Flat Knitting Versus Circular Knitting
Circular knitting (also called "knitting in the round") is a form of knitting that can be used to create a seamless tube. Knitting is worked in rounds (the equivalent of rows in flat knitting) in a helix. Originally, circular knitting was done using a set of four or five double-pointed knitting needles. Later, circular needles were invented. A circular needle resembles two short knitting needles connected by a cable between them. Flat knitting, on the other hand, is used, in its most basic form, to make flat, rectangular pieces of cloth. It is done with two straight knitting needles and is worked in rows, horizontal lines of stitches. A circular knitting needle can also be used to create flat-knitted pieces that are too large for ordinary straight knitting needles, such as afghans and blankets.
Circular knitting is employed to create pieces that are circular or tube-shaped, such as hats, socks, mittens, and sleeves. Flat knitting is usually used to knit flat pieces like scarves, blankets, afghans, and the backs and fronts of sweaters.
There is also such a thing as finger knitting. Instead of needles, fingers are used to produce a tube of knitted fabric.
Famous quotes containing the words flat, knitting and/or circular:
“We may divide characters into flat and round.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“your antlers like seaweed,
your face like a wolf’s death mask,
your mouth a virgin, your nose a nipple,
your legs muscled up like knitting balls,
your neck mournful as an axe....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“If one doubts whether Grecian valor and patriotism are not a fiction of the poets, he may go to Athens and see still upon the walls of the temple of Minerva the circular marks made by the shields taken from the enemy in the Persian war, which were suspended there. We have not far to seek for living and unquestionable evidence. The very dust takes shape and confirms some story which we had read.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)