One of the first skills that I wanted to learn as I moved beyond straight, flat knitting things like scarfs and such was knitting in the round or circular knitting. This is when you use circular needles (needles that are connected with a cord) or double pointed needles, and your project is connected. This technique is for when you are making hats, cowls, gloves and other such projects.
I needed to start with the right tools, so I began expanding my tool chest as I didn’t yet have any circular or DPNs (double pointed needles). There are a lot of brands out there, and you can find them in wood or metal. Knitters Pride is a well recognized brand and I highly recommend it. You can buy circular needles individually by size and length of cord you need for your project or you could invest in an interchangeable set or two, which I also recommend if you plan to get into knitting seriously. I recently was gifted a fabulous set for Christmas.
Knitter’s Pride Nova Platina Knitting Needles Deluxe Interchangeable Tip Set Deluxe Set Bundle
You definitely need a nice set of DPNs (Double Pointed Needles) if you want to get into making socks or finish up tops of hats when you need to decrease to smaller size circumfrences. I recommend metal ones, as they will last longer and be more sturdy than your less expensive, wooden or bamboo ones. Once again, you could buy them individually by size you need or look at some different sets. Here is a good recommendation:
Knitter’s Pride Zing Knitting Needles Double Pointed DPN 6 inch Set Bundle
Addi is also a good brand for DPNs. DPNs come is sets of 5 needles so having multi-color needles like this can be helpful for keeping track of what needle you are working with.
Addi Colibri Double Pointed Needles, Multi-Colour
Using DPNs can take some getting use to as they can be very fiddly, but you’ll get the hang of it I promise!
Now it was time to turn once again to the YouTube experts to help me learn all the knitting in the round things. As always, there are no shortage of helpful videos but here are two that would be a great start!
I have had a lot of fun making hats, socks and gloves ever since I have conquered knitting in the round. I started with a very simple, basic hat, which I would would recommend as a great place to begin. My first hat…came out. LOL. Was it perfect? No. But I was super proud of being able to tackle it. Same with my very first pair of socks. I’ll address socks in more detail at a later time, but I actually have a lot of fun with them and learning the different skills required for to make them.
These are just a few samples of my knitting in the round. The top is the very first hat I ever made, followed by the very first socks I ever made. The socks were made with some very cool yarn from Germany, Schoppel Wolle Zauberball. I honestly can’t remember the colorway, but they are all cool. It’s a mix of wool and nylon, which is exactly what you want when making socks. The second hat is one I was particularly proud of, as I started to learn how to make cables. This was using Malabrigo Mecha yarn in Whale’s Road. Lastly, fingerless gloves can be a fairly quick, fun project and a great gift idea!
I hope this has inspired you to learn or explore something new. You too can learn to knit in the round!
Buen Viajes and happy knitting, gnomies!