One of the knitting classes I’ve been teaching for a few years now is Sweater School – a series of sessions that help knitters make their first garment. And during that time, I’ve talked a lot about the different ways sweaters can be constructed.
So I’ve decided to bring all that knowledge to the blog, and start a brand new series of posts which I’m snappily calling the Sweater Series.
I’ll be posting a blog for each of the main constructions you might come across in knitting patterns – drop shoulder, raglan, circular yoked, set-in sleeve, and saddle/contiguous shoulder. We’ll be talking what they are, which patterns use them, pros and cons, and sneaky cheats to sort any fit issues they can present.
First up, a disclaimer on my viewpoint.
Now, while I say that I’m going to be talking about the advantages of knitting flat vs knitting in the round, I’m going to be upfront here. I am firmly in team knit in the round, for a number of reasons that will become eminently clear as we proceed through this blog. I’m not saying there’s never a time for knitting flat but….it’s just not really for me, y’know?
Anyway, more on that later. For now, let’s just define some terms.
Knitting flat is – in Britain at least – a bit more of a traditional way of knitting. You use single pointed needles (basically big pointy sticks) and you knit your garment in pieces.
That means that when knitting a sweater you’ll knit the back, then the front, then the sleeves, and then you’ll sew them all together at the end and add finishing touches like the neckband.
To get a bit more technical, you’re working back and forward in rows when you’re knitting flat. Assuming you’re aiming to produce the classic stocking stitch fabric, you’ll knit all the stitches from one needle to the other, and then swap hands, turn your work around, and purl back the other way.
Other than being the source of a lot of joy, you mean? (Told you I like knitting in the round.)
Knitting in the round involves using a circular needle – two smaller pointy sticks that are joined together by a cable in the middle. Your stitches spread across the entire length of the needle, so you can join one end to the other and effectively knit in a spiral.
This means you’re producing a tube of material, and you always have the same side facing you. There’s no swapping hands, and there’s no working back in the other direction; you just put a marker between stitches to mark the beginning of your round (commonly called the BOR) and keep going round and round up that spiral for a long as your pattern says.
Now, I’m not a big old fan of knitting flat (as I’ve already said), but even I will admit that there are a couple of things in the pro column.
For one thing, knitting your project in smaller pieces can make it more portable, especially as you’re getting near to the end of your project. You just need to take that bit you’re working on with you, after all. That, I will concede, can be less bulky and annoying than having to cart an entire seamless sweater around.
The second advantage sits in the very thing I don’t like much about knitting flat – the need to sew it up. The seams of a garment can add structure and stability to a garment, which for certain designs and shapes is very handy. The seams produce a solid point from which the stretchy knitting heads off, helping a garment retain its shape over wash and wear.
Oh my. There are so many advantages of knitting in the round. So many.
Firstly, there tends to be a lot less seaming – if any – when you’re working a garment in the round. And that’s a good thing, because knitting a garment and seaming it are two different skills. Back in the day I managed to ruin many a garment through some dodgy seaming, whether that was through not matching the pieces up properly, unpredictable stitches, or just general sloppiness.
Knitting in the round also makes it much easier to try on garments as you go, making it easier to nail the fit. This is especially true when you’re working from the top down – you put all your stitches onto some scrap yarn, and you can just pull the garment over your head and see how it goes.
Then there’s the ease with which you can make the most of your yarn. Whereas when working flat you have to make sure you’ve got enough left for each piece, working in the round has you working on the front and the back of your body at the same time. If you’re short on yarn (and again, working top down) you can finish your sleeves and then come back and knit the body until you run out. No unpleasant yarn surprises.
And the actual knitting experience is just so much more pleasant. As you’re always working on the right side of your work, there’s far less purling involved. And just about any knitter will tell you purling is annoying. Plus you don’t have to worry about knitting fronts and backs to the same length, and constantly keep checking against your earlier work. It’s all being done at once, so it’s all going to be the same length.
Can you guess the first one I’m going to say?
Yeah, it’s the seaming.
When I’ve finished a sweater I just want to put it on. I don’t want to be spending hours seaming it up.
I also don’t want to be discovering that I accidentally knitted the front an inch longer than the back, or that I’ve somehow misplaced a sleeve, or that that length that looked ok when it was on the needles and held up against my body is actually way too short.
And I don’t like purling. I do not like all that purling. Nor do I like how having all my stitches on long straight needles gradually puts more and more strain on my wrists and slowly contributes to RSI.
Basically, none of that.
I’ll admit, knitting in the round isn’t perfect. It’s not far off, but it’s not quite there.
Seamless garments can lack a bit of structure and lose their shape, for example (although picking the right yarn can minimise this). And yes, a great big sweater can be pretty lumbersome to cart around with you as you approach the end of your project.
But honestly, they’re a small problem when viewed against all the joy of knitting in the round. It’s the good stuff, I promise.
Which is why my patterns are worked with as few seams as possible. There are all sorts of workarounds that can get rid of that need to be seaming stuff up, from picking up stitches to three needle bind offs. They’re the things I use in my patterns, so you can just crack on with the knitting.