Before you start actually knitting a hat, mitten, sweater, or anything in the round, you need to connect the first stitch of the cast on to the last stitch of the cast on. This is a critical step; without it, you wouldn’t be knitting in the round! It’s called “joining to work in the round,” and we’ll show you how to do it!

Watch this motion in action, demonstrated on our Classic Ribbed Hat, or follow along with our step-by-step instructions, below.

JOINING TO WORK IN THE ROUND: STEP-BY-STEP

The very first thing to do is arrange the cast-on stitches so they are not “twisted.” Notice in the above photo that the stitches are spinning around the needle. They shouldn’t be!

In this photo you can see that the stitches are straight and untwisted, which is how you want them. Once the stitches are all facing the same way along the entire length of the cast on, you are ready to join!

First, place a stitch marker on the needle that holds the last stitch you cast on (the one with the working yarn). This stitch marker marks the “end of the round” and is an important reference point in most patterns. When you’re knitting and you get to it, you simply slip it from the left to the right needle.

Now to join, hold the needle with the working yarn in your right hand and the needle with the first stitch of the cast on in your left hand; double check that the stitches aren’t twisted; and insert the right needle into the first stitch of the left needle knitwise. Firmly knit the stitch as usual, ignoring the stitch marker.

You’re joined to work in the round! The stitch you just knit is the first stitch of the round. Note that you may have a slight gap between the first and last stitch of the round. Don’t worry; the gap mostly resolves itself after a few rounds, and weaving in the cast-on tail totally resolves it!