fashionknitting

Knitting Needles

There are various types of knitting needles out there.  There are the Bamboo knitting needles that seem popular and are very easy to use when knitting because your stitches tend to stay on the knitting needles with ease if you are a beginner these are great to use.  I normally use the steel type knitting needles because they are what I’ve been using frequently over the years and feel comfortable using them.  I tend to knit faster with these knitting needles as they are less flimsy.  I have used a few plastic knitting needles and find them to be a bit more challenging for the beginner knitter.  They are nice to use though because they are very easy to use to knit with and don’t make as much noise when knitting.  I love that sound of knitting needles when knitting together. I have some funky plastic knitting needles I got that lite up.  These are great for darker yarn if you want to be able to see better at night.  I love using them in the dark to find things.  

For different knitting projects you will need various types of knitting needles such as circular knitting needles, double pointed knitting needles and straight knitting needles.  Double pointed and circular knitting needles are great for having no seams in your knitting. This of course also depends on what you are kntiting and how you prefer your knitting.  Everyone is unique and has their preference.

Cast on straight needles before putting stitches on the circular needles makes it easier and the stitches are in tact rather then have various issues with tension while submitting the stitches on the circular needle because the bigger part of the needle is different compared to the tiny plastic part of the knitting needle, you can cast on in the round but for a more consistency in the tension of the stitches I prefer to cast on a straight needle and then cast on the circular needle.  Now it all depends on what you knit because in the round the yarn will join with one another.  If you are doing a blanket in the round make sure the yarn doesn’t connect/join with one another forming a circular motion.  Be sure to mark the beginning of the round with a marker, such as a round circular marker you can put on the knitting needles or a stitch marker (which is like a plastic clip).  You will visually be able to see the start of the knitting with ease.  The strand of yarn that was left dangling while starting out your casting on may not be enough to be consistent in figuring out where you started your stitches.

I have my preference of knitting needles I use.  I have used the plastic knitting needles, the knitting needles that light up and the steel knitting needles and prefer using the older style knitting needles because the knitting needles do not bend are easier to knit with efficiency.  I have my size variations of knitting needles I use frequently.  I use sizes 6,7,8,9,10,11,13 and for the bigger knitting needles I use size 15, 19 for lacey shawls.  Bigger knitting needles are great for yarn over type stitches because the stitches drop as you work out your pattern for your project.

For cable patterns I use a cable marker which has an indent (bent), curve, for the cable stitches to sit nicely on when I’m working with cables.  I also use a double pointed needle if the cables are bigger and require more space lengthwise for transferring the stitches to make my cable stitch.