Recently while struggling to knit a baby’s blanket on straight needles, I discovered an easier way to do it. In this post, you’ll learn how to use circular knitting needles to knit a blanket.
At the time of writing this post, my niece is expecting her first child. Any child being born is an exciting event, but for us, this little boy will be even more special as he is the first grandchild in our family. My niece’s mother – my sister – is sadly no longer with us, so I wanted to step in be the ‘quasi’ granny if you like. My other sister says she feels nauseous at the thought of knitting so there’s no chance she will knit anything!
Naturally, I wanted to make something for this little one. I had quite a bit of yarn left over from another project I completed so a blanket immediately came to mind. I had some bamboo knitting needles which I figured would be ok seeing as they were quite long ones.
I decided that the size of the blanket in the pattern I had chosen was a bit on the small side so I increased the number of stitches. My thinking was that if it was a bit bigger then it could be used for a bit longer as the baby grew. Also, this family lives in Australia so I guessed it might not get much use in Summer over there. By increasing the size it could be used the following winter when the baby was bigger.
I had not done much when I began to really struggle working with the number of stitches on my straight needles. It was frustrating and slow trying to knit with so many stitches on one needle! As the project grew even more, I found that the weight of the work was pulling on my hands, and arms. That’s when I discovered you can use circular knitting needles to knit flat projects as well as knitting in the round. To my surprise, they were not too expensive to buy either!
I found this video which explains how to use these needles. They are not any different to the straight ones.
Contents
Supplies You’ll Need
- Circular Knitting Needle
- Suggested Baby Blanket Knitting Pattern – Vertical Lines Design
- Worsted Weight Yarn – Paintbox Aran 100% Cotton
The recommended yarn for this pattern is a worsted-weight yarn. In case of allergies to wool products, I would opt for 100% cotton such as the Paintbox Cotton Aran Yarns
Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needle Sets
To save having to buy many different sizes and lengths of circular needles you might consider investing in a set of them. As an example, this one gets you a range of needle tips and several different cable lengths. It should therefore cover all project requirements.
Begin by casting on the required number of stitches with your circular knitting needles. As with normal straight knitting needles, you will be casting stitches onto the left-hand needle. As you get more stitches onto the straight part of the needle, they will begin to slide onto the cable part of the circular knitting needle.
Once all the stitches are cast on, now knit as you would do for straight needles – that is with the needle with stitches on it in the left hand.
Now work across the stitches as directed by the pattern just as you would conventionally. That is moving the stitches to the right-hand side needle.
Once you have worked all the stitches onto the right-hand needle, turn them so that the left hand now has the needle with all the stitches.
Working with these needles is just like using normal straight ones. The only exception is that the cable joins them.
Benefits of Circular Needles
The cable that joins the two straight parts of the needles together holds the bulk of the knitting work so this means your hands, arms and shoulders are not taking that weight.
With these types of needles, you can work with a far larger number of stitches which most blanket patterns will require.
When you are done with a session of knitting, just push the stitches to the cable section and put them away. It is much less likely that your stitches will fall off these needles versus the conventional straight ones.
As they are shorter they can be packed away in a much smaller space, and so are ideal for travelling with.
Of course, now that I am used to working with them, I plan on learning how to knit in the round so that I can make things like socks and hats.
So, if you’re looking for an easier way to knit a blanket, get some circular knitting needles – they’re so much more enjoyable. There is not much difference when using them compared with the more conventional straight ones. You stand to benefit so much more – less strain on your hands and arms, and no more frustration with too many stitches on the needle!
