just ends up with loops of yarn around it that aren’t even knit.
I feel like I am making some kind of rookie mistake but I have been watching tons of videos and reading tutorials and, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what the problem is!
Can you tell us the name of your pattern and provide a link if possible? Don’t post the pattern here please it’s a copyright issue.
How long is your circular and how many stitches did you cast on? What weight yarn are you using? Cowls can be either small and fitted or long and twisted around the neck a few times. They would require different size circulars. For a small one you might be able to use 16" circs. For a longer one you will need longer circs like 32". It also makes a difference if you’re doing magic loop to make the cowl. For that you’d need longer circs. I use 40" for hats.
For those of us in the US she’s using a US 15 - 24". The pattern actually suggests a 12mm needle which would be a US 17. Here’s a link to the pattern on Ravelry.
Using the smaller needle might make your stitches tighter which could then make it harder to join. Try knitting looser and see if that helps. If not this person actually used smaller needles (same size as you) and cast on one more repeat which you might need to do. She cast on 64. https://www.ravelry.com/projects/lauria56/cecelia-cowl