How to Knit with Circular Knitting Needles

Newer knitters often wonder how to knit with circular knitting needles, both flat and in the round, and why they would want to use these sorts of needles. Circular needles make lots of knitting tasks easier, and they’re super simple to use. Let’s take a look.

What are Circular Knitting Needles?

A circular knitting needle is a need that has two points joined by a flexible cable.

Circular needles can be made out of any material that can be used for straight knitting needles, including aluminum, bamboo and plastic.

You can buy circular needles of a fixed length or a set of interchangeable knitting needles, which comes with needle points of different sizes and cables of different lengths that are twisted or snapped together to make a variety of different knitting needles.

Buying a set is great if you do a lot of circular knitting, but if you are just learning how to knit with circular knitting needles, you’ll probably just want to buy the specific needle you need for that project.

How to Knit Flat with Circular Knitting Needles

One thing that’s important to know about knitting with circular knitting needles is that you don’t have to use them just to knit in the round.

The long cable of a circular needle helps distribute the weight of a large knitting project that is worked flat, and it allows you to cast on more stitches than you would be able to on a straight needle.

Working flat with a circular needle makes it possible to knit a whole afghan in one piece, and makes it a lot easier and more comfortable to knit large sweater pieces, for example.

To use a circular knitting needle to knit flat, just cast on the stitches as you normally would. Hold one needle tip in the right hand and the other with the stitches ready to work in the left hand, just as you would hold straight needles.

Knit in the same manner as you would with straight needles. When you get to the end of the row, turn the work by switching which needle is in which hand, just as you would with straight needles, and begin knitting again.

Push the stitches down off the needle points when you aren’t knitting and your stitches will be prevented from slipping off the needles.

Knitting in the Round with Circular Needles

If you want to knit in the round with circular knitting needles, you need to know what length of cable to use in addition to making sure you’re using the right sized needle for your project. As mentioned above, cables come in different lengths. There are tiny ones you can use to knit socks to ones large enough to work a whole sweater in one piece.

If you’re following a knitting pattern it will tell you the length of knitting needle you will need. For instance a hat pattern might call for a 16-inch needle, while a sweater would call for a 24- or 36-inch needle or larger depending on the chest circumference of your finished project. It should be noted that it’s easier to knit more stitches on a needle that’s too short than it is to knit fewer stitches on a needle that’s too long (unless you are doing magic loop, but that’s a topic for another day). This reference is a good guide to how many stitches will fit on a cable.

Cast on your stitches as you normally would. Then you will need to do something to join the stitches in the round, so that you are knitting a tube rather than a flat piece.

First, lay your needle down on a table or flat surface and make sure there are no twists in your cast on. If there are you will end up with twists in your knitting.

How you join in the round is a personal preference. Some ways I have done it through the years include:

• cast on an extra stitch and knit the first stitch and the last stitch together on the first round
• slip the first stitch you cast on from the right hand needle to the left hand needle, then lift the last stitch you cast on over the first stitch and onto the right hand needle (effectively switching these stitches’ places and locking the round in place
• do nothing, just start knitting around without turning the work, it will take care of itself

These techniques are shown on double-pointed needles in this video on how to join in the round, but it works the same on a circular needle.

To work in the round, place a stitch marker to note where the end of the round is, and knit (or whatever stitch pattern you are using) every stitch. Slip the marker when you come to it and continue with the next round.

Remember that when you are knitting in the round, you are always working on the right/front/outside of the work, so knitting every stitch in every round gets you Stockinette Stitch rather than Garter Stitch. If you are designing your own pattern you need to take into account how the pattern might change if only knit from the right side.

While you’re at it you might want to learn this tip for finishing a circular knitting project. It’s exactly what I do.

Have more questions about using circular knitting needles or knitting in the round? I’d love to hear them!