How to Knit in the Round (Beginner Step-by-Step)

Circular needles come in the same sizes as straight needles, so the size you pick is driven by your yarn (the yarn band lists a recommended needle size). What is different is the cable. Pick a cable length that is shorter than the finished circumference of whatever you are knitting. A 16-inch needle is the sweet spot for an adult hat. A 24-inch or 32-inch works for a cowl. A 9-inch is for socks but is fiddly - most knitters skip it and use double-pointed needles or magic loop for socks instead.

If your cable is too long for your project, the stitches get stretched taut around the loop and you cannot knit them. The rule of thumb: choose a cable shorter than your project, never longer.

Casting on for the round is exactly the same as casting on for a flat project. Long tail cast on works great here - it gives you a clean, stretchy edge. Cast on the number of stitches your pattern calls for, sliding each stitch onto the right needle as you go.

Push the stitches along the cable so they spread out evenly between the two needle tips. Do not crowd them all on one tip. Spreading them across the cable is the move that makes the next step (the untwist check) much easier.

This is the one step where people get themselves into permanent trouble - and the one step where the fix is free if you do it now. Lay the needle on a flat surface and look down the row of stitches. Every single one should face the same direction along the cable. The little V-shaped base of each stitch should sit on the inside of the loop, not flipped over the top.

Walk your eye all the way around the cable. If you find a stitch that is twisted, gently rotate it back into line. A twist that survives this step becomes a Mobius strip when you join, and there is no way to untwist it without ripping back to the cast on.

Find the working yarn - the strand still attached to the ball - and the needle tip closest to it. That goes in your right hand. The other tip (with the first cast-on stitch on it) goes in your left hand. The cable curves around between them, forming a circle.

Hold the two tips close together with the stitches kissing at the join point. This is the position you will start every round from for the rest of the project.

Knit the first stitch on the left needle using the working yarn from the right. That single stitch is your join - the moment your flat row of cast-on stitches becomes a closed circle. There is no special technique. It is a regular knit stitch, just bridging the two ends.

You should feel and see the tube form. The cable curves around the back, the working yarn comes off the right needle, and you are now knitting in the round.

Right after that first joining stitch, pull the working yarn snug. This closes the gap between the last cast-on stitch and the first knit stitch. Skip the tug and you get a little ladder running up the side of your project. It is the most common rookie tell, and the fix is just two extra seconds of tension.

Now slip a stitch marker onto the right needle, right after the joining stitch. The marker rides between rounds and tells you when one round ends and the next begins. Without it, you will lose count almost immediately - the join disappears into the fabric after a few rounds.

From here, knit every stitch on every round and you get stockinette fabric (no purling, no turning). When you reach the marker, slip it from the left needle to the right and start the next round. That is the whole technique.

If your project gets smaller than your cable length - the crown of a hat, the tip of a mitten, the toe of a sock - the stitches will not stretch around the loop any more. Switch to double-pointed needles or use the magic loop method with a longer circular. Most beginner hats and cowls match the 16-inch or 24-inch circular all the way through, so you will not hit this for a while.