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There are 3 basic types of knitting needle available today: straight, circular and double-pointed.

Straight needles are straight as the name suggests, with tabs at the top that stop the stitches falling off! They come in usually standard 10 and 14 inch lengths. These are the most common type of needle to begin knitting with and for smaller pieces. It can be a little tricky to get large numbers of stitches on them though and the knitting they produce is always flat.

NB: You can get needles called flex or jumper needles, these are short straight needles with cable at the end so you can fit a lot more stitches on them.

Circular needles are available in lots of lengths (some up to 45″) they are used for knitting ‘seamlessly in the round’ – hats and curved garment pieces, or for knitting back and forth. Using circular needles can help because you can rest the weight of your knitting on your lap which is useful when knitting larger pieces.

Double-pointed needles are available in sets of four or five and in lengths from 4″ to 14″. They are used for knitting in the round – this means knitting the item as a whole so no need to sew seams in your knitwear! The shorter needles are useful for knitting socks and mittens.

Needle Sizes

Needle sizes differ and are usually measured in mm width. The smaller the width the smaller the stitch that can be made with them. Most straight needles have the size marked on the tab at the top, circular and double pointed needles however may not have a size which is why producing a knitting gauge is important.

In old UK format the needle sizes just were numbers with a size 14 being the smallest at 2mm, US sizes however go the other way and a 2mm needle would labeled a 0.

A UK 0 size is 8mm width, a 00 is 9mm and a 000 is 10mm, the US system goes up to a size 50 which is 25mm.

Needle materials

Knitting needles may be made from various materials listed here. The type that is used depends on the style of knitting and the yarn/wool used.

Metal needles are usually made from aluminum sometimes nickel or gold plated brass. They are smooth to use and can allow a knitter to get some speed though they can be slippery – I have dropped plenty of stitches with them. They do however make the classic clipping sound that I associate with my nanny knitting.

Wood and bamboo needles are warm to hold and are quiet to use. Stitches are less likely to slip off these needles so possibly good for beginners to learn with. They may need smoothing down with sandpaper though and also can break if you put too much strain on them.

Plastic and casein needles are in the middle of metal and wood needles, they are faster, noisier and colder than wood or bamboo, but slower, quieter and warmer than metal. They can also be a bit flexible if you find that useful in your knitting style!

Amber Allen
http://www.retro-makeyourown-styleguide.com/

The style guide for sewing and knitting.

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