Stitches

what is a circular knitting needle? what is the difference to it with a ordinary knitting needles?

how many types of knitting needles are there? its a lot confusing with this circular needle and ordinary needles. i need to know if they are one and the same.

Public Comments

1. Circular knitting needles are great if you are knitting a sock or mittens for instance. You just knit in one continuous circle without the pearl on one side then knit on the reverse side. I like the circular needles when I knit my kids tubular scarves that they can pull over there heads as hats.
2. A circular needle has two plastic or metal "ends" like regular needles, but usually plastic in the middle so that you can knit more types of patterns. Go to Michaels or another type of craft store, and you can look at all the different types of needles. Usually there's just plastic, metal, wood, then different sizes depending on the length and diameter of the needles.
3. There are three types of knitting needles -- straight, circular, and double-pointed. Anything you can knit on straights, you can also knit on circulars; but you can also knit in the round on circs, which can't be done on straights. For this reason many knitters prefer circs. It's expensive enought having to get all those different sized needles without buying them twice =:-o Here is a good article about circular needles with a tutorial about joining in the round. Best of luck!