Final Thoughts

If you have experience in knitting, you will find it easy to use circular knitting needles. There are also many circular knitting kits available online that have everything you need to switch to circular knitting. Knitting with circular needles is great as it is less tedious than knitting with straight needles.

It is also less of a strain on your hands and wrists. This means knitting will tire you out less. You can also safely knit on your commutes without worrying about dropping and losing your needles.

Having read this article, you now know how to use circular knitting needles, how you can pick the right size and then use it for different methods. We wish you luck for your knitting journey!

What Circular Needle Should I Use?

If you’re knitting from a pattern, follow its recommended needle length and size and use it as a base to get knitting gauge.

If you don’t have a pattern as a guide, you’ve got two features to consider:

1. Length of the needle

2. Material of the needle

LENGTH: As a rule, you should choose a needle length that is shorter than the circumference of your project.

For example: if you plan on knitting a hat that’s 20 inches in circumference, choose a needle length that is shorter than 20 inches. A traditional length for hat knitting is 16 inches.

Why does the needle need to be shorter than the knitting?

Think about it this way:

If you knit a 20 inch hat on a pair of 32” circular needles, your hat will not sit comfortably on the needle. Because the hat is 12 inches smaller than the needle, it will be stretched and straining against it.

That doesn’t make for a fun knitting experience. You’ll also end up stretching out the hat before you’ve had a chance to wear it. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Thankfully, most patterns list the exact needle length required, thereby eliminating the guesswork. But the rule remains: choose a needle length that’s shorter than the knitting, and you’ll prevent future tears and frustration.

MATERIAL: Like regular needles, circular needles come in a variety of materials. Choose from bamboo, wood, steel and plastic. The choice is yours!

In general, I recommend bamboo or wooden needles for beginners. Both materials have good surface drag, making the yarn less slippery on the needle.

As you become more comfortable with circular knitting, you might prefer steel or aluminium needles for their smoothness and speed.

I’ve tried a lot of circular needles – some good, some bad, some downright ugly! Here are my recommendations for beginners:

Your first knitted hat

Okay, it’s time for you to try your first project knitted in the round! I recommend starting with a chunky hat. It’s a fast and simple project, and you will learn all the basics of circular knitting. It’s always good to learn new techniques on small projects, and the chunky yarn will make the knitting even faster. Sheep & Stitch has a fantastic free tutorial for the perfect starter hat. The hat is knitted with chunky yarn on size US 15 (10 mm) circular needles with a cable length of 16 inches, and a set of US 15 (10 mm) double-pointed needles. You need the double-pointed needles for the top of the hat when the circumference is too small for the 16-inch circulars.

If you don’t have any circular and double-pointed needles yet, nor any experience with them, then I will advise you to start with bamboo needles and a fixed cable for the circulars. It could be Clover Takumi (for my US readers) or SeeKnit Koshitsu (for my DK readers), but there are many other good options. It’s probably too soon to buy a full set of interchangeable needles. Good quality interchangeable needles are an investment, and before you spend that kind of money, you will want to know what type of needles you prefer. Are you a metal, wood or bamboo kind of knitter? Are you all about the sharp tips, or do they hurt your fingers? How flexible would you like your cable to be? There are so many options. It’s cheaper to get started with a bamboo hat set of 16-inch circulars and matching DPNs. I am sure you will love chunky hats so much that you will use them again and again, making hats for all your friends and family. Of course, if you already know metal needles are your friends, you can use this an opportunity to find out which metal circulars are going to be your favorites.

The pattern and tutorial are free, but please consider buying the PDF version of the pattern to support the designer. Here is the Sheep & Stitch Chunky Hat for Beginners Pattern, and the video tutorial is below.

I welcome questions and comments

What is your experience with circular knitting? Have you tried it yet, or have you been hesitant to try it? Do you love or hate circular needles? What topics regarding circular knitting would you like me to write about next?

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