I've been using circular needles for years and they just suit the way I knit. I also find they make your knitting more portable (easier to stuff into a travel or handbag than long straight needles) and I just prefer knitting in the round and not having to sew pieces together afterwards. It also means you can "knit" all the way, no need to purl - which makes knitting faster for me.
I convert patterns, like the one I'm knitting for my son now so that I can knit them in the round. It's not difficult really and raglan sleeves are well suited to it.
I was just happily knitting away with a new circular needle today and marvelling at how smooth and pleasant to use it was so I thought I'd make a blogpost about it. I also started work again on a pair of socks "toe-up-two-at-the-same-time" (first time using that method for me) which had been on the needle for quite some time. I discovered how much I enjoy knitting with the fine wood tips on the sock needle, they are very smooth and practically silent.
When working something smaller like a sleeve or a sock, you can either use a longer cable length and work using the "magic loop" method (not the same "magic loop" as used in tatting!) or you can use two circular needles. The advantage I have found with using two needles is that when you start the next round, your first stitch can be tightened against the needle you are no longer using, instead of having to tighten it against the cable (if using only one needle). Tightening against the cable means your first stitch is a bit tighter than the others and you have to fiddle a bit to push it back onto the needle when you swap sides. So now I'm using two circulars to complete the sleeve and it's working really well. Nearly done.
Once you have made the first couple of stitches,
you can pull on the needle not in use and let it dangle until you need it again.
I'm enjoying my "knitting phase" at the moment. Especially as I'm getting more and more used to my new way of knitting.
How about you? Are you a fan of circulars? Or do you prefer straights? Short ones or long ones?
Best wishes,
Frivole
Nice looking projects there!! :)
ReplyDeleteI can't knit, but my daughter does some(still a beginner) and she loves the circular needles for large projects(especially my blanket-which she wishes they has a longer cord between the needles for because I asked for a super large blanket and she has 300 stitches on there). :)
Hi God's Kid, you can buy connectors for the cords so that you can make the circumference as large as you like. They are not available for "fixed" circular but you can get them for the type that has separate tips and cords ("interchangeables"). What's the blanket like? Does it have a special stitch?
DeleteThanks Frivole!! I will let my daughter know. She hasn't worked on the blanket in a long while because she is very busy with college. It is straight knitting only. Here is a link to the last pictures I took of it: http://hiskid66.blogspot.com/2014/11/tatting-test-tatting-and-knitting-for-me.html (you will have to scroll down a little ways to see it spread out-as much as was possible while still on the circular needles).
DeleteI also love the circulars! My mom got me started using them years ago. She said she started using them so that she wouldn't poke Dad when she was knitting in bed. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMmm… don't think I'd be allowed to knit it bed! That would be pushing it a bit too far… :-))
DeleteA few years back I bought Pony circular needles (till then I used DPNs - a bit fiddly, but I'd gotten used to it). Horrors - when I opened the pack & tried to knit ! The join between the needle & the plastic wire was not smooth !!! Someday I will take a pic & upload to show how circular needles should Not be ;-P
ReplyDeleteAnd unknown to me, my MIL also bought a set & faced the same problem. Both sets are now lying idle. Wonder what one can do with them ?!
Your little tips & pointers are very interesting, though.
I prefer straight, normal sized (around 10-12" I think?). I tried the long shawl ones, but definitely not my cup.
Have finally made my peace with sewing on the separate pieces in straight needle knitting & have gotten quite good at hiding the seams ;-)
Oh yes, that's awful when you have a "bad" circular needle! They make such nice smooth ones nowadays though, they really are a pleasure to use with a seamless join between the cable and the needle.
DeleteI always knitted socks on DPNs too… until now. I will definitely continue with circular: no stitches falling off the end of needles and only two change-overs every round instead of three.
I see knitpick needles... : ))
ReplyDeleteNice sock yarn.
They are called Knitpro here… but I think they are the same as Knitpick. I have now found I have at least three sets of sock yarn that I had bought (falling in love with colours) and never knitted up! This pair is for my husband but I think I will knit up the other balls after that.
DeleteCircular Aldis!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Addi turbos are what really started my love affair with circulars! So smooth and lightweight.
DeleteI learned to knit a long time ago, but could only manage to go back and forth, back and forth--then I found tatting and I've never had the urge to go back, except when I see what functional, amazing things other people make. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen, as you know I love tatting but I often get the urge to make more useful items, wearable, practical… knitting and crochet are wonderful for that. As is sewing for that matter which I also enjoy. Hmmm, let's face it, I like just about ALL needlework!
DeletePick knitting, not throw method, with round needles is my favorite way to knit. Enjoy your observations & information,
ReplyDeletePicking is great for the knit stitch… but how do you find the purl stitch? How do you make it? I tried many times to adopt the continental way (as they call it here) but I could never find a comfortable, efficient way to make the purl stitch. My last big project was moss stitch (knit, purl, knit, purl all the way) and that's when I worked hard at finding more efficient ways to knit both stitches.
DeleteOoops. That would be circular needles!
ReplyDeleteI love the circulars!
ReplyDeleteLove circular needles particularly when knitting on trains as you can't jab/hit your fellow passengers with the needles.
ReplyDeleteYes Hilary, that's one reason I like them too, they take less space around you as you knit and are more portable I think. And I do carry my needlework (whichever project I'm working on) about with me a lot. Wouldn't want to waste any precious time should the opportunity arise to make progress with a few more stitches… :-)
DeleteI like knitting sweaters on circular needles but have stuck with double pointed for socks. I must say I haven't tried two circulars for socks - I had better put that on my to-do list.
ReplyDeleteI use all types of needles and use what is best for the project I'm working on, the exception being socks. I like to knit two at a time and use either magic loop or two needles. I do vary this if the socks are very long length or tall legs because they can get heavy towards the end and I'll split them up on two separate needles.
ReplyDeleteAs for brands I love Chiao Goo and Hiya Hiya and knitters pride(same as your knit pro) and the older knit picks.
There are so many ways to knit and so many options a person could write a book on the subject. Of course I'm sure several already have lol.
Huge fan of circulars as I sometimes drop a needle, I inherited some from Mom and you can add a longer/shorter cable as required. I admit I don't knit as much as I used to.
ReplyDeleteKnitting in bed, don't think that would happen ... but made me smile.
It depends what I am knitting, tablecloths and large number of stitches, small items like toys where I am knitting bits I like to use short needles, the two little elephants that where on my blog a couple of weeks ago were knitted on short double pointed needles in the car on a journey. Yes I have knitted and tatted in bed,
ReplyDeleteMargaret
Where to start! I am a self-taught knitter at 12 years old (from book), first sweater at 20 in 1964 (thanks to discovering continental (but didn't know its name) while watching an old movie on TV where someone was knitting that way - but it's good to know both English and continental for color work), joined 'new' local knitting guild in 1987, which invited Alice Starmore twice(!) for guild workshops; entered fairs; then in 1989 (age 45) finally learned to tat, and I switched allegiances! Broke both wrists (ice skating!) at age 58 in 2002, and realized how many muscles are necessary just to knit one stitch. Lesson learned! Grateful I can do all my needlework hobbies again, although I have mild arthritis occasionally.
ReplyDeleteAs to needles, have used all types,for whatever project. I favored using two bamboo flex needles for a long time, esp. for knitting in the car. I finally got comfortable with the small double pointeds (also bamboo) when self-striping yarn came out around 2004, and I wanted to make socks. I recently did some caps for my great-nephews and used one of my circulars, but would like to use the magic loop for the decreases, so I now need the super long circular (ironic, since the magic loop requires a long flexible wire to accomplish the decreasing stitches), I thought I was being 'weird' one time when I used two circulars to do decrease rounds on a cap. I never mentioned it to our guild! I'm now using a regular circular to go back and forth on a scarf, and I like not worrying about losing the other needle.
I had an uphill battle convincing guild members back in the '90s to knit continental. I even was criticized at the yarn shop for trying to show it to a gal who was there for lessons and was struggling with ribbing. A nationally known knitter who had a newspaper column told me in 1968 (while visiting a local dept. store) that 'you can't hold tension with continental'. That same columnist 20 years later was singing the praises of continental!) I have waited 50 years to see continental finally get recognized here in the US. I knit with 'thumbs on the needles' and hold my yarn out a bit from the left needle and have no problem at all making the purl stitch by bringing my left forefinger down. I knit, crochet, and tat using this same 'crochet' hold. (I couldn't tat otherwise.)
If knitting into the back of the stitch had gained prominence centuries ago (and maybe it DID start out that way) we wouldn't have the purling issue today. It's so much easier to purl if you have knit into the back of the knit stitch in the previous row. There are knitters who do exactly that, and it's called either 'Russian' or 'Combined'. And Elizabeth Zimmerman wouldn't have 'feared' purling. The internet is now showing all the methods out there, but it can be confusing for a beginner! (OK, off the soapbox now!)
PS - Love the crocheted sweater, esp. the color! And I also do needlework in bed, plus use the laptop there!