We’ve been thinking about beginning knitting more than usual here around Arnall-Culliford HQ, as we’ve celebrated the arrival of Skill Set and Field Guide No. 18: Beginnings and watched our retail manager, Lou, start her own knitting journey. Knitting, like any specialist pursuit, has its own lingo. Phrases that, once we’ve been knitting a while, we gloss over without a thought, and that would rarely be explained by a knitting pattern. Phrases like “join, being careful not to twist".

Knitting in the round is no harder than knitting flat, once you get going. Photo © Jesse Wild.

I’ve noticed that knitting in the round is something that newer knitters are often wary of, especially if they’ve not seen a circular needle before. As anyone who has done it will know, once you get going, it is no more easy or difficult to knit in the round or to knit flat. But joining in the round, that can be tricky, even for seasoned knitters. So much trickier if it’s your first time, and a pattern tells you be careful not to twist. Twist what?

So today, we’re bringing you two videos on joining in the round, being careful not to twist. If you are new to knitting, or know someone who is, I think these will be enormously helpful. But even if you’re an experienced knitter, you might want to give them a watch. I have yet to meet a knitter who has never accidentally twisted their stitches on a joining round. And in today’s pair of videos, Jen demonstrates not only how to check that your stitches are sitting as they should be before you join, but also how to fix it if you discover that, despite your best efforts, you’ve come to the end of your first round and your stitches are twisted. I knew it could be done, but I’ll be honest and say I didn’t know how until I watched this video.

So, choose your needle style (there are videos for double-pointed needles (DPNs) and circular needles), settle in and learn how to start your project off on the right footing. If you view the videos on YouTube, you can hover over the time bar to jump to just the part you need (and if you’re reading this on our email service, you’ll need to click the links to see the videos.)

Join, Being Careful Not To Twist, Using Double-Pointed Needles (View on YouTube)

Join, Being Careful Not To Twist, Using Circular Needles (View on YouTube)

Both of these tutorials were filmed in support of Modern Daily Knitting’s latest field guide, Beginnings. It’s chock full of inspiring patterns by Karida Collins that novices and more experienced knitters alike will want to knit! You can find it, along with Skill Set: Beginning Knitting, in the online shop.