knitting in the round

[yarnfreak]

I can do this, I've done it before. I don't know why I can't do it know. I'm trying to knit lace in the round. For the life of me I cannot get this new piece started. I've tried dpns, magic loop, everything, but I cannot get this to work. It's 8 stitches to start. The yarn pulls out so bad that it just becomes a tangled mess, if I can even get the needles and yarn to play at all. Is it time to give up and try later? How in the world do you start small diameter circular knitting without losing your mind?

[hyperactive]

I usually do long tail cast on. Depending on yarn and needle size and attitude it can be very tight.
you could try by knitting magic loop on circular needles. Or knitting on 2 cirular needles if you have (Cat Bordhi).

you can also try an (almost) invisible cast on that I found under "magic loop cast on" (careful there is something like this for crochet, too.). But I can not find the video right now. Once I find it, I will update here.

I did however find this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gK7yn-M7Yg
I just noticed that her 2nd method is what I wanted to show but the first one is awesome, too. Good that I found this video.

If need be I make a demonstration but I am surely not as good as the original instruction.

A written instruction you can find in my Frog Prince Pattern

http://hyperactiveknitting.blogspot....og-prince.html

[yarnfreak]

Thank you for the links! I've tried every method out there, I think. What gets me is I know I can do this. Maybe I should just try a different pattern and come back to this one later. It might not be time for this one. LOL

[suzeeq]

If you're using dpns, just put the sts on 2 of them and use another to join and work the first few rounds. After you've got more sts increased and rounds then add the other needles and rearrange the sts. It's eaisier to work with just the 2 needles than 4 to begin with.

If you're using 2 circs, then put the sts on just the one, with a loop between them and push the sts toward the ends like ML. Use the 2nd circ to join and knit the first round. Then you can divide them up with half the sts on one and half on the other.

You can use the tail yarn to close up the hole in the middle, no matter how large it seems to be. Oh, I usually do a LT CO to start too.

[yarnfreak]

Yeah, I'm doing long tale cast on. I've tried all this! Did I mention that my yarn is cobweb weight? LOL Maybe that's my problem. Maybe I should go back to lace weight for a bit.

[suzeeq]

Another trick, especially with such thin yarn, is to begin on smaller needles and after you've done a couple rounds, go up to the ones you're supposed to be on. The difference won't be that noticeable, even on needles 2 or 3 sizes smaller.