Welcome to first installment of Tool Box Tuesday.
The discussion will be about knitting needles.
Knitting needles are the most basic knitting tool. You can’t knit without them!
(That’s not technically true you can knit
without knitting needles, but for now let’s not worry about that.)
There are three main components that are used to describe a
set of knitting needles; the size, the material, and the type.
The Size:
It is the diameter of the tube of the needle dictates its
size. Easy, right? Wrong. Right from the get-go, here’s where things
get complicated. Different countries use
different number schemes to classify the size of the needle.
The most straightforward is metric. In the metric system, the measurement in
millimeters refers to the diameter of the needle. That seems as if it would be the easiest,
despite this, or maybe because of this, it is not the classification system
used in either the US or in England.
Each of those countries have their own system of classification…which
are pretty much the opposite from each other.
In US sizing, the smaller numbers refer to the smaller
diameter needles, and larger numbers refer to larger diameter needles.
In UK sizing the smaller numbers refer to the larger
diameter needles, and the larger numbers refer to the smaller diameter needles.
Here’s a partial chart to illustrate this. If you want a full chart, I’ll leave it up to
you to search one out yourself.
The Material:
The most common materials used for knitting needles are
wood, bamboo, metal, and plastic. Each
have their advantages and drawbacks.
The foremost difference is the smoothness of the needles,
the way they grip the yarn. Wood and
bamboo needles offer the most grip. Metal needles are the slipperiest. Plastic
ones are somewhere in the middle.
Is grip a good thing or a bad thing? The answer is both.
Sometimes I am afraid that the stitches might fall off the end
of the needle. That is when I use wood or bamboo. Sometimes I want speed. That is when I will
use metal needles. If I’m working with
cotton, or another slippery yarn I would use wood. I am using bamboo needles to knit a lacy
shawl right now because the fabric is very open compared to the needle size,
and I don’t want it to slip off. If I am
working on say…the back of a sweater, and I have row after row of stockinette
stitch, then I hopefully am working that on metal needles.
Other considerations:
Metal needles are heavier, bamboo needles can wear out and become
splintery at the tip, plastic needles tend to have blunt tips…the list goes on.
No one needle is best. It comes down mostly to personal preference.
Then there are needles which are made out of exotic
materials, fancy woods, or fancy metals.
This is done for pure luxury and joy. I would love, love, love, to get a pair of hand
forged bronze or sterling silver needles inlayed with precious stones. Like fine
folks at
Celtic Swan make. Wouldn't you?
The Type:
The three types of needles are straight needles, circular
needles, and double pointed needles (dpns).
Straight needles. The archetypical knitting needle. They
come in sets of 2 and are a stick which is pointy on one end and has a stopper
affixed to the other end. The typical length of a straight needle is between 9
and 14 inches. They are used for knitting flat pieces. A project on straight needles is worked back
and forth. This is done by first working all the way across with the right side
of the knitting facing, and then turning it around and working all the way
across with the wrong side of the knitting facing. Unless the project is a scarf, there will be
seams to sew together at the end.
Circular needles are made up of two needles whose ends are
smoothly joined together with a cable.
The cable is anywhere from 10 to 60 inches, and resembles thick fishing line
material. Circular needles are used to
knit projects in the round. Knitting in the
round can produce a tube (it can also produce a flat circle, but I’m not
discussing techniques, I’m discussing tools.)
The entire bottom of a sweater can be made on circular needles by
knitting a big tube. A lot of knitters like this because it means that they don’t
have to sew up seams. When using
circular needles the right side of the knitting is always facing. Essentially the knitting is being made in a spiral. Circular needles can also be used to knit pieces
flat when the project has just too many stitches to fit on straight needles.
Double pointed needles are called dpns by those in the
know. Dpns come in sets of 4 or 5, and
they look like enlarged toothpicks. They
are used for knitting in the round, when a small tube is desired. Socks and mittens are commonly knit on dpns. Just like circular needles, when knitting on
dpns the right side is always facing and the knitting goes around in a spiral. The great thing about this type of needle is
that knitting can be done in the round with a minimal number of stitches. For instance, they are quite handy for closing
the top end of a hat knitted in the round.
Below is a picture that wraps it up. Three needles representing different sizes, materials, and types:
 |
Size 10.5 brass circular needles
Size 5 plastic dpns
Size 6 bamboo straight needles. |
Well that concludes the first installment of Tool Box Tuesday.
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