Double knitting in the round

As I've mentioned before, I wrote up a tutorial for how to rib in double knitting because I was getting lots of visitors via searches for that kind of information. Well, another kind of search that I get a lot of in my visitor stats is how to double knit in the round. So I thought I'd write about that, too. This isn't going to be a big tutorial because happily, it's not a complicated concept. :)

To begin with, I recommend first reading my about double knitting tutorial, which covers how double knitting actually works.

Also, please keep in mind that when I talk about the "right side" and "wrong side" of double knitting, I'm really just labelling the sides to distinguish them from each other - I know that because double knitting is totally reversible, there is no true "right" or "wrong" side.

At any rate, once you've got all that under your belt, let's look at double knitting in the round. It's exactly like doing any kind of knitting in the round:

1. Cast on your stitches.
   
2. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
   
3. Work the pattern, keeping in mind that the right side is always facing you.
   

That's it. There's nothing mysterious you need to know about double knitting in the round that you don't already know about double knitting flat. In fact, I would argue that double knitting is way easier than double knitting flat, because you never have to think to yourself, "Okay, which side is facing me now?" Following charts is much easier because what you need to do when faced with a chart square never changes.

What I mean by that is, let's say you have a square on your chart of colour A. What this square means is that when the right side is facing you, you need to knit one stitch with colour A and purl one stitch with colour B; but when the wrong side is facing you, you knit one stitch with colour B and purl one stitch with colour A. You can see, then, that if you ever mix up which side you're looking at, you're going to follow the chart wrong. However, when you're double knitting in the round, the same side is always facing you. Therefore, that colour A square on the chart I mentioned is always going to mean knit-one-stitch-with-colour-A-then-purl-one-stitch-with-colour-B. Far less complicated.

And that's it! Everything else is the same - knit one stitch in one colour with both strands at the back, then purl the next stitch in the other colour with both strands at the front.

As always, feel free to comment with any questions!