KNITTING TUTORIAL: Using circular needles

Choose your needle
Usually, a pattern will tell you how long your circular needle should be. This is important because if it’s too short the stitches will fall off or be very crowded together. If you try to use a needle that’s too long, the stitches will be stretched and it will be very hard to slide them around as you work unless you use the magic loop method.

Casting on
You can use any cast-on method to begin a piece worked in the round, depending on the style and strength that you want the edge to have. Just cast on in the usual way, either using just one needle and your thumb, or both ends of the circular needle (if you would usually use two straight needles).

Prepare to join
Once you’ve got all the stitches required on the needle, you need to join your work to make a circle – the beginning of your knitted tube. Gently spread out stitches so they reach from one needle tip all the way along the cord to the other, making sure you don’t accidentally drop the first or last stitches.

Take care not to twist
It’s at this point that you need to be very careful that your cast-on hasn’t become twisted. As you spread the stitches around the needle, make sure they all line up tidily. Many knitters find it’s easier to work the first few rows flat before joining and then use the yarn tail to seam the little gap before the join.

Join and place marker
Hold the needle with the working yarn attached in your RH, and the other needle in your LH. It’s a good idea to place a stitch marker at this point so you know where the next round will begin, so slip the marker onto the RH needle. Keep the stitches close to the needle tips and knit the fi rst stitch from the LH needle onto the RH needle.

Start knitting
Continue knitting around until you reach the marker on your LH needle. Slip the marker to the RH needle – you have completed the first round. Check again for twists after you’ve worked the first round of your knitting – at this point it’s not too late to re-align the stitches, but if you have worked more than one round by the time you find a twist you’ll have no option but to rip back.