When knitting an afgan

[Beth]

Do you always have to use circular needles? I seem to see a lot of patterns calling for this. Is there a reason to do so? Thanks for any input!
Beth

[gardenia]

I'm a fairly new knitter, but my best guess is that there would be way too many stitches to fit onto straight needles. I am making a hat for my mother on 14" straight needles, and everything barely fits! So, I thought through the whole "what if I had a much bigger project" scenario already.

Hope this helps. I'm sure wiser folks will chime in, too.

Deb

[Kiri]

That's partly right. Could you imagine 90 inch straight needles? I'd be hitting my lamp and knocking over houseplants.

Also, circular needles allow the bulk of the project to rest on your lap.
This is important in heavy/large projects to help reduce wrist strain.