Knitting in the Round Using Two Needles Instead of Four Double Pointed Needles

By: knittingscarve | Posted: 14th December 2009

For many beginner knitters the thought of knitting with four, five or six needles is just too scary. In order to knit many items such as socks, hats and mittens it is necessary to know how to knit in a circle or knit in the round. You can't find circular knitting needles small enough to use for these projects so what do you do when you really want to make mittens and a hatt to match the scarf you have knit?

Although using double pointed needles is really not that difficult it does require lots of practice and some getting used to before you get comfortable with this skill. Until now that has meant that beginner knitters couldn't enjoy making these items unless they used standard knitting needles and had seams in their finished product. I don't know about you, but I do not like seams in my socks because it is not very comfortable.

There is a solution. You can knit socks, hats and mittens in the round using two circular needles instead of a set of Double pointed needles. Circular knitting needles are typically reserved for larger items, such as sweaters, because they are too long for smaller projects.

Here are instructions that demonstrate how to use two circular needles to knit in the round:

Cast on the stitches indicated in your pattern on a circular needle.
To join into a circle, use a second circular needle to knit into the first stitch.
Knit around the stitches following your pattern instructions.
When you come to the end of the row, you will have worked all of the stitches off the first needle.
Use the first needle to work the next row of the pattern.
Continue knitting in rounds switching from one needle to the other as you complete each round.

Using this method, even a beginner knitter can knit circular patterns without any difficulty.
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Tags: hats, finished product, socks, scarf, stitches, seams, sweaters, mittens