We choose knitting needles based on the thickness of the thread and the product

May 17, 2017 handmadebase

Content

General recommendations for selection
Video instruction on the selection of knitting needles
Accessories for spokes
Helpful Tips
Video: Overview of all existing types of spokes

In any business you need something convenient and reliabletools. The main tools in the knitting set are knitting needles. The final result and the mood of the performer depend on how well they are selected. Finally, uncomfortable knitting needles can completely discourage a beginner knitter from learning this craft. Therefore, if you are just diving into the magical world of knitting, do not be lazy and read this article to the end and pay attention to the photo. What if it comes in handy?

General recommendations for selection

The needles can be any, but the main requirements areare as follows - they must be light and well polished. There is nothing worse than rough, poorly processed tools. Even insignificant nicks, a poorly polished surface are irritating during work, since they do not provide the necessary sliding. And they also lead to splitting of the thread fibers.
So the surface should always bepolished, although it can have different degrees of slip - a smoother one is suitable for working with wool or multi-textured thread, and a slightly rough one is good for slippery yarn.
So, to make the right choice, we study the offer in the nearest store step by step.
Step one: choose the material
You can find a wide variety of offers on sale, so choosing the right one can be difficult at times. Today, the most common materials are considered to be the following:

High-strength steel - a universal tool, allows you to knit any products from different yarns. There are nickel plated and uncoated;
Metal anodized - from light alloys, protected from corrosion by a colored film coating. Comfortable when knitting dark yarn;
Plastic is a modern material used forMaking a tool of great thickness. Used for free binding. Due to the flexibility of the material, it is practically not used for small diameter spokes;
bamboo and wood are quite expensive and almost exotic pleasures. Pleasant to the touch, light and comfortable if thick. Thin knitting needles made of these materials are not very durable and quickly wear out;
Bone - this is from the category of antiquarian values,Since real bone tools are now a huge rarity. On sale you can find a kind of natural bone, made from hardened protein casein. Their price is quite high and from the point of view of practical sense is not justified;
Aluminum - not so long ago they were considered the mostLight, affordable and had one problem - painted a light yarn. But modern manufacturers have coped with this trouble, and today the spokes made of aluminum from a good manufacturer are quite convenient, easy and affordable.

Slip and strength can be distinguishedNickel-plated steel spokes, which are slightly heavier than the others, but they are also the smoothest. However, there are very smooth and at the same time lightweight nickel-plated tools (for example, German Addi).

Step two: Get acquainted with the types of basic spokes Now that you know what kind of knitting needles are for the material from which they are made, it's time to find out what types of what are used. These are three types of tools:

Direct;
Hosiery;
Circular.

The most common knitting needles are straight, equippedFrom one end of the limiters, so that the loops do not slip. These are convenient tools for knitting, which are knit, turning the product from the front to the purl. As a variant of straight spokes, modern manufacturers also offer demountable models that do not fundamentally differ from conventional straight lines, but they have an extension cord with fixers at the ends. They are good when you need to tie a heavy large canvas.

Stocking spokes - they can be attributed to the type of straight. However, unlike usual, they are double-edged (that is, they have no limiters), are sold in a set of 5 pieces and serve for knitting in a circle or by the method of seamless knitting. Five-piece knitting needles are used to untie the seamless fabric of the sock or stocking, because the spokes historically got this name. Although there are long knitting needles (up to 35 cm), which are quite suitable for tying bigger things around in a circle - for example, for making a hat, a sleeveless sleeves or simultaneous binding of the gear and backrest.
Many experienced knitters preferinstead of traditional straight ones, use circular ones - these are knitting needles on a metal cable, fishing line or tube. The tube, as the most inconvenient connection option, seems to be safely disappearing from the shelves, but the fishing line still remains. But it often loses to a metal cable - more durable, does not create inconvenient connections with the knitting needle and is simply smoother. So, thinking about which ones to choose
, take those on a rope or fishing line from a good manufacturer.

As a variant of circular there is a collapsible type - the essenceThese samples of technical thought are that they are attached to several pieces of fishing line of different lengths and set of spokes. It is used for work with both large and small products. Choosing a good manufacturer, you can buy a convenient universal thing. Once you get to a product of questionable production, you can throw money away - the junction with the fishing line is not always comfortable, just like the spokes themselves.
Step Three: We study numbers of spokes Numbers on spokes correspond to their diameter in millimeters. Usually, the recommendation for choosing a number is on the yarn label. You can choose the right size and yourself - it is recommended to fold the thread in half and twist it a little. The resulting tourniquet will be the pattern for selecting the number of spokes. Thus, the thickness of the thread is usually half that of the thickness of the spoke.

So it should be in an ideal. In life, there is also such a thing as the density of knitting. Each knitter develops his own style, his density, someone knits tighter, someone weaker. And then the needles come in different sizes. They allow to make denser looser, weaker mating and, on the contrary, to weaken too tight manner of tying loops.
Therefore, you need to gradually choose your technique and density, and along with them, just in case, buy different needle sizes, including those with a half-number interval.

By the way, different numbers, it happens, are needed even in one product - for example, when you need to do the crown of the head without resorting to reducing the number of loops.

Video instruction on the selection of knitting needles

Accessories for spokes

They are needed for the isolation of individual elements andBecause they are used optional. Many knitters for decades knit without auxiliary spokes. Using a stocking or regular pin. But if you really intend to take up the knitting seriously and for a long time, you can buy such knitting needles. They can be straight (they are used, for example, for tying the entrance into the pocket) or curved (they are used to move the loops when tying braids and plaits).

Helpful Tips

Spokes at the ends may be more sharp and blunt. Which are better? Better - comfortable. Over time, you will understand the "addictions" of each manufacturer and choose your own. Well, in general, it should be noted that too blunt tips are uncomfortable, and too sharp are just dangerous - you can damage your fingers when tying, and also split the loop. So try a little tie right in the store, evaluate, so to speak, them in the case.
In general, we would not recommend buying cheap knitting needles - the tool, as was said above, must be impeccable. And always - both when you have a dozen things behind you, and at the very beginning of the journey.