Knitting in the Round on Double Pointed Needles

Knitting in the round on double-pointed, like on circular needles, allows you to create tubes of knitting. Typically, double-pointed needles are chosen for smaller tubes: socks, tops of hats and sleeve cuffs.

Double pointed needles have points at both ends and come in sets of 4 or 5.

One major characteristic of knitting in the round is that the right side is always facing you. This means that if you are working up a stockinette swatch, you will knit all rows.

We provide both a video and photo tutorial for this technique:

	Step 1: You must first cast on or pick up stitches to have a foundation of stitches on your double pointed needles just as you would for straight knitting. Evenly distribute your stitches over 3 or 4 needles. (See Knit Tutorial Index for techniques used to cast on or pick up stitches.) In preparation for joining, arrange the stitches so that they are not twisted. In this example, the cast-on edge is facing center.
	Step 2: Picking up your dpns so that the start of your cast-on / picked-up foundation row is in your left hand, and the end of your foundation row is in your right hand, place a marker on your right needle. This marker will indicate the end of the round. Make sure to keep your stitches untwisted!
	Step 3: Purl or knit the first stitch on the left needle as desired (knit shown). Pull the loop on the right needle through the stitch on the left needle. Pull the yarn tight to avoid a hole.
	Step 4: Continue with the free needle, working the stitches on the left needle. When all the stitches are worked off the left needle, that one will become the free needle and work the stitches off of the next needle in the "triangle".
	Step 5: Continue working until you come to the marker. This marks the completion of the first round. Slip the marker to the right needle and continue working the number of rounds required. TIP: One way to avoid "holes" between stitches on 2 different needles is to continually rotate the edge stitches keeping approximately the same number of stitches on each needle.