Knitting with circular needles. How to tie snood? Knitting a sweater with circular knitting needles without seams

Each craftswoman at some point in her practice is faced with the fact that for the manufacture of one or another knitted product or an element of the product, you must use circular knitting needles. However, many knitters, accustomed to using straight needles, often refuse to practical application circular knitting needles, replacing them with five ordinary ones. It also happens vice versa, when, after knitting on circular knitting needles, needlewomen simply cannot pick up ordinary straight knitting needles. And in this matter, there are no those who make the wrong choice. It’s just that we are all different and everyone has their own habits, including knitting. In this article, we will figure out how to knit on circular knitting needles, what they are, and also consider their main advantages.

WHAT THE CIRCULAR NEEDES LOOK

Circular knitting needles are two short knitting needles that are connected by a steel cable or elastic fishing line. They are completely different in diameter and can be made of various materials, from aluminum to bamboo. The length of the line is also different.

There are also special sets of circular knitting needles in which the fishing line and the knitting needles themselves are detached from each other and you can combine knitting needles of different diameters with different lengths of the fishing line.

These kits can be ordered from this link.

ADVANTAGES OF CIRCULAR SPOKES

1. When knitting on circular needles, the final product does not have a seam. This factor is important in the manufacture of hats, snoods, sweater necks, etc.
2. Circular knitting needles are universal. With their help, you can knit absolutely any product, which cannot be said about straight knitting needles.
3. When creating wide products, the bulk of the knitting remains on the cable (or fishing line) and does not weigh down the knitting needle with which you are working. Thus, the load on the arm and hand is reduced.
4. Compactness. Circular knitting needles are much shorter in size than straight ones, and the fishing line or cable twists easily. You can easily take these knitting needles with you on the road, because they even fit in a woman's handbag.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF KNITTING ON CIRCULAR NEEDLE

The main specificity of knitting in a circle is that we knit only the front side of the product. In this case, a set of loops on circular knitting needles is carried out in any way, since you are used to doing this using straight knitting needles. The only thing to consider is the absence of edge loops. Therefore, they are not included in the total calculation of cast-on loops.

In order not to get confused during the knitting process, it is advisable to mark the beginning of the row with a special marker that can be transferred from one knitting needle to another.

When knitting, we work with a certain group of loops, which in this moment is located on our working needle. The remaining loops at this moment are located on the fishing line and are waiting for their turn. Gradually moving the knitted loops to the fishing line, and the un-knitted ones from the fishing line to the left knitting needle, we carry out our process. It is necessary to ensure that the loops do not twist and lie flat on the knitting needles.

In order to avoid a gap at the junction of the first and last loops of the row, it is necessary to type one extra loop on the knitting needles and remove it in the first row without knitting. At the end of the circle, this loop must be knitted together with the first. But if such manipulations are quite difficult for a beginner knitter, then you can simply pull the thread tighter when the circle closes to prevent a gap between the loops.

Each, even a beginner knitter, sooner or later faces the fact that the intended product or some part of it needs to be knitted in a circle. It can be a sweater collar, a hat, a scarf-collar or ordinary socks. Many knitters use circular knitting even for more complex items. For example, a vest.

circular needles

However, it is quite common that once accustomed to working with ordinary long knitting needles, and even having successfully mastered knitting in a circle with a set of five double-edged knitting needles, the knitter no longer tries to work in circles, considering it difficult.

Many of those who have tried knitting with circular knitting needles, then knit with them even those things in which knitting in a circle will not be used and will no longer return to ordinary long ones.

Differences between circular knitting needles and regular knitting needles

We propose to consider the main differences between circular knitting needles and ordinary knitting needles and find out if circular knitting is really more difficult with them. Or is it still worth a try.

The first thing that distinguishes circular knitting needles is their compactness. They are much more convenient to take with you on the road, on a picnic, to the country house - and anywhere. Long straight needles always make knitting more cumbersome. A set of double-edged knitting needles is generally quite difficult to pack in such a way that both ends are securely hidden.

Second: if you knit a big thing with them (a sweater, a dress or even a coat), the hands do not overstrain when knitting. After all, in fact, they work only with the number of loops that are directly on short knitting needles. The main weight of the knitted fabric hangs on a cable or fishing line and partially rests on the knees, without weighing down the hands and without restricting movements.

The third follows from the first. The fact that such spokes are much shorter than straight ones significantly reduces the chances of hitting someone nearby when working with them.

Fourth: products knitted in a circle do not have seams, which is important, for example, for hats or necklines baby sweater, and if they do, they are very few.

Fifth: versatility. With the help of circular knitting needles, you can really knit almost everything, including hats, socks and mittens, the knitting of which the vast majority of craftswomen associate with a set of double-edged knitting needles. Although, in fact, both processes are not too different from each other.

In addition, today you should not be afraid that the elastic part will bend and break off. The times when knitting in the round was accompanied by periodic cutting of a broken elastic tube and putting its rest on a knitting needle have sunk into the past. Even the knitting needles that came to the aid of knitters with a thick fishing line attached to them today may well replace reliable circular ones with an elastic, durable metal cable.

In a word, manufacturers of needlework accessories today only delight both beginners and fairly experienced knitters. We just have to consider the question of how to knit a circle with knitting needles.

Features of circular knitting

The main nuance of knitting in the round is that with this method only the front side of the product is knitted. This should be kept in mind from the very beginning. A set of loops for the product should already be carried out taking into account this specificity. After all, edge loops are not needed here.

Openwork patterns are much more difficult to knit in the round. Loops that, when working with the wrong side, need to be knitted in the usual way, when knitting in the round, it will be necessary to knit in the so-called grandmother's way or give preference relief patterns without openwork.

The set of loops on circular knitting needles is made exactly the same as on ordinary straight lines. In this case, the extreme typed loop will always be the last loop of the circle. For convenience, it should be additionally noted with a contrasting thread or pin. You can use a special plastic marker that can be transferred from one knitting needle to another.

There are circular knitting needles of different diameters and different lengths. Ideally, when knitting, you should use knitting needles of exactly the length indicated in the instructions. However, not everyone today can afford to purchase separate circular knitting needles for almost every product. If you have knitting needles of a suitable diameter in your bins, but the cable between them is too long, it will be more convenient to immediately divide the cast-on loops into two parts and work, leaving groups of loops closer to the ends of the knitting needles, and between these groups - the free part of the cable. At runtime, it looks like this:

Remaining circular, our work will, as it were, consist of two parts, which must be knitted alternately until we reach the desired length. We work with one half of the loops, while the second one hangs on the flexible part of the knitting needles, waiting for its turn. Then we move the untied part to the end of the left knitting needle, and we move the just knitted part to its place approximately in the middle of our cable, freeing the right working knitting needle. And so on.
There is no need to constantly take care that all knitting loops move in a circle. The loops will not stretch or deform.

So, the set of the required number of loops is completed, you can start knitting.

IN right hand we take the knitting needle with the last of the loops cast on and the working thread, and in the left - with the first of the loops cast on.

We start knitting

When knitting the very first row, special attention should be paid to ensure that the loops do not twist. Otherwise, the edge of the product will be uneven. However, this is much easier to follow than when knitting the first and even the second row with a set of double-edged knitting needles.

To avoid the formation of a too noticeable hole at the junction of the first row of the circle, it is advised to start knitting loops with a working thread along with its free end. However, this method can make the beginning of knitting noticeably thicker and tighter.

You can carefully close the loops around by typing an extra loop on the knitting needles, and at the beginning of the first row, remove it without knitting. Then, at the end of the circle, this extra loop should be knitted together with the first loop.
More often, it is more convenient to start knitting as usual, just pulling the thread harder so that when the circle closes, a step does not form.

Decreasing loops

We propose to consider the process of decreasing loops in circular knitting using the example of a regular hat.
Those who already know how to decrease loops know that the more so-called decrease lines, the more rounded the top of the product will turn out. You can knit a higher hat, close the loops with one line and at the same time get two kind of "ears". And you can reduce the loops at regular intervals.
Here it should be noted another plus of circular knitting needles. When knitting, say, with double-edged knitting needles, you can decrease the loops, for example, by knitting them two at the end of each knitting needle. More than four times in one circle to reduce them is no longer very convenient.

On circular ones, you can knit two loops together every, say, 8-10 loops. The next round should be knitted without decreasing loops. In the third row from the beginning of the decrease in loops, two loops already after 7-9 loops. Then we decrease the loops in each odd row, until there are 2-3 of them from each group of loops.
Through the remaining loops, you can use a crochet hook to stretch the thread folded in half, pull it tightly into a ring, and then fasten the free end of the thread from the inside out. The result is a neat rounded crown.

It's no secret that 90% of craftswomen prefer to knit their products without subsequent stitching. It is much easier for beginner knitters to learn on straight tools. However, as soon as the craftswoman picks up circular knitting needles and knits her first thing on them, then straight tools will go down in history.

Circular knitting needles are two straight stocking needles, which are connected into a single whole with a cable, thanks to which the craftswoman can knit any product without seams. Like straight knitting needles, circular knitting needles are subdivided depending on the diameter, as well as the length of the cable. Their diameter varies from 1.5 to 30 mm, and the length of the cable ranges from 30 to 300 cm.

As a general rule, short circular needles are best used for knitting baby hats, socks, or sweater necks. On long tools, it is easiest to knit large products, such as a plaid, coat or cardigan. All circular tools are plastic, metal and even bamboo. In the video, the craftswoman shows how to start knitting on metal stocking needles.

Video: The process of knitting in a circle

Most often, needlewomen prefer to work with metal tools, however, some things are easier to make using plastic or bamboo, for example, with thick yarn, as in the photo below, it is easiest to do with large diameter bamboo knitting needles.

In order for circular knitting to bring only joy, when choosing a tool, pay attention to the following points:

• rope quality. For better sliding of loops during knitting, it is necessary to choose tools with a flexible and light cable;
• transition from a cable to a knitting needle. In order for knitting in a circle to bring only joy and pleasure, it is necessary to pay special attention to the junction of the cable and knitting needles. There should not be any notches in this area, and the connection angle should be obtuse.

What are the advantages of special knitting needles:

How to start knitting

In order to properly start working in a circle, follow these steps:

• First, type on the knitting needles the required number of loops. You can cast on loops immediately on circular tools, or you can first cast on straight stocking needles of the same size, and then transfer them to circular ones;
• then you need to distribute all the dialed loops along the entire length of the cable. Before knitting patterns, you should make sure that all loops look in the same direction;
• in the right hand of the knitter, the stocking needle with the last cast-on loop should be located, in the left hand, respectively, it is located with the initial loops. In order not to make a mistake and correctly connect all the loops in a circle, mark the first loop with a marker;
• we knit the marked loop together with the last loop, and then we continue knitting in the round, in accordance with the scheme.

The video below clearly shows the whole process of the correct set of loops and their closure in a circle. Any craftswoman knows how difficult it can be to knit some large thing, for example, quite long and durable tools are needed to knit a bedspread or coat. Special knitting needles with a fishing line can greatly facilitate the life of a craftswoman, because knitted products, even very large ones, do not need to be sewn, they are easier and easier to hold while knitting, and the knitted fabric itself turns out to be much neater and smoother.

Video: Circular knitting for beginners

I think most often napkins and tablecloths are knitted from the center with knitting needles. However, as one of the options for knitting from the center in a circle, in this way you can also knit clothes that turn out to be non-standard, original and in some models absolutely seamless.

I was prompted to study this topic by a jacket knitted from the center (you can see it on the right). Previously, I knitted, but there was already a ready-made pattern, besides, it was openwork and in some rows of loops more were added than necessary, in some less, this compensated for each other and the output was a flat circle. And now I'm interested in how to knit a flat circle with knitting needles from the center with a regular front surface. It is very convenient, knowing the pattern of knitting a flat circle with knitting needles, to change and come up with knitting patterns.

For the experiment, I decided to knit a circle with 8 wedges and evenly add 8 loops each row. Let me remind you that I will knit in a circle.

Knitting requires stocking needles and a crochet hook. To start knitting, I use a crochet hook, so the cast-on edge will look more neat.

1. I crochet 8 single crochet stitches (instead of the first stitch I knit 2 air loops) and close the set row into a ring with a connecting column into the 2nd air loop. 2. I put the hook aside, it will not be needed anymore. I take 4 knitting needles and put on 2 loops of the ring on each knitting needle, introducing the knitting needles under the front walls of the loops. 3. I knit the 1st row. And immediately in this row I begin to make increases (8 loops): 1 person., nakid, 1 person., nakid, 1 person., nakid, 1 person., nakid, 1 person., nakid, 1 person., nakid, 1 person., yarn, 1 person., yarn. There are 16 stitches in total on the needles. 4. I knit the 2nd row. Again I make increases at the end of each wedge, I knit the yarns of the previous row with the front crossed. There are 24 loops on the needles. I knit the next rows in the same way. 5. And that's what happens. In the second photo, it is already noticeable that folds have appeared. I take out the knitting needles from the canvas and make sure that the circle does not turn out to be flat, it is obvious that there are 2 extra wedges in it. 6. I dissolve the fabric and knit a circle with 8 wedges and evenly add 8 loops every 2nd row. Now the circle is flat.

Therefore, I draw 2 conclusions:

1) when knitting from the center circle with 6 wedges a flat circle will turn out if you evenly add 6 loops each row;

2) when knitting from the center circle with 8 wedges a flat circle will turn out if you evenly add 8 loops every 2nd row.

Nowadays, knitting in a circle is becoming stronger and stronger among knitters. Of course, because it has a lot of advantages compared to knitting with rotary rows. Firstly, the products are obtained without seams, and this is true for knitting for babies. Secondly, for beginner needlewomen who have not yet mastered the skill of neatly stitching details. Thirdly, knitting in a circle eliminates the knitting of purl loops when knitting a stocking (front) surface. For example, patterns for Japanese patterns are always drawn up as they look from the front side, and it is more convenient to knit according to them when knitting in the round, as they are very intricate and even experienced needlewomen often find it difficult to invert these patterns for turning rows. Well, knitting socks, mittens, gloves, hats is simply unthinkable without circular knitting. Therefore, I highly recommend mastering this knitting method, in which, of course, you will have to observe a number of features. (I have highlighted them in bold.)

For circular knitting, you will need knitting needles with fishing line. You can also knit in the round on double-edged knitting needles, but we will look at this technique in another lesson.

You can cast on stitches directly on knitting needles with fishing line, but I always use straight knitting needles of the same size as the circular knitting needles with which I am going to knit the product later. Cast on the required number of stitches on the needles. Attention, when knitting in a circle the number of loops is always a multiple of the pattern repeat, no loops for symmetry, and never edge loops are not taken into account because they simply won't exist.

It is necessary to continue knitting on circular knitting needles with fishing line. Pull one straight needle out of the cast and set it aside, you won't need it anymore. Take a knitting needle with fishing line, and we will continue knitting with it.

As I already mentioned there are no edge loops with circular knitting, so we knit the first loop according to the pattern. I started knitting with an elastic band 1x1, so I knitted the first loop with the front one, carefully tightening working thread at the first loop. For a 1x1 elastic band, the number of loops must be even, then when moving from row to row, no joints will be visible. For an elastic band 2x2, the number of loops must necessarily be a multiple of 4. We continue knitting according to the pattern, in our case, this is an elastic band 1x1, we knit 1 person.p., 1 out.p.

Since we do not have edge loops, we knit the last loop in the row according to the pattern, in our case this is the wrong loop. We carefully distribute all the loops along the entire length of the fishing line and knitting needles so that knitting begins and ends at the very ends of the knitting needles. For this it is important to choose the right length of the needles on the fishing line. For a large number loops, for knitting tablecloths, large parts take knitting needles with a fishing line length of 80 cm or more. For knitting cuffs, socks and the like, they take the shortest knitting needles - 20 or 30 cm. For processing the neck, knitting hats, they take knitting needles about 40 cm long. When distributing loops along the length of the knitting needles watch closely, so that the knitting does not twist around the fishing line, otherwise the knitting will twist and it will be impossible to fix after knitting several rows. Next, we do not turn the knitting as usual. Take the end of the needle with the first stitch of the row in left hand, and the end of the knitting needle with the last loop of the row in the right hand and close the two knitting needles. You are ready to knit the next row in the round.

We continue knitting with an elastic band 1x1, alternating 1 person.p. and 1 out.p. You can easily determine the beginning and end of the row by the tail of the type-setting thread. However, if this is difficult for you, then you can use a special marker put on the knitting needle at the moment the knitting is closed into a ring. When moving from one row to another, simply transfer this marker from one knitting needle to another. Elastic band 1x1 always fits in the same way, over the front loops - front loops, and over the purl - purl.

Keep in mind that purl loops must be knitted in the second way, since only with this method the loop lies with the front wall (upper lobule) forward, and we always knit the purl loops for the upper lobule. If you choose the first way of knitting a purl loop, then when knitting the purl in the next row, you will have to hook it to the back wall. So we smoothly moved on to knitting the wrong side on circular knitting needles. Since the knitting is always turned to the knitter with one side, we always knit the loops as they look. Accordingly, to obtain the wrong side, we knit all the loops on the wrong side in the second way in both even and odd rows.

As you already understood, in order to facial surface, all stitches are always knitted. And it doesn’t matter how you tied the first row with them, behind the front wall, or behind the back wall. When knitting facial loops in a circle, they will always be located with the front wall (upper slice) forward, therefore front loops in circular knitting are always knitted behind the front wall. So, to get the front surface with circular knitting, all rows: both even and odd, are knitted with front loops.

With circular knitting, as I wrote above, knitting is always turned to the knitter with the front side, there are no turning rows. so when knitting patterns it is important to keep track of which rows are even and which are odd. If in the description of the pattern it is written that in even rows knit "how the loops look", then all even rows simply repeat the odd ones. A lot of patterns can be adapted to knitting in the round. If the pattern scheme is drawn up in the order of knitting loops, then all even rows must be inverted, i.e. imagine how the loops will look from the front side and knit them in this way. Very often, patterns for patterns are drawn up in such a way that it shows how the loops look from the front side. Such patterns are more visual and are very well suited for knitting in a circle. Unfortunately, there are some types of patterns that are only possible when knitting in turn rows, in this case, if you choose this pattern, you will have to give up circular knitting.