Anyone knitted with a circular...

[rantinghousewife]

how easy do you think this top will be. Can knit with 4 dp needles (a la socks), never tried a circular knitting needle tho. Want to give it a go and definitely want to knit that top. What do you more experienced knitters think?

[rantinghousewife]

Link here

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, that's cute.

Knitting with circulars isn't hard, it's easier than with DPNs, I think.

If you understand all the instructions, I'd say this looks easy. It looks nice, too, a good clear pattern. I might be tempted to try it myself, tbh.

[mabelmurple]

If you can knit with 4 needles you can definitely knit with circular needles. It's not hard at all, you just need a knot of different coloured wool which you would slip from one needle to the other to mark the beginning of a new row. Any pattern can be knitted in the round, and it eliminates sewing it up except to set the arms in.

[rantinghousewife]

Thanks for that, was wondering if maybe I was being a bit over ambitious in thinking it looked easy. Understood the pattern and have just finished socks. So I may well decide on the wool and go for it.

[rantinghousewife]

That's handy to know about the markers, thanks.

[agnesnitt]

Circs are fabulous, and much easier to deal with than the peskiness that is a set of dpns.

Go for it, you'll not look back

Agnes

[DutchOma]

Agree with all that's been said. I do a lot of Fair Isle knitting in two colours on each needle, one thread in each hand and it is dead easy. You don't have to purl back either. I mark the beginning of a row with a long thread of a different colour and pick stitches up round the armhole and knit down. The picture you referred to took an age to appear, so I left it, but I would say that anything that is round can be knitted on a circular needle. Be careful not to get too long a needle or your stitches will be very spread out and difficult to manage

[fillyjonk]

tbh i don't use markers

you have a great stand of wool hanging down from where you've cast on, i just use that.

its a nice top, if it had sleeves i might go for it (oh i could just add sleeves i suppose)

tell us how it goes

[NotQuiteCockney]

I don't generally use markers either - I can tell by the thread hanging off, or by a detail in the pattern.

[puppydavies]

get decent circs! crappy ones are work of devil, every stitch catches on join. addi's are wonderful tho, worth every penny.

[florenceuk]

I've just finished a baby hat using first one then two circulars - it was actually surprisingly easy, compared with dpns. Unfortunately I have decided that all my old aluminium pony circulars from JL are horrible and I'm replacing them with two sets of Addi circulars, 40cm and 60cm (which are really nice, recommend) which is working out to be rather expensive (does anybody want some pony circulars in varying sizes?) The wool for the hat cost less than a fiver, but the two circulars together cost over 10 quid.

[fillyjonk]

decent circs are hard to find though

i do not like addis, they are too slippery. nice for lace but aside from that...

and the bamboo/wood i've tried (i think clover and something in birch, can't remember what) have joins that the wool catches on

actually the technically best i've used as denises, but i don't get much knitting pleasure out of them somehow.

[florenceuk]

I've got Addi bamboo circulars - the best thing is the nice cord. There is still a bit of catching on the join, but not as bad as the JL/Pony ones. I would like to try Denises, but I think they only go down to a 3.75mm? I knit so loosely, I need something smaller for DK. Still might be worthwhile for anything bigger, at this rate I'll have spent a small fortune just on needles for every project. FJ, if you wanted to try the Addis I could lend you a pair?

[fillyjonk]

oh i didn't know they did bamboo, its very kind of you florence but i don't mind buying them if they are not slippery...

how bad is the catch on the join?

[rantinghousewife]

Ohh, lots to think about there. Thanks for all that, am just off to look for some circulars, when I've finished (probably in the distant future)I may post the results.

[florenceuk]

well, I do knit loosely - I wouldn't recommend them for a tight knitter or even perhaps a very fast knitter as you do have to push the stitches over the join. if you are keen, Kangaroo sell them for 80p postage.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I keep thinking about getting Boyes, they go down smaller than the Denise ones do.

I prefer my Addi turbos to my Addi bamboos, all things considered, but either is fine. The Addi joins are the best I know of, I think.

[agnesnitt]

I've got a set of the Boye interchangeables, the problem I have found is that if you are using fine yarn the join where the cable meets the screw is a pain. The actual join between screw and needle is seamless, just the bump where they meld the plastic tot he metal screw is a bit pronounced, more so than on a pony.

I have Addi circs, and I can't deal with the slippery nature of them. I lurve my 12" 4.5mm pony affair though, I like shorter circs, but it's hard finding them weeps

Agnes