Best knitting needles come in all varieties.
Knitting needles come in such amazing variety, it could make your head spin. There are circulars, double pointed needles, or straights in metals, woods, plastics, et cetera, all with different points–blunty stumpo to lace pointy. Throw in the yarn you choose for a particular project and you add more confusion. Which will work best with this yarn in that pattern in your unique hands? Is it all trial and error?
Well, sorta.
The size and shape of your hands and the way you move them as you knit is unique. Don’t believe me? Go to any knitters group and observe the multitudinous ways they achieve their knit and purl stitches. Wild, huh? Did you notice they use all kinds of needles? Here’s why.
Top 6 1/2 Knitting Needle Factors
- 1. Style
- 2. Material
- 3. Points
- 4. Sizes
- 5. Brands
- 6. Price
- 6 1/2. Innovations
Knitting needles come in circulars, double points, or straights in varied lengths to suit your project or your preference. You might get four, five or six dpns in a set. With circulars, you have the added factors of smooth, sturdy joins and cable flexibility.
Metal ones can be aluminum with a light texture or nickel-plated with a slick finish. Wooden ones can be bamboo, ebony, rosewood or birch. Other materials include vintage bone, plastic, modern glass and acrylic. Each has different warmth, flexibility, drag or slipperiness when combined with a particular yarn.
Blunt ones don’t split your yarn, lace ones can enter small apertures (or your fingers!). The more tricky stitch maneuvers may require a pointier needle–or not. It depends on you, how tight or loose you knit, your choice of yarn and the stitch pattern for a particular project.
Two important factors about size:
First, did you know one size 1 (for instance) needle isn’t always exactly the same size as another size 1? The size difference can alter your gauge depending on material or brand. Ack!
Second, we have up to five needle size methods throughout history. Let’s focus on contemporary methods: American and U.S./U.K. metric. American sizing gives one size 1 where metric gives us two: 2.25 mm and 2.5 mm. American gives one size 2 where metric gives us two: 2.75 mm and 3 mm. Ask any sock knitter if this matters or not when trying to get gauge. Hint: it matters! More sizes mean more choices for better results.
We started out with home-made wood or bone needles back in the day, then steel in “old” (reversed!) sizes. Then came our familiar Boye and Susan Bates along with casein and plastic needles. Now there’s a vast array of brand names: Addi (Turbo Lace, Natura, Clicks), Brittany, Clover, Crystal Palace, Denise, Harmony, Hiyahiya, Inox, KA, Knitpicks, Kollage (square!), Lantern Moon, Pony, Skacel, Surina and Takumi. I’m sure this list doesn’t mention every brand out there. You may rely on one brand over another for a particular quality you find important.
Sometimes your wallet affects your choice. Your perfect needles for your latest project might come from a thrift store for ten cents or out of your mother’s stash for free. But if you love circs, you might invest in an interchangeable kit versus buying them one by one in this or that length. Often you need two or three needle sizes or lengths for one particular project. Maybe your arthritis requires a pricey set of fancy wooden needles or you can’t knit at all.
Yes, a bonus factor. Now you can try square needles, touted as easier to grasp. Or lighted tips for knitting in the dark. Or a cro-hook for easier picking up of stitches. Who knows what innovation will next tickle a knitter’s fancy?
These 6 1/2 factors impact your choice of knitting needles for good or ill.
Good luck finding just the right needles that work in your hands for maximum knitting pleasure with each project. Choose wrong and you’ll experience physical trauma, frustration and wasted money on stalled projects.
Best,
Karen
P.S.
Don’t you just want to cast on right now with whatever needles are handy? Of course. But if you discover you must fight with your knitting needles for each purl 2 tog through the back loops–at least 582 times in this latest sweater–how fast will it get done? Maybe never? What kind of pain will you develop in your fingers, wrists, or shoulders from tension? Just saying.
