There can be a lot of confusion about knitting flat or circular.

But in this article, I’m going to clarify the differences between the two, answer all of your questions, and show you what needles you’ll need for each type of knitting.

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What does flat knit mean?

Knitting flat means you are working back and forth, often on straight needles. You’ll knit across the row and when you reach then end all of those knitted stitches are now on the right-hand needle.

To work the next row, you’ll move the needle with all of the stitches back to your left hand and begin knitting again.

You can learn to knit flat right now with my free Learn to Knit course.

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What is circular knitting?

Circular knit means that you are working in a continuous round to create a tube. It is also known as knitting-in-the round.

Rather than working back and forth on straight needles, you’ll use a circular knitting needle.

This is a needle that has points at each end and a cable that joins them.

You’ll knit around and around without turning your work. A stitch marker is used to mark the beginning of each round.

Circular knitting needles come in a wide variety of lengths so that you can use one that fits the dimensions of your project.

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The most popular circular needle lengths are 16”, 24”, 32”, 40”, and 60”.

In fact, circular needles are also available in interchangeable needle sets so you can match the right cable length and needle size as needed for a project.

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How do you knit without using circular needles?

Most knitters learn to knit on straight needles so the are intimidated by circular needles. You can still knit without using circular needles but you’ll be missing out on so many amazing patterns.

Plus, once you learn to knit on circular needles, you probably won’t want to knit on straight needles anymore.

However, that said, there are patterns for garments that are traditionally “in-the-round”.

For example, mittens and hats are usually knitted in-the-round but you can find patterns that are worked flat and then seamed after knitting.

Check out these easy mitten patterns on straight needles.

Can you use circular needles instead of straight?

One of the benefits of circular knitting needles is that you can use them for straight knitting as well as circular knitting!

Even though these needles are joined in the middle, you can knit back and forth on them just like straight needles.

The advantage is that circular needles allow you to knit large projects such as baby blankets and afghans without struggling with the project as it grows.

The unworked stitches rest on the cable so that your arms aren’t doing all the heavy lifting you encounter with a larger project on straight needles.

Also, straight needles are most often available in 10-14” lengths, so if you are trying to knit a 60 or 70” afghan, that’s a lot of stitches to try and smash on a straight needle.

Since circular needles are available in lengths up to 60”, they can accommodate really big projects.

How do you knit small things in the round?

We’ve talked about knitting in the round and that most circular needles range from 16-60”.

But what do you do if you have a small project such as a baby hat, baby booties, cuffs on sweater sleeves, socks, or toys?

To knit in small circumferences, you’ll need to use double pointed needles.

Double pointed needles come in sets of five and they allow you to knit much smaller projects than you can with circular needles.

Here’s an example of knitting in-the-round for you to practice! The hat starts out on a circular needle but as you decrease for the crown, you’ll need to move onto double pointed needles in order to work around the small circle.

This step-by-step video shows you exactly to switch from circular to double pointed needles to knit something small.

This same technique can be used to knit stuffed animals, baby booties, gloves, and other small knitting projects.

Can I knit a blanket with straight needles?

You can knit a blanket on straight needles. Here’s one you can try that knits up in one-hour.

However, there are several reasons why people opt for a circular needle instead of straight needles for blankets.

The first reason is the size of the blanket.

Most often, straight needles come in two lengths 9-10” and 11-12”.

To accommodate the many stitches you’ll have for a blanket, it’s best to go with the longer (11-12”) needles. This needle length will work fine for most baby blankets and lap afghans.

The problem comes in when you are knitting anything much larger than that.

Because there are so many stitches, sometimes hundreds of stitches, long straight needles just aren’t long enough.

You may run into problems such as stitches popping off the end of the needle.

You may also find you’re dropping stitches because it’s hard to see each stitch because they are so crammed on the needle.

If you still want to proceed with using straight needles, get a set of point protectors. When you’re not knitting, place them on the ends of the needles to keep stitches from popping off.

The second reason is the weight of the blanket.

As you are knitting a blanket or afghan, of course, it is going to get larger and larger. When knitting on straight needles, you’re holding much of that weight in your hands.

It can get very heavy and put a strain on your wrists and arms.

The advantage of knitting a blanket on a circular needle is that the cable that joins the two needle points holds the weight of the blanket.

It won’t strain your wrists or arms because the bulk of the blanket isn’t in your hands, it’s now in your lap.

Can you knit flat on circular needles?

Many knitters who start using circular needles leave their straight needles behind for good.

That is because you can knit-in-the-round as well as flat on circular needles. I have created many projects that are knitted flat and use circular needles and I’ll provide links to them below.