Most of us have learned to knit on straight or single pointed needles, creating our first scarf, shawl or afghan, - you name it. At some point in our knitting journey however, each of us who wishes to knit seamless items like socks or hats comes across circular knitting needles.
Having picked up a circular knitting needle once, many knitters never go back to their single pointed needles, afterwards. It is just so convenient to have the weight of bulky iems in your lap rather than having to lift it on your needle every time you create a stitch.
Others love their single pointed needles dearly and find the circular knitting business rather messy or too fidgety. If you are still indecisive whether to invest in either a pair of straight needles, in circular knitting needles or perhaps in a set of double pointed needles, check out our quick analysis on the differences between the flat and circular knitting styles as well as their pros and cons.
Straight or single pointed knitting needles, such as our popular Ginger needles consist of a pair of knitting needles with a stopper at the end to prevent the loops from falling off the end. You cast on, knit your row and then turn over the project and purl all the way back to the beginning, and so on. You will face the right side of the work in one row and the wrong side when knitting the other.
There are many advantages to using single pointed needles:
- Flat projects tend to be more beginner-friendly as you won’t have to tackle the whole garment at once, but rather concentrate on one part at a time and watch it grow piece by piece, stitch by stitch.
- You can later sew those pieces together according to your design and they will fit nicely, - provided you have taken good measure beforehand. Should there still be a slight difference, the blocking process can help to adjust the fabric before you sew the pieces together.
- When you have made a mistake and have to unravel a part of your knitting, you don’t have to unravel all of your stitches, just those of the piece you are currently working on.
- The stitches come out more evenly on a long, straight needle when you are a newbie.
In the long run, there may be some points speaking against knitting with long, straight needles, too.
- When working on really large items, such as afghans or triangular shawls, having all the stitches bundled up on the end of your knitting needle creates an overload of weight and may lead to wrist fatigue. Hence, you will have to pause more often and it will take you longer to finish your work.
- If you do not wish to knit your whole item in garter stitch, you will usually purl the reverse row, which takes a wee bit longer than producing simple knit stitches.
- As you always have to discount the edge stitches for your seams, you will end up knitting more stitches in general.
Actually many knitters do not see these points necessarily as obstacles. And that is perfectly okay. Knitters are a very diverse community and it is totally up to you to find your favourite knitting style and the needle type that works best for you.
Circular knitting needles are considered to be the most versatile knitting needle type on the market. In our range of knitting needles you will find a huge variety of both fixed circular needles and interchangeable circular needles. Here are their pros and cons:
- Circular needles can be used for knitting both in the round and for flat items. You simply get the best of both worlds. If your cable is long enough, you can even use the magic loop technique to knit tubular pieces with a really small circumference like mittens, sleeves or socks and knit yoke sweaters on the same needle.
- The needle tips of circular knitting needles are much shorter than those of straight needles, meaning the majority of your stitches rests on the cord in your lap. This produces less hand fatigue, and you can knit for longer periods of time. Our tip: When selecting your circular knitting needle consider its length carefully. Ideally, tips and cable should always be a little bit shorter than the total number of stitches you plan to accomodate. In our range of circular needles we have developed cables and needles of many different lengths, even for very small circumferences.
- On circular needles you can knit all sorts of three-dimensional tubular things, not just hats or socks, but also toys, accessories and decoration. If you wish to knit many different circumferences, a set of interchangeable circular needles is a great investment, as it will give you all the freedom to combine different needle sizes with a variety of cords.
- Knitting in the round is faster than flat knitting, as you don’t have to purl your way back. You will always face the front of your fabric.
- There are way less seams to sew, or none at all which will also save you a huge amount of time.
As you may have imagined there are a few downsides to knitting on circular knitting needles.
- When knitting in the round, it is harder to weave in your tails, simply because there are no seams where you can easily hide them. Depending on your pattern and yarn, a woven-in tail will always be visible. You can, of course, weave tails in as you knit. This is a technique which creates little floats of yarn on the inside of your item. It will not secure the thread compared to weaving the tail into a seam, though.
- Knitting on circular needles may alter the appearance of your stitches at first, and it will also change your gauge, even when using same size needles and yarn. Our tip: Always make a gauge when planning to switch needles, even if you have worked with the same yarn before.
- If you are knitting in the round using either the magic loop or other techniques to join the stitches on your needles, you have to be extra careful when knitting the first round as any twist of the yarn may also twist your circle. Suddenly you have a twisted infinity piece on your needles. Our tip for newcomers to circular knitting is to cast on flat and not join the stitches until after a few rows. This way, you can more easily tell if your stitches are twisted.
Whether you prefer straight knitting needles or circular ones really comes down to habit and taste. In the end it is the result that is important, - the project you have designed and created. What is your favourite KnitPro knitting needle?
Also check out our latest tutorial on how to knit a hat on both circular and double pointed knitting needles, step by step.
