Stitches

When to use circular knitting needles? Vertical striped scarf?

I wanted to do vertical stripes on my scarf, so I went to ask my art teacher how to. She said I needed circular knitting kneedles? I don't know anything about them. I'm new to knitting. Can someone tell me if that's true? Also, what are the other uses for circular knitting needles?

Public Comments

1. circular needles are the best! They allow you to cast on many many more stitches than you could ever fit on straight needles, you could knit blankets with them if your cables were long enough. They carry the weight of all that yarn too, so it doesn't tire your hands like knitting on straights might do. I know of some people who use nothing but circulars. There are several sizes of needles, several lengths of cable and you could also choose interchangeable needles where you screw the different pieces together to customize what you need. I have knitted hats, scarves and pieces of clothing on my needles. If you join the first and last stitches together, you are knitting in the round, something you cannot do on straights. Have fun!!!
2. Your art teacher is partly right. When knitting vertical stripes you would usually be knitting in the Fair Isle style, which entails using two or more colours of yarn, which will show on the back of the work (purl side) trailing across the rows. Knitting circular would prevent these showing, alternatively, you could just knit a rectangle flat, then sew the scarf together with the floats, as they are called, inside the work. Another method which I am not too familiar with is Jacquard work which involves rib stitch and slip stitch combined with changing colours, and is usually produced on a Passap knitting machine popular for circular knitting, which your teacher may know how to produce by hand.
3. I buy *only* circular knitting needles because they are much more versatile than either straight or double-pointed needles. I get the longest ones I can find. Advantages: 1. If you're knitting something long--such as the scarf you're knitting--all of the stitches fit comfortably, move back and forth on the needle, and balance the weight between your hands. On straight needles, as the long item moves from needle to needle, one needle becomes very heavy. 2. You can't drop *a* needle; either you drop the whole thing (not likely) or you drop a needle tip, which is still attached to the rest of the knitting. 3. You can knit anything on a long circular needle that you can knit on straight needles--plus some additional things. I usually knit socks two or three *pairs* at the time on one long circular needle--which won't work on standard double-pointed needles. 4. You work only with the needle tips, with the item you're knitting suspended between them. Thus, you take up much less room that if you were working with 14" needles, which would stick out on either side of you. Disadvantages: 1. They do cost more. 2. If you use the method where you hold the 14" needle in your armpit, you're not likely to want to change to circs because they will slow you down. From what you said, it sounds as though your teacher suggested that you knit the long way so you can make the color changes every so many *rows* instead of carrying multiple colors across each row. If so, I agree with your teacher. It's easier to do it that way, and it's easier to do that scarf on circular needles.
4. they are not bad... i have not used them much, and i cannot use the same pattern as i can with straight needles, but virtical stripes, yes, they are much better with circulars.