Are You Using the Right Knitting Needle for Your Project?
When starting a new project, how much do you consider your needles? Our needles are important tools that deserve some thought.
Our goal is to knit as comfortably as possible for as many years as possible. Toward that end, we should intentionally choose our needles with our project in mind.
Knitter’s Pride wooden needles with medium sharp tips
The vast majority of us knit with circular needles. There are definite advantages to using them! One obvious advantage is that the tips are connected by a cable. Therefore, we will always have both of them and won’t lose one! A less obvious but more important advantage is that the weight of our knitting project is mostly on the cable. This lessens the work that our hands and forearms need to do to support that weight which, in turn, lessens the chance for injury.
Two things that we should watch out for are the smoothness of the join between needle tip and cable and the flexibility of the cord. If the join isn’t smooth or the cord is stiff, this causes more stress on our hands.
Lykke needles have medium to blunt tips
If the cord is flexible but curls when you pull it out to knit with it, soak it in very hot water for a minute or so. I put about an inch of water in a frying pan, bring it to a boil, and dip in the cord. I hold the needle by the tips and don’t let anything but the cable touch the water. When about a minute has passed I pull it out, run a towel down it and hang it around my neck while I take care of the pan. This method works for me. As with all things in knitting, there are probably other ways!
Knitter’s Pride metal SmartStix with sharp points and one-inch intervals marked
Another thing to consider is the material your needle is made of and the yarn you’re going to use. It makes sense that a fine slippery yarn would be better on a needle with a little bit of ‘grab’ to it and vice versa. The correct amount of friction is necessary to either prevent your stitches from slipping off the needle easily or struggling to move them along the needle. Knitting a few inches with your chosen needle will quickly let you know if your yarn and needle pair well together! Having the right amount of friction will reduce the amount of stress on your hands.
Knitter’s Pride metal interchangeable set with sharp points
Have you ever cleaned your needles? As we knit, oils, salts, and perspiration from our hands collect on our needles. Clean wooden needles with a little bit of soapy water and a damp cloth and dry them. They can be polished by rubbing with waxed paper. For any other material, just spray some glass cleaner on a paper towel and give your needles a quick wipe.
Take into account the tip of the needle you plan to use and how it will work with the pattern and your yarn. If you’ve ever tried to knit cables or lace with a blunt tip, you know how difficult that is! A sharp-tipped needle makes knitting those patterns a pleasure. Plus, once again, it reduces the stress on your hands!
ChiaoGoo metal needles with sharp points
Conversely, if you’ve knit plain stockinette or simple knit/purl textures in a loosely plied yarn with a sharp needle, you’ve probably been frustrated because you thought the yarn was ‘splitty’. Try a medium to blunt tip with that same yarn and you’ll be amazed at the difference!
Color! Don’t forget color! You most certainly do not want to knit on a needle the same color as your yarn. Just think of your poor eyes!
To quote Carson Demers, author of Knitting Comfortably (and the source of much of the information presented here), “there’s nothing wrong, selfish, or wasteful in having numerous needles of the same size but made of different materials, in different colors, or with different tip designs”.
Happy knitting!
Jenny