Tips for Knitting in the Round

From Jogless Joins to Neater Ribbing

In a previous post, I glossed over what knitting in the round is and went over a bit of the mechanics. In this post, I’m taking you beyond what you’ll need in terms of tools and the basic stitches. You’ll learn my favorite technique for a seamless join in the round and so much more! I really hope you’ll stick around and get all of the tips here because this is a favorite post of mine. It will help to make your projects look even more beautiful than they already do! Imagine that!

My Tips for Knitting in the Round:

Jogless Joins

If you have knit in the round before you might have noticed a little bump or nub that forms when you join your stitches and begin to knit. This is called a “jog”. There is a quick and easy way to eliminate this for a beautiful jogless join!

The first step is to cast on one extra stitch than what your pattern calls for. So if you need 90 stitches for your hat, cast on 91. Follow the regular steps taking care to make sure your stitches are evenly distributed and not twisted. Then you’re ready for the final step!

To eliminate the jog and to protect your stitch count, slip the first stitch on your left hand needle over to the right needle. Looking at the right needle, take the second to last stitch and lift it up and bring it over the last stitch. Now you have the right amount of stitches, and smoothed over your join!

To start knitting again, move the slipped stitch back over to the right hand needle. Place a stitch marker and begin your project!

Neater Ribbing

Another tip for knitting in the round is to use twisted stitches. Using twisted knit stitches, twisted purls, or a combination can make your ribbing tighter, more textured, and just look cleaner. Let’s dive into what I mean here.

When I design my hat patterns, I never use normal knit stitches. Sounds crazy but stick with me. I use twisted knit stitches. They’re just like they sound, a knit stitch that is twisted. You do this by knitting the stitch through the back instead of the front.

A simple brim would look like: KTBL, P1 or K2TBL, P2. This is called a half twisted rib. You are twisted one of the two stitches. This will make your knit stitches stand out a bit more. It will make them more uniform. If you want a folded brim though, you’ll need to fold this toward the inside of the hat and fix it in place. This is easier and what my patterns call for.

If you want a brim that you can fold, as normal towards the outside of the hat switch this pattern around: K1, PTBL or K2, P2TBL. Its a little bit more difficult to purl through the back but is doable so don’t be intimidated!

You could do a twitsted rib by: KTBL, PTBL or K2TBL, P2TBL. This will make the brim a bit snug. It’s great for reversible patterns.

Choosing the Right Needle

Knitting in the round gives you a few needle options. You can use Double Pointed Needles or circular needles. Some people find DPNs difficult or slow to work with and will use circulars. When using circulalrs you have a few different options in terms of the length of your needle. I have nothing against magic loop, other than it takes more time, and can be challenging for some knitters. I prefer to find the right size needle for my project. In terms of hats, I use very short circulars that make knitting a breeze!

One potential downside is that you might have stitches potentially slide off of your needles if have a stitch count.

Knitting in the Round Faster

This is one that I haven’t tried but I recently heard increases your speed when knitting in the round. Use a left hand needle one size smaller than your pattern calls. The tip says that there is more room in your stitches to insert your right and hand needle and knit your stitches.

Let me know if these tips help with your knitting in the round!