Stitches

Circular knitting patterns to flat knitting?

I cannot figure circular needles out. I've tried several times. I've seen several ways of converting flat knitting to circular knitting, but nothing for circular to flat. Is there a way to do this? There are so many patterns I'd love to do, but they require circular needles. Well, the stitches do twist like anything. But mostly, it's the way I knit. I'm used to bracing the right needle against my ribcage and moving only the left one. I can't figure out how to do that with circular needles.

Public Comments

1. Yes there is a way to use straight needle instead of circular needles. search diy, knitty gritty My advise to you is that the circular needles are much easier to use than the flat ones in this case. Most times the problem is remembering which direction you were going when you had to stop and then come back to start again. Another common problem is knowing where the first stitch is so you know when to change rows. Both of these can easily be fixed by using markers. You can buy knitting markers or you can use a piece of scrap yarn, safety pins, anything that will keep your place and tell you where you are in your piece. Good luck! Once you get this part down, you will love circular needles!
2. So many people knit flat patterns in the round (aka circular knitting) because it's so much easier -- there's no seaming, and if you're doing stockinette stitch there's no purling! When knitting flat, you need to add "selvage" stitches on all the seams. And since knitting in the round is all done on the RS (right side), to convert to flat knitting you'd have to knit where the pattern says purl (& vice versa) on every other row (either the odd-numbered rows or the even, depending on which is the wrong side). If you just learn to knit in the round instead, you won't have to do all that rejiggering. Here are some circular knitting tutorials: http://knittersreview.com/article_tool.asp?article=/review/profile/010419_a.asp http://www.littleturtleknits.com/circknitting.htm http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/advanced_techniques (videos) http://hipknitism.com/library/articles/circular_knitting.shtml *********** Edited to add: I used to brace one needle straight up & down in my lap and knit without moving it -- I only moved the other needle. If I could get the hang of circs, so can you. It's like riding a bike -- hard to do at first, but it does get easier. I promise! You're right, it's really important to make sure you don't twist your stitches when you join them in the round. Otherwise, you'll knit a Möbius strip instead of a tube. Here's a cheat that I use sometimes: knit the first row flat, then place your marker and join as usual. It really stabilizes the stitches and it's barely noticeable. Besides, you can sew the tiny little gap shut later when you weave in the end.
3. Why don't you tell us what the problems you are having with circular needles? As a convert from straights to circs, I can tell you that circs are a better deal. However, if you do want to convert circular patterns, the easiest ones are the ones in stockinette stitch, then all you have to do is divide by two and add selvedge stitches to each edge. Patterned circular sweaters require knowing the repeats and how many edge stitches to add for the patterns to be centered and work for your decreases. It's a lot more work than you might imagine.
4. Knittinghelp has great videos. She shows all sorts of things: casting on, circs, DPNs, etc.
5. If you are having the problem with your "first" round, then it is my 'guess' that you are somehow TWISTING the stitches of it. That "1st" round is one of the most important, because if you 'twist' the stitches, then you'll end up with a "twisted circle" that just gets thicker, as you continue knitting. If you want to try again... and want some help to learn, let me know. I prefer to knit in the round, rather than have to stich up the seams afterwards.
6. You have given yourself thr answer without realising!! To convert circular into flat i just think flat even though its circular. You could also cut the pattern in half. For example if the pattern requires you to cast on 100 stitches for a body garment you cast on 50 instead. Work that half of the body using the required numbered of stiches in the pattern for that half. Remember though you will have to make up the garmennt afterwards, seams and all.