To start knitting in the round you need to be able to do two things:
1. Cast on (preferably using the thumb method as this gives a neater edge)
2. Knit on two needles, (sounds obvious, but start on two needles before progressing to four!)
For the purposes of this section we will assume that four double-ended knitting needles will be used for knitting. (Some European countries routinely use five needles for circular knitting, but when working in miniature you do not often need more than four needles, although of course this is down to personal preference and experience)
Starting to knit in the round
1. Casting on
· This can be very tricky when you first do this, as you will have needles dangling as you cast on all the stitches. The trick is to try not to let the dangling needles get twisted.
· A pattern will usually state the number of stitches to be cast on; you will then have to divide the total number by three. For example if the pattern states 48 stitches then 48 divided by 3 = 16 stitches on each of the three needles. Sometimes the number doesn’t divide equally by three, so you may have slightly different numbers of stitches on each needle.
2. Knitting the first round
This is the trickiest part of the knitting and once this round is completed it is a lot easier.
· Making sure the cast on stitches are not twisted on the needles, make the needles into a triangular shape and use the 4th needle (which now becomes the active needle) to work the stitches on the 1st needle. Leave the end of the cast on wool hanging, as this will mark the start of each round.
· Knit into the first stitch on the 1st needle (making sure you do not use the hanging end of the casting on to knit with). Knit across all the other stitches on the first needle, your 4th needle will now have the stitches on and the 1st needle will be empty. This 1st needle now becomes the active needle and you now knit across all the stitches on the 2nd needle until this is emptied and the 1st needle has the stitches from the 2nd needle. You now knit the stitches from the 3rd needle using the now empty 2nd needle. When all the stitches from the 3rd needle have been worked you have completed a ROUND (if this had been on two needles it would have been called a row). The dangling marker thread should be directly below this point.
· If this is your first attempt at knitting in the round, you may wish to place point protectors or elastic bands on the points of the needles which are not active to stop the stitches from sliding off, so whilst working you have only the two active points unprotected. As you move to the next needle move the point protector from the point of the needle you will be working on to the one you have just finished with. As you become more experienced you will find this is no longer necessary.
3. Working further rounds
This becomes much simpler as the stitches are now arranged in a circle and you just keep knitting the stitches from each needle. If you continue to work rounds of plain knitting you will notice that you have knitted a tube, which resembles stocking (stockinette) stitch.
Sometimes if you are working a pattern or rib you will need to ‘purl’ a stitch, but most ‘knitting in the round’ is just plain knitting, sometimes with two or more colours.