If you’re a beginner knitter and you’ve made it through a few projects, chances are at least once you have been directed to transfer stitches from one needle to another. It can be confusing, especially if you haven’t been told why or how to do this before. But don’t worry, it is quite simple.
How do you transfer stitches from one needle to another? You can transfer stitches from one needle to another by knitting or carefully slipping each stitch onto the new needle. When switching needle sizes or types, there are steps you can take to achieve even results without dropping stitches.
Depending on your project and needles, there are a lot of ways that you can get this done. In this article, we will cover the various scenarios where you will need to transfer your stitches from one needle to the other and help you with step-by-step instructions to do just that.
The instructions vary from beginner to very advanced, so don’t worry, there’s a method for everyone!
Transferring Stitches on the Same Sized Needles (Without Knitting)
Sometimes, a pattern calls for you to transfer the stitches to the other needle or put the stitches to rest using a spare needle or stitch holder. If this is the case, here is how you transfer the stitches without knitting.
Transferring Stitches Without Knitting
Note: It’s best to always be picking up the stitch with the right needle and removing the stitch from the left needle. If you need to transfer the stitch from the right needle to the left needle, you can turn the knitting to the opposite side to accommodate.
If you have learned to knit in the opposite direction as a leftie, however, you can attempt to translate these directions “backwards” to fit the direction you are most comfortable with.
Step 1
Insert your right needle into the stitch on the left needle as if you are going to purl it (purlwise), holding tension on the live yarn so that it is not too loose or too tight.
Step 2
Slip the stitch off the left needle, keeping it around the right needle.
You have successfully transferred the stitch from the left needle to the right needle!
Step 3
Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have successfully transferred the right number of stitches to the right needle.
Notes For Putting Stitches to Rest
If you are putting stitches to rest using round needles you should secure the ends with a stitch stopper so that the stitches won’t be dropped when you continue knitting.
If you are putting stitches to rest using spare yarn, you can employ this method with a large tapestry needle to place the live stitches on the spare yarn. Then break and tie the two ends of the yarn together to secure the stitches.
Transferring Stitches To Switch Needle Size (Knitting)
Switching needle size usually means that you continue knitting your garment with a different sized needle.
When you are switching needle size, you cannot simply transfer the stitches from your needles to different sized needles without knitting since the stitches will not fit properly with the needles.
When you are using a bigger needle, the gauge will appear looser, and the overall size of the piece will be bigger. On the other hand, when you are using a smaller needle, the gauge will appear tighter, and the piece will become smaller.
When you switch needle size, we recommend that you use the new needle size as your right needle and start knitting following your pattern. This method will allow the transference to look seamless without causing too much difficulty.
We recommend choosing a plain row (all garter or stockinette stitch, for example) to make the switch, if you can. It will make your life easier since you don’t have to do the mental gymnastics of having to follow a pattern while working with new stitches.
Transferring Stitches From Round to Double-Pointed Needles
Knitting in the round is fun until you make enough decreases that the stitches can no longer cover the round! When that is the case, you can use the magic loop method or switch to double-pointed needles.
We’ll talk about using double-pointed needles first. If you’re interested in using your circular needles to transfer stitches while using the magic loop, we’ll talk about that below.
When you switch from round needles to double-pointed needles, you usually go from one continuous loop to three double-pointed needles (DPN). When that’s the case, you will need to divide the stitches evenly between the three DPN to make it easy to knit in the round.
When you transfer stitches from round needles to double-pointed needles, depending on your skill level, you can transfer the stitches without knitting first, dividing them evenly among the DPNs, or you can pick up and knit using a DPN as your right needle, simultaneously dividing the stitches as you go.
We will walk you through each method below.
Method 1: Transfer and Divide Without Knitting
Step 1
Count all of the stitches you have on your round needles and divide that number by 3. That will be the number of stitches that each DPN will hold.
Step 2
Count the stitches that each DPN will hold and place a stitch marker (or a short loose piece of yarn) after each count. You should have two stitch markers dividing your stitches evenly into three parts.
Step 3
With a DPN on your right hand, transfer the stitches purlwise from your left needle to your right needle without knitting, stopping at the stitch marker.
Remove the stitch marker.
Step 4
Using a new DPN on your right hand, pick up where you left off, transferring the next set of stitches purlwise from your left needle to your right needle.
Stopping at the stitch marker; remove the marker.
Step 5
Repeat step 4 with the remaining stitches. You will stop when the stitches run out instead of at the stitch marker.
You should have three DPNs holding equal numbers of stitches, each, after this step. You can continue knitting your pattern with DPNs as you normally would.
Method 2: Transfer and Divide While Knitting
Step 1
Count all of the stitches you have on your round needles and divide that number by 3. That will be the number of stitches that each DPN will hold.
Step 2
Count the stitches that each DPN will hold and place a stitch marker after each count; you should have two stitch markers dividing your stitches evenly into three parts.
Step 3
With a DPN on your right hand, knit the stitches following your existing pattern, stopping at the stitch marker. Remove the stitch marker.
Step 4
Using a new DPN on your right hand, pick up where you left off. Knit the next set of stitches following your existing pattern, stopping at the stitch marker. Remove the stitch marker.
Step 5
Repeat step 4.
After this step, you should have a new row following your existing pattern but knitted in the round using DPNs. You can continue knitting with DPNs from here on.
Transferring Stitches From Needles in the Round
If you are knitting in the round using the magic loop method (with round needles much longer than the number of stitches), it can be difficult to transfer stitches from one needle to another without making it more difficult to hold the needles.
If you need to shift the stitches around from one needle to another when knitting in the round using the magic loop method, here are a couple of ways to do so.
Method 1 (Easy): Use Same-Sized Double-Pointed Needles
It can be a bit awkward to transfer stitches from one needle to the other when you are knitting using the magic loop method since your back stitches are held with the cable and your front stitches are active on the needles.
If you have an extra DPN of the same size, you can easily do so following these steps:
Step 1
Use a DPN in the same size on your right hand, transfer the number of stitches you want from your left hand (front stitches in the magic loop method) to the DPN in your right hand.
Step 2
Flip your work to the other side so that the back stitches are now in the front, pull the round needles so that the back stitches are held with the cable, and the front stitches are now held with the needle.
Flip the DPN from the back to the front, pulling the stitches from the left end to the right end of the DPN.
Step 3
Use the round needle with your right hand and the DPN with your left hand; continue knitting in your existing pattern.
You have now successfully transferred the stitches from one needle to the other in the round using the magic loop method.
You can repeat these steps if you want to transfer stitches on the other side to the other needle if needed.
Method 2 (Difficult): Use the Magic Loop
This method is easier for those who are familiar with the magic loop method, but beginners may find the steps a little confusing.
If you are confident with your abilities using the magic loop method, here is how to transfer stitches from one needle to the other in the round:
Step 1
With the cable holding the back stitches and the left needle holding the front stitches (as you normally would with the magic loop method), knit the number of stitches you would like to transfer using the right needle.
Step 2
Pull the right needle and the cable to the left so that the stitches you have just knitted are transferred to the back.
Step 3
Continue knitting as you normally would using the magic loop method.
And that’s how you transfer stitches from one needle to the other if you are knitting in the round using the magic loop method!
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