Grrr. New to circular needles, need help urgently!

[Marylizah]

:

I'm trying to knit a baby blanket on my new 32" circular needles. But I seem to be knitting a 32" tube and not a flat blanket!

What am I doing wrong? How can I knit something flat on circular needles?

Pleeeease, any help is much appreciated, I am feeling so frustrated!

[stealthmode]

Originally Posted by Marylizah

:

I'm trying to knit a baby blanket on my new 32" circular needles. But I seem to be knitting a 32" tube and not a flat blanket!

What am I doing wrong? How can I knit something flat on circular needles?

Pleeeease, any help is much appreciated, I am feeling so frustrated!

Ah, ok, it sounds like you joined your yarn to form the circle and are knitting continuously around, am I right? In order to knit a flat blanket on circular needles, you need to just knit back and forth across them like you would with straight needles. The main purpose for using circulars for large objects like a blanket is to hold the weight of the blanket in the middle, on the "tube"--less strain on the needles and your hands. If you are knitting in stockinette you will still have to purl on the wrong side.

edit: here is a link that explains knitting in the round on circulars, which is probably what you are doing without realizing it. At the bottom there is a brief explanation for how to knit flat objects on circulars.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/FEATtheresa.html

Have you knit on circulars before?

[SophieAnn]

Here are some instructions for knitting flat on circular needles.

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/200...rth-round.html

It sounds like you are knitting around and around. You need to knit across your stitches, turn your work (i.e. switch your right needle to your left hand and your left needle to your right hand) and knit (or purl) across.

You will alternate between working the front, then the back, then the front.

Hopefully the pictures/instructions in the above link will help.

I'm sorry for all the work you'll have to undo.

Edited to Add:

Think of it like knitting with straight needles. When you are finished a row, all your stitches will be on your right needle, and your left needle is empty. To work the next row, you switch hands (right needle goes to left hand, left needle goes to right hand). Same with circular. Just pretend they're not attached.

[stealthmode]

Originally Posted by SophieAnn

Here are some instructions for knitting flat on circular needles.

http://techknitting.blogspot.com/200...rth-round.html

This is an awesome link! I forgot all about techknitting.

[Marylizah]

Thanks, everyone! I was knitting in the round. I undid all the work and have managed to knit 4 rows without accidentally joining them, lol!

I still get a bit confused about turning my work, but I'm slowly figuring it out.

This is my first project on the circulars, I like them a lot so far.

Thanks again for the help and the video links!

[funkymamajoy]

When you get to the end, turn your work, just like straight needles.