Knitting In The Round

If you're a seasoned reader, you know that I'm teaching myself to knit (with the help of many of resources). One thing I've been interested in learning is knitting on circular needles. Last weekend, while hubby and I were out and about, I picked up all of the supplies necessary to make a beginner's baby hat.

I'm working from a borrowed book, Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Hats (I'll return it one day Mom, I promise). I decided to start with the most basic project called Simple Baby Cap 1. It's completely created with a knit stitch, but when worked in the round a stockinette stitch is produced. This was so much fun it pained me to put it down at bedtime.

In addition to learning how to knit on circular needles, this project required that I learn how to use double-pointed needles too. It's not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be :: just a little awkward at first.

I snapped the above photo yesterday. See the package of double pointed needles? Well, they're really skewers from my kitchen drawer but I didn't know it at the time. Hubby thought it would be funny to switch them out and see how long it took me to notice. It took me exactly six days. Late last night I actually started to transfer the stitches from my circular needles onto the double-pointed needles skewers and was horrified at how rough these new "needles" were. Upon closer examination I noticed that they weren't my new double-pointed needles after all. Funny! Hubby has a very subtle sense of humor. It's one of the things I love about him.

The hat is now complete and it was a joy to make. I no longer fear circular or double-pointed needles and I'm one step closer to becoming an accomplished knitter.

The yarn for this project is made by Cascade Yarns and is called Fixation. It's 93% cotton and 1.7% elastic so it has a nice little stretch which made it very easy to work with. Now I'm off to update my bucket list. Learn to knit in the round - check.