Like a great chef needs her knives, a great knitter needs her needles - one to fit every purpose, project, and possibility. Acquiring all the right needles takes time (and a piggybank) and is not something that should necessarily be attempted right out of the starting gate. In my other life as a medical professional, we label something as "PRN" if it is designated as "as needed", from the Latin, "pro re nata" (translation: as circumstances require). I see needle purchases as "PRNs". Get them as you need them, as the circumstances evolve. Plan on buying a new set or two with each new project, and before you know it, you will have a nice collection to call your own. Here's my collection, to date. A needle carrier is essential once your needle family begins to grow! Find more like this in my etsy store...they'll be coming soon!
Needles come in many shapes and sizes. The basic differences are as follows:
1. Straight needles - These are the classic needles that you see in illustrations and artwork; the needles that you might picture in the hands of a little old lady in a rocking chair. They come in pairs, are long and striaght, and each one has a pointed end. The other end is wide and flat (or square, or peg-like) to keep the stitches from slipping off. They are used for "flat" knitting - that is, knitting flat pieces such as scarves, blankets, pieces of a vest, sleeves, etc. Straight needles come in several lengths, depending on the needs of your project, typically 10" and 14" long. There are a multitude of sizes (relating to needle diameter) but I'll get into that later.
2. Circular needles - These are the needles that a beginner knitter looks at and says, "huh??" A circular needle is essentially two straight needles whose butt ends are connected by a thin wire or cord. Why? To knit round things! Hats, gigantic tube socks, the body of a sweater. Knitting on circular needles is called knitting "in the round" because you literally knit around and around and around, unlike straight needles, which require knitting back and forth. Now, circular needles are very adaptive and can also be used to knit large FLAT things. They come in very handy if you are making a large afghan, for example. Picture how many stitches must be needed to knit an afghan. Now picture fitting all of those stitches onto two straight needles - there would be a limit as to how big your afghan would be, right? Circular needles come in large sizes, where your tip-to-tip length is actually longer than the total length of two straight needles added together. You work the stitches in a way that doesn't connect them, so you are working back and forth rather than "in the round." Get it? If not, don't sweat it. It will all make sense in a while. Circular needles come in different lengths too, like 16", 24", 29" and 36". They also come in varying diameters (more later).
3. Double pointed needles - These are the needles that make beginner knitters run for the hills! Not only do they look scary (two pointy ends! Ah!), but you use four or five at a time! WHAT!!?? Do not fear, double pointed needles (dpns) will soon be your BFF, and you will be forever grateful for those little suckers. DPNs are used to knit "in the round" when you are working with a small circumference (like a sock) or a circumference that is decreasing in size (like the crown of a hat).
Imagine having 50 stitches nicely spread around a circular needle. The directions tell you to start decreasing the number of stitches so that the "tube" you are making becomes more and more narrow. This is typically the situation when knitting a hat and shaping the crown. You get down to about 30 stitches on the circular needle and start to totally freak out - the stitches are stretched because the length of the circular needle is much bigger than the working circumference of your project. Major panic attack! But in come your dpns to save the day. You transfer the stitches onto three dpns, with an even number on each needle (in this case, 10 stitches on each of three needles) and the needles are arranged in a triangle, like this:
The triangle is a modified "round" and since it is made of three needles, can shrink down to the tiniest triangular circumference possible as the centers of the needles are moved towards eachother. This is also done with four dpns arranged in a square, which is able to get smaller and smaller as you decrease the number of stitches.
The fourth (or fifth) dpn is used as the "working" needle to knit the stitches from the first dpn in the triangle (or square). When all of the stitches are transferred from dpn 1 to dpn 4/5, dpn 1 becomes the working needle and is used to knit the stitches off dpn 2, and so on. Trust me, it works. It may take some time for your fingers to learn the drill, but that's par for the course in this craft!
Knitting needles, whether straight, circular, or dpns are assigned a "size" based on their diameter. The smaller the size, the smaller the diameter. The smaller the diameter, the tinier the stitches. Sizes range from 000 (super small) to 20+ (fattys!). The sizes that I am referring to are in US size range. Each US size has a corresponding metric size which is expressed in millimeters (US 9 - 5.5mm). Be sure you are looking at the right size range before you take the plunge! There's a big difference between US 8 and 8mm!
Knitting needles are made from a variety of materials, like aluminum, bamboo (my fave), wood, plastic, nylon, and Teflon. Everyone has their own preference. Some are more expensive than others. One word to the wise: if you have cats or puppies around, keep your wood and bamboo needles out of reach!! I have had too many beautiful bamboo needle tips chewed to a pulp by a hungry kitty or two!
That's knitting needles 101! I would recommend picking up a set of size 7, 8, or 9 straight needles in 10" length. They'll be easy to maneuver as you learn how to knit and are a great size for working with worsted weight yarn. We'll learn about yarn next...
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