Joining in the round... a tutorial

I came across a newish knitter that was asking for clarification on patterns that ask you to join in the round making sure not to twist the stitches. So, I figured, why not make a little bit of a tutorial, just in case someone else was wondering the same thing...

I've put this together while casting on for the second sock of my September SAM4 socks. To make sure that I've got a loose cast on, I'm using two needles, and also using the cable cast on method.

Once you have the correct amount of stitches, distribute them equally onto a minimum of three needles...


Make sure that all the stitches are aligned on one side of the needles...


Also, note that if you were to knit this in the normal way, you would normally turn the stitches, but here you keep this in the same position as if you would cast on more. Now, simply flip the stitches upward, making sure that the working yarn is still on the right hand side of the row of casted on stitches...


Bring the opposite needles together to form a 'circle'...


Note how the bottom of the stitches are now all facing into the circle. At this point, you can now use the fourth (or fifth) needle to start knitting at the end of the cast on row. Personally, I like to add an additional step at this point. Loosen the last stitch that you casted on...


Next, carefully drop the first stitch from the opposite needle...


I then hook this stitch through the loosened last stitch...


and put it back onto the needle that you dropped it from...


Now, you can tighten the loosened stitch...


and continue knitting on the left needle without having to worry about the right needle trying to pull away from you as you negotiate this new form of knitting.

I hope you have fun trying this out and entering into the wonderful world of tubular knitting!