Knitting - UK (2021-07)

62 knittingmag.com

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MASTERCLASS KNITTING IN THE ROUND
QUICK TECHNIQUE WITH JO ALLPORT
The advantage to knitting in the round
is that there are minimal seams to sew
up, if any. This is great if sewing isn’t your
favourite pastime – so here are some tips
for knitting in the round.
CIRCULAR OR DOUBLE-
POINTED NEEDLES?
The type of needles you use is very
personal, and working in the round brings
just as many choices as knitting back and
forth. First you can choose whether to work
with circular or double-pointed needles.
There are pros and cons to each, and the
choice will also depend on your project. For
this top, you will either use long double-
pointed needles or a long circular needle.
Long double-pointed needles, around
35cm (13¾in), have traditionally been used
for knitting ganseys, but circular needles
are far more common.
The key is to choose a circular needle
that has a circumference slightly shorter
than your knitting. As this top is knitted
from the bottom up, it will be at its widest,
with the most stitches, when the stitches
for the cap sleeves have been added.
Circular needles commonly have tips
made of plastic, metal or wood. These
are connected via a wire which can be
fixed or interchangeable, with some
even swivelling. Metal ones are great
for lacework as they tend to have sharp
points, but wooden and plastic ones will be
warmer. Wooden ones may break, whereas
plastic ones may bend, but be lighter. You
can get circular needles in many sizes, from
2mm all the way up to 35mm.
As stitch numbers are likely to vary across
a project, you may need to use a circular
needle with a shorter or longer cable during
the course of your knit. Pick one that will
work with the number of stitches for your
project – not so short that your stitches end
up all bunched together, which may result
in them getting twisted, and not so long
that your stitches are stretched round the
wire, as this makes knitting difficult and your
work may be pulled out of shape.
You can also knit in the round using two
long circular needles. Divide the stitches
more or less equally between the two
needles, as I have in this example, with
each set of stitches on the wire.

1. Knit across the stitches on the front
   needle as follows: with the working yarn
   attached to the stitches on the back
   needle, move the stitches on the front
   wire to the left needle tip, as normal.
   2. Here, I’m starting to knit these stitches
   by inserting the tip of the RH needle into
   the first st on the LH needle.


2. At the end of this ‘row’ the stitches are
   all on the RH needle.
   4. Pull the needle through the stitches
   so that the stitches on this needle are in
   the middle of the wire. Then turn your
   work over and work with the other circular
   needle and set of stitches in the same way
   as above.

KNITTING WITH TWO CIRCULAR NEEDLES