Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/knitting

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Circular knitting

Form of knitting that creates a seamless tube

Circular knitting
Summary

Form of knitting that creates a seamless tube

Knitting using a circular needle.
Four double pointed knitting needles.
Knitting on double points.
Magic Loop knitting on one circular needle.
The earliest image of circular knitting, from the 15th century AD.

Circular knitting or knitting in the round is a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube. Work in the round is begun by casting on stitches as for flat knitting but then joining the ends of that row of stitches to form a circle. Knitting is worked in rounds (the equivalent of the rows in flat knitting), which forms the tube by winding around in a helix.

Historically, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five double-pointed needles. Modern knitters may instead use a circular needle, which resembles a pair of short knitting needles connected by a cable between them. Circular knitting can also be performed by knitting machines: a double-bed machine can be set up to knit on its front bed in one direction and then its back bed on the return, which creates the tube. Specialized knitting machines for sock-knitting use individual latch-hook needles to make each stitch in a round frame.

Many types of sweaters are traditionally knit in the round. Planned openings (arm holes, necks, cardigan fronts) are temporarily knitted with extra stitches, reinforced if necessary. Then the extra stitches are cut to create the opening, and are stitched with a sewing machine to prevent unraveling. This technique is called steeking.

Magic loop technique

Invented by Sarah Hauschka and first described in Beverly Galeskas’s booklet The Magic Loop, this technique uses a long circular knitting needle (for instance 40 inches) to knit projects (of any circumference substantially less than the needle length) in the round. The key is pulling a loop of extra cable out between the stitches halfway through the round.

The magic loop technique also allows knitting two-at-a-time projects like pairs of socks or the sleeves of sweaters. This knitting both pieces at once makes it easier to render the two as similar as possible.

Spool and machine circular knitting

Main article: Spool knitting

Spool knitting is a form of circular knitting using pegs rather than needles, one peg per stitch. A variant automates the stitching action, thus producing a hand-crank circular knitting machine. Commercial knitting machines are heavy-duty powered versions of the hand-cranked ones; they may knit multiple threads at once, for speed.

File:Punniken met 3 spijkers.jpg|Minimal spool knitting frame File:Loom-knit fingerless gloves.jpg|Fingerless gloves being knitted on a 12-peg frame File:Giulia's tuque coming along. -knitting.jpg|Knitting a tuque (hat) on a larger frame File:Knitting loom with yellow knitwork.jpg|Oblong frame for circular knitting Loom Knitting.jpg|It is not necessary to use the full length of an oblong frame File:Mulinetto tricotin (cropped).jpg|Narrow hand-cranked spool knitting machine File:Knitting Nancy with crank.jpg|Larger hand-cranked circular knitting machine File:Griswold's stocking knitting machine.jpg|18-hundreds knitting machine, also hand-cranked File:Sock knitting machine.jpg|A similar old sock-knitting machine in use File:Old-Knitting-Machine-Knitting-Machine-Close-up-Dial-1588882.jpg|Close-up of a similar machine File:WLANL - theodora69 - rondbreimachine.jpg|1959 power knitting machine File:WLANL - jpa2003 - Rondbreimachine3(ca 1959).jpg|Side view of 1959 machine File:Rundstrickmaschine Nadel scharf.jpg|Machine for fine knitting File:CSIRO ScienceImage 2912 A Circular Knitting Frame.jpg|A commercial machine knitting wool, 2000

Notes

References

  1. "Circular needles".
  2. "Flat knitting machine having four opposed needle beds - Patent # 4100766 - PatentGenius".
  3. "Circular knitting machine - Patent # 3969912 - PatentGenius".
  4. "Sock Machine Museum Sock Knitting Machine Information, Sales, Patterns and Museum".
  5. "KidsKnits - Steeks Introduction".
  6. "Circular knitting needle".
  7. Wessel, Emily. (October 3, 2013). "Magic Loop Technique: How To Knit in the Round Using a Single Long Circular Needle".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

knitting circles
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Circular knitting — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report