Knitting in the Round
Circular Needles
Circular needles consist of two needle tips connected by a flexible cable. They allow you to knit a continuous tube — perfect for hats, sweater bodies, cowls, and anything you want to knit seamlessly in the round.
Choosing Cable Length
The cable must be shorter than the circumference of your knitting. Common sizes:
- 16 inch (40cm): Adult hats, sleeves, neckbands
- 24 inch (60cm): Baby blankets, larger hats, yoke sweaters
- 32 inch (80cm): Sweater bodies, large shawls
- 40 inch (100cm): Big blankets, magic loop technique
Joining in the Round
- Cast on your required number of stitches and spread them along the cable — make sure none are twisted around it.
- Hold the needle tip with the last cast-on stitch in your right hand and the needle tip with the first cast-on stitch in your left hand.
- Check for twists: All stitches should hang downward with the cast-on edge pointing inward. A twist now creates a permanent spiral in your tube.
- Place a stitch marker on the right needle to mark the beginning of the round.
- Knit the first stitch of the round — you're now working in the round!
Double-Pointed Needles (DPNs)
DPNs are short needles pointed at both ends, sold in sets of 4 or 5. They're used for very small circumferences in the round — items too small to fit on a circular needle, such as socks, mittens, gloves, and the top of a hat as you decrease.
How to Use DPNs
- Cast all stitches onto one DPN.
- Distribute them evenly across 3 (or 4) needles — for example, 60 stitches becomes 20 per needle.
- Arrange the needles into a triangle (3 needles) or square (4 needles), checking that the cast-on edge is not twisted.
- Use the remaining free needle to knit the stitches from the first needle. When that needle is empty, it becomes the new working needle.
- Continue around — the stitches travel from needle to needle in a continuous circle.
DPNs can feel unwieldy at first — it's normal to feel like you have a porcupine of needles. After a few rounds it becomes intuitive. The key: only ever focus on the two needles in your hands.
Magic Loop Method
The magic loop method lets you knit any circumference on a single long circular needle (at least 40 inches/100cm). It's an alternative to DPNs for small circumferences and is preferred by many knitters who don't want to manage multiple needles.
How to Work Magic Loop
- Cast all stitches onto the long circular needle.
- Find the midpoint of the stitches and pull a loop of cable out at that point, dividing the stitches into two equal halves — one on each needle tip.
- Hold the needle so the working yarn is at the back. The back needle tip is pulled out to the right, leaving the stitches on the cable loop.
- Use the back needle tip (now free) to knit across the front needle's stitches.
- Rotate the work and repeat — the back group becomes the front group.
Magic loop requires a flexible, supple cable. Cheap or stiff cables make magic loop awkward.
Reading Patterns for Round Knitting
No Right Side / Wrong Side Distinction
When knitting in the round, the right side of the fabric always faces you. This changes how you read stitch instructions. To create stockinette in the round, you simply knit every round — no purling needed. Purling every round creates reverse stockinette.
Rounds vs Rows
Patterns for in-the-round knitting say "round" or "rnd" instead of "row." Charts are always read from right to left, every round. There are no WS rows read left to right.
Beginning of Round Marker
Place a unique stitch marker at the beginning of the round to track where each round starts and ends. Slip it from needle to needle each round without knitting it.
Reading Charts in the Round
Every row of the chart is read right to left. This means RS and WS symbols in the chart are always read as RS symbols — because in the round, every row is a right-side row.