Even if you have only just started knitting, chances are you’ve already come across patterns that talk about circular knitting needles. At first, I too was a bit confused, so I spent some time understanding the basics about them. If you are at this stage, then you might like this post in which I cover what I learned that helped me understand what knitting in the round was all about.
Benefits of Circular Needles
There is a lot of talk about these needle types as they enable us to do so many different kinds of projects.
Circulars can do what ordinary straight needles do and more. For example, they are ideal for when you want to make a tube-like section in some knitting without having a seam – hats, socks, gloves, mittens, sleeves, and the body of a jumper. We call this knitting in the round – that is, without a seam!
These needles also can be used in the same way as single-pointed straight needles and for knitting flat. If you have a project in which you are using a particularly bulky weight yarn, or have a lot of stitches cast on, then circulars hold that bulk and weight of the knitting on the cable, which sits on your lap. When using normal needles, that weight is on the needles and exerts a force on your hands and arms. So, circulars can provide a more pleasurable knitting experience.
What are Circular Knitting Needles?
Although the word says ‘circular‘ they are not actually formed into a circle but are made up of 2 connected knitting pins joined together by a flexible cable. However, once you are working with them, they do form a circle of knitting.
Anatomy of a Circular Knitting Needle
The knitting pins are generally shorter than a normal straight single pointed needle and are on average between 4 and 5 inches long. (10 to 12cm) But you can get them shorter than this if your project requires them.
The cable that connects the two pins is made from a flexible material that springs back when released and does not kink. The cable length varies according to the type of project for which it is used.
When choosing a circular needle, you’ll find they are available in many different types of materials, just like ordinary needles. For beginners, it is recommended that you go for a bamboo or wood-based product due to the reduced chances of stitches slipping off. A more slippery material, like plastic or metal, means the stitches can move around too much and slide off more easily.
So, when you are looking to buy a circular knitting needle, you will have to decide on the thickness of the needles – say 3mm for socks on thinner yarn- or whatever the pattern says – and the length of the cable. The length is determined by the nature of your project.
Circular needles are defined by 2 dimensions – size (thickness) and length. Size is the thickness in mm of the knitting pin and is the same as for straight single-point needles. The length refers to the distance from the tip of one needle pin plus the cable length to the tip of the other pin.
Circular Knitting Needle Lengths
So, what length circular should you use?
As we learned above the length of needle that you need will be dictated by the project that you are doing. Most patterns should tell you what type of circular needle you need to use. To help your understanding, let’s look at the main lengths that are used.
Mini Circular Knitting Needles
These are the shortest circular knitting needles, and they are tiny with a length of usually 9 inches- around 23cm. There is one that is 20cm long ie 7.8 inches! Being short, you can imagine that they are used for tiny projects with small diameters like socks, baby mittens, and hats.
As the cable length is much shorter, you will also find the length of the pins is less as well, even as short as 1.75 inches. For that reason, it is not recommended that a beginner start off with these very short circular needles.
Short Circular Knitting Needles
These are the lengths that are more often used and are from 30cm (12in) to 60cm (24in) lengths. They are employed when you need to make anything that is a smallish tube, for example socks, gloves, mittens, beanie hats and the sleeves of garments.
Long Circular Knitting Needles
You can get longer lengths of 80cm (31in) to 150cm (59in) circulars, which are useful for the body of jumpers for adults and larger work, such as knitting baby blankets and the edges of blankets.
How to Choose the Correct Length Circular Needle
Having learned that it is important to get the right length circular needle, the next question you might ask is how you might figure out what the correct length is for your project.
In most patterns, you will be given this information, but if you are not, what can you do to work it out?
- Work out first what is the largest number of stitches you will have for that particular project or section of knitting.
- Now divide that number of stitches by the gauge (stitches per inch )
This will give you the length of needle you need to use.
Your pattern will give you this information and you should also get it from your swatch.
If, after doing the calculation, you find out that the needle you need is a bit longer than the one you already have, it is still possible to use a slightly smaller length needle. This is, of course, because you can squash up the stitches a little. It all depends on whether you can knit comfortably with those extra stitches or not, in which case you will need to buy the longer one.
The rule is that you can use a shorter length but NOT one that is longer as your knitting will be stretched and lose its shape.
A Circular Needle length must not be longer than the smallest circumference of any section you are knitting
In some patterns, you may have to change to different lengths of circular needles during the construction of a project.
Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needles
A solution to this problem of having to use several different lengths of circulars is to invest in what is called an interchangeable circular knitting needles set. Interchangeable sets offer the ability to change not only the thickness of the pins but also the cable lengths.
Since these sets require more of an investment than a pair of straight single-point needles or a circular you should think carefully about whether they would be the right choice for you or not. If you are an avid knitter and would need to change cable lengths/ sizes often enough, then this could be a solution for your situation. Maybe start with a project that requires only one circular, see how you go, and if you start doing more with them, then it might be time to invest in a set.
So there you have the basics about circular needles and what they are, how they are made up, and how to choose the right length. Next, read this post to find out how to use circular knitting needles to knit in the round
