How to Knit with Double Pointed Needles (DPNs)

When I was learning to knit, double pointed needles were something I didn’t even bother with at first because I felt like they were only for professional knitters or those who have been knitting forever.  While they do take some practice, as they can be a bit fiddly, they’re not so bad…in fact, by the time I was on my second or third project with them, I felt like a seasoned veteran!

To knit with double pointed needles, you need some yarn and a set of needles.  Like regular needles, they are available in a variety of different materials like metal, bamboo, plastic, and wood.  Try some antique shops too for more unique and harder to find materials.  They normally come in sets of five…for this tutorial we’ll use four.  I prefer bamboo myself, because they are less slippery and the yarn hangs on a little better, but it’s your preference of course.  

So, we’ll use four needles, three to hold the work, and one needle to work the stitches.  Using one of the needles, cast on the number of stitches needed…we’ll cast on 15 here.

Now for a little math (don’t be scared).  Because we have 3 needles to hold the work and 15 stitches, we’ll want to divide the work evenly (some patterns won’t be perfectly divisible, it’s OK to have an extra stitch on one of the needles in this case) onto three needles, so 15 divided by 3 equals 5…so 5 stitches per needle.  So begin by slipping two thirds of the stitches (10 stitches onto the second needle).  *Note: slip as shown below, so you don’t twist your stitches)

There!  5 stitches remain on the first needle and 10 are now on the second needle.

Now, with the third needle, slip five stitches onto it, so you have 5 stitches on each needle.  It’s very important too that the stitches are facing in on all three sides, be very careful not to twist as you work.

Now we need to join to begin knitting in the round…holding the needle with the tails in your right hand, go ahead and knit that first stitch…to do that take the fourth needle that you haven’t used yet and insert it into the first stitch that is in your left hand–knit the stitch, pulling snugly as you go so there is no “laddering” or loose stitches where each round begins.

Knit across the first needle as you would with straight needles, and take notice…the needle that just held the stitches is now empty of stitches and free to work the stitches on the next needle.

The first round is usually the most fiddly, once you get a round or two knit, things will straighten out and get easier as it begins to take shape.

Keep knitting each round until your seamless tube is desired length, taking care to pull snugly at the beginning of each round and in between each needle.  When you get to the desired length, simply bind off as you normally would.

There you have it!  Be sure to practice, some of you knitting wizards may do it perfectly from the get go, but if you’re like me, you may have to practice a few times.  Another interesting thing about knitting in the round is that to create stockinette, you knit all of the rounds (no purling!)  Now you’ll be able to seamlessly knit sleeves, tiny hats, mittens, and other narrow tubes in the round!