How to Work in the Round

Working in the round means your stitches travel in a circle instead of back and forth in rows, so you build a tube or a flat disc with no seam to sew up at the end. It’s the backbone of our amigurumi — quokkas, brush-turkeys and tea cozy bodies — and of the drop bear beanie, knitted in the round from the brim up without a seam in sight.

Step by step

Start the circle the way your pattern says: in crochet, usually a magic ring or a short chain joined into a ring; in knitting, cast on and join the ends into a circle — taking great care the stitches aren’t twisted around the needle, because a twisted join can’t be fixed later, only unpicked.
Choose your tools for the size of the circle: double-pointed needles, or the magic-loop method on a long circular needle, for small knitting; a short circular needle for bigger work; and just your hook for crochet. Our patterns always say which set-up they were counted on.
Mark the beginning of the round and guard that marker with your life. Slip it up onto the new round every time you pass it — nearly every “my shaping drifted” story is really a lost beginning-of-round.
Know the difference between a spiral and joined rounds. Amigurumi usually spirals: you simply keep going, never joining or chaining up, which is exactly why the marker matters. Joined rounds end with a slip stitch into the first stitch plus a turning chain, and they leave one faint seam line.
Remember that knitting in the round is all front-side work: stocking stitch is simply knit every round, because you never turn the piece over. The inside of the tube looks after the wrong side all by itself.
In crochet rounds, count your stitches at the end of each round against the pattern’s count. Round work grows by a rhythm of increases (see our How to Increase page), and one missed increase makes every later round sit slightly wrong.
Watch the little step — the “jog” — where a new round of stripes or colour changes starts one stitch higher than the last. Changing colour the tidy way (see our How to Change Colours Cleanly page) softens it a lot.
When a piece gets small — a closing head, a shrinking dome — swap tools without fuss: crochet doesn’t care at all, and knitters move from a circular needle to double-pointed ones when the circle gets too tight to travel around comfortably.
Lay flat circles down and check they sit flat every few rounds: a disc that cups into a bowl needs more increases, and one that ruffles like a lettuce leaf has too many. Our patterns count them all for you, but the lay-flat check catches surprises early.

Patterns that use it

Drop Bear Beanie Knitting Pattern | Funny Aussie Chunky Hat with Fangs and Bear Ears, Child & Adult Sizes PDF

Quokka Crochet Pattern | Funny Aussie Amigurumi PDF, Big Grin & Selfie Pose, Crochet Quokka Pattern, Instant Download

Aussie Flora Doilies Crochet Patterns Vol 1 Waratah Wattle Banksia Thread Crochet Lace Table Decor

Brush-Turkey Amigurumi Crochet Pattern Vol 1 | Aussie Turkey, Mound Nest & Speckled Eggs PDF

Aussie Thanksgiving Table Decor Crochet Patterns Vol 1 | Granny Runner, Leaf Placemats & Pumpkins PDF

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Common mistakes

Twisting the knitted join. If the cast-on stitches spiral around the needle when you close the circle, the work grows into a twist that no amount of knitting will undo — it can only be unpicked, so check before the first round, not after the tenth.
Losing the beginning of the round. In a spiral especially, an unmarked start means increases and shaping drift quietly around the piece, and the first you know of it is a lopsided head or a seam line wandering off course.
Trusting the rounds instead of counting them. One missed increase in crochet makes every round after it sit slightly wrong, and the error compounds until the piece cups, ruffles or leans — a ten-second count at each round’s end catches it while it’s still small.

Tina’s tips

Use a locking stitch marker and clip it through a stitch, not just looped around the yarn. It can’t slip off in your project bag, and it travels up round after round exactly where you left it.
Lay the piece down flat on the table every few rounds and really look at it. A disc starting to cup or ruffle, or shaping starting to wander, is a one-round fix when you catch it early and a heartbreak when you don’t.
Working in the round means no seam to hide, which is why our egg cosies come out neat all the way around.