by Clarica Grove

Created on: January 19, 2011

Circular knitting needles are a very convenient tool for the modern knitter. Technically, this is a double-pointed knitting needle which has a flexible strand between the points so that they can be knit against each other.

The length of the flexible strand can vary quite a lot, and the needles are available in many materials, just like straight knitting needles. You can start any knitting project on circular needles! For back and forth knitting, the length of the circular needle used varies according to project and preference. A narrow project like a scarf can be knit on on a shorter set of circular needles, and wider or bulkier projects on longer. Just cast on to one of the needles, then pick up the other and knit your first row. Turn your work over, as usual, and begin your second row. There's nothing intimidating about regular knitting on circular needles. Get a pair and try them out!

Traditional, rigid, double-pointed needles (DPNs) are used in sets of 3 or more to "work in the round", or create a tube of knitted fabric, for example a sock. Regular "straight" needles and DPNs do have a decided disadvantage in that as you finish a row or move stitches from one needle to another, the moment comes when one of your knitting needles is empty. If you should happen to lose that idle needle, you are blocked from making any progress. Even if you just drop it momentarily, picking it back up and continuing to knit with it can be a serious interruption to the flow of your concentration-a serious obstacle when you are just learning to knit, or are a more advanced knitter following a complicated stitch pattern. Circular needles have the virtue of being complete in and of themselves-whether you knit back and forth, or around and around, you never loose the matching needle point.

For knitting a small tube of material, many knitters use a circular needle that is much longer than the number of stitches required by the project, and a technique called "magic loop". With this technique parts of the flexible strand are left outside the active stitches (crossed over themselves in loops (like the cursive letter 'e') to shorten the active work area and leave unused loops of the flexible strand out. This may seem like an intimidating or advanced technique, but the most complicated part is the knitting itself.

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