Can this be done on straight needles?

[Clickityclack]

Ok so circular needles scare the life out of me I know i need to conquer my fear but not just yet....

So I love the look of this snood/cowl thing and would like to make it but obviously would need to be on straight needles so can it be done?

Looking at the pattern I can't work it out in my head for straight needles so can anybody help me?

Here's the link:
byhandlondon.com/2012/12/04/diy-giftables-1-2-simple-snoods/

You can knit it flat and then join the seam (mattress stitch maybe?), but that will cause a seam which may be visible and can be felt.

Circular needles are not too hard to get to grips with but do seem to inspire fear. You end up knitting a tube once the 'round' has been joined and whatever you are making is seamless.

You could have a look at YouTube and get some waste yarn and a circ and give it a go.

The instructions say to use straight needles for the cowl on the right and that does have a seam so it would be easy to do the other one on straight needles. You just keep repeating the first round as a row to maintain the moss stitch. (N.B. I wrote it out on paper so I might have got that bit wrong, you might need to treat both rounds a row but you will know when you come to knit it - whatever side you are on, if you have a purl in the row below you knit in the next row and vice versa.

I would have a go on circular needles though. They are very easy - you just keep knitting, no need to turn the work. All you have to remember is to put a stitch marker in so you know where the start of the round is. What is that frightens you? The hardest bit it to keep the cast on row straight until it is joined but after that you just keep going.

Do you knit on DPN? It is easier than that because you aren't juggling extra needles.

It just confuses me...
How do I join the round?
And how can you count your rows?
And does the length of the circular needle matter? Because most I've seen seem to be about 100cm long which seems far to long to me

Joining the round - you just keep knitting as normal. Except for the one stitch where you join the first row, and you have to be careful not to leave it too loose because it is bridging the gap between the start and the end of the cast off row, you don't really have to think about joining. After that you just keep knitting.

Knowing where the row/round ends - I usually judge it the cast on tail of the yarn if the work isn't too long but the pattern will probably advise you to put a stitch marker in, which you move up every few rounds. If you want to count your stitches you just count from the marker start point all the way round back to that point.

You count your rows as you normally would. I count from the beginning of the round usually.

Circular needles come in all sorts of lengths. I think the shortest is 40cm up to about 120cm. You can shorten it with a magic loop too although I have never bothered with this and I couldn't tell you how to do it either. I just use DPN if the round is very small (gloves and socks) but circular needles weren't invented when I started knitting so I find that easy.

Honestly, it isn't hard and the cowls are a great way to have a go. They won't take too many rounds and the stitches are big so you can see what you are doing.

Would you be able to get all the stitches on one straight needle?

A compromise would be to knit it straight (i.e. not in the round) but using a circular needle as it can hold a lot more stitches and is more comfortable to hold as well. At least that way you would get used to the idea of circulars without having to knit in the round.

Ok I've watched some YouTube videos and im tempted to give circular needles a go. Because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to fork out for lots of different needles I'll just buy the one set I need BUT what length should I go for? I have no clue.

From the pic I would say those are either 40 or 60 cm circulars. It looks like they are using Pony, which is an easy-to-find brand but the joins between the needles and the cable is not always very smooth with Pony, and that can make circular knitting a bit of a drag, literally as it means the stitches catch as you're trying to move them over the join.

I would trade up a little bit and go for Addi or HiyaHiya - you could hedge your bets a bit and go for one pair of needle tips plus a cord, so that if you do need a different length of cord you can just buy that.

It's been knit a few times on Ravelry (that link won't work if you're not a member) so you could always ask the last few people who've finished it to be on the safe side.

There is a way of doing circular knitting that you do with any length of cable, called Magic Loop. But I'm assuming for your first project you would want to keep it simple and just be able to go round and round on a cord of the right length.

Yay! Be brave ClicketyClack.

I would go with a 60cm needle myself. The cowl looks like it has to be at least 20" round (I am imagining a necklace of similar lengths and where it would fall when you wore it), which converted into cm is about 50cm. I suspect you might find it a bit scrunched up on a 40cm needle and it is going to be quite heavy and bulky, since it is chunky yarn so the longer needle might be better. It should really say in the pattern imo, especially as it makes a big thing about being easy for beginners of knitting in the round!

Good luck.

ClicketyClack indeed be brave!

Circular needles and DPNs even more, scared the life out of me until last week when I was shown how to use DPNs. I'm quite a new knitter and my least favourite job is sewing up. I'm crap at getting the seams flat and often end up swearing at them, so now I'm over the fear I love knitting in the round..... there's also something magical about the fact that knitting round after round of garter stitch ends up as stocking stitch on the right side.

Go for it

Another one here who says circular needles are easy to work with.
A few tips:

1. Joining the round is the hardest bit especially if you have a lot of stitches and a very springy needle straight out of the packet. A 40cm or 60cm won't be so bad, but a longer needle needs to be immersed in hot water and stretched before casting on. I then lay the whole thing flat, make sure that all the stitches are the same way and then carefully knit the first stitch I cast on after the last one I cast on.
2. Stitch markers are ok , but if you haven't got any, use a thread in a contrasting colour and just lay it between the last and the first stitch. Short tail to the front, long tail to the back. Then on the following round move the long tail from the back to the front and so on right the way up to the end of your knitting.
3. Counting rows is also something that is made much easier by using thread markers; after ten rows lay a thread (about 4") in, then knit two stitches, bring the contrast thread to the front, knit 2 stitches, and again and anything above the marker is the next lot of ten. Very useful if you are doing plain stocking stitch.