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How to Choose the Right Knitting Needles

March 13, 2017 by Liz

How to chose knitting needles

How to chose knitting needles

When you’re just starting out, don’t stress too much about what needles you’re using.  As you keep at it you’ll probably pick up a feeling for what works best for you.  If you want to know what’s out there, here’s how to pick the right knitting needles that are appropriate for you and what your are yarn and project.  Each of the needle types has it’s pros and cons.

Needle Materials:

Needles can be made out of metal, plastic, wood, or bamboo.  I personally like bamboo.  They get smoother as you use them and are warm to the touch (a plus for me, it’s a real thing).  They provide a little more friction or grab on the yarn.  Even though they are a wood product they are smooth enough not to snag the yarn.  Metal and plastic needles are more slippery.  This is a good thing if you have a dense knit (i.e. using needles a little smaller than your yarn calls for).  If you have a delicate knit you want to keep control of, they aren’t so great.  There’s nothing worse than working your butt off knitting something just to have half the stitches slide off accidentally.  Metal needles are also noisier.  They make a clicking noise as you knit.  Not always the best choice if you knit while your partner sleeps.

Needle Length:

The longer the needles the more stitches you can work with.  It get really difficult to work with needles that have too many stitches on them.  Your work is compressed and you can’t see the stitches.  It’s really easy to drop a stitch this way.  Conversely, longer needles can be harder to hold and work with.  Personally, if I’m knitting a larger piece I prefer circular needles.  They have a smaller “footprint,” meaning they aren’t bulky, and I’m less worried about the stitches slipping off the needles.

Needle Size:

Needles size corresponds to your yarn size and size of the stitches you want to create.  The smaller the needles the more delicate your knitting can be.  Think delicate lacey knits.  The larger needles make those chunky, massive knits that are so popular now.  There’s even Extreme Knitting with needles are almost 2 inches thick!  Needle sizing is typically in numeric US and metric sizing in mm.  Needle size corresponds to the diameter of the needle.  The size should be marked on the needle.  However, it’s great idea to pick up a needle gauge.  It makes it easy to check the size of a needle in your stash.  Plus, some of them are really pretty!  No, seriously, people make jewelry out of them.  Check out a few here and here.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

You can see a full knitting needle conversion chart and yarn guide here.

Needle Types:

Straight needles have a pointy end and a blunt end.  On these needles you’ll knit one row, switch the needles and knit the next row.

Circular needles have a plastic connector between the needles.  The connector can be anywhere from 16in up to 36in or more.  These needles allow you to knit “in the round.”  In other words, knitting in a continuous loop.  Think infinity scarf.  Circular needles are also great for knitting larger items like blankets that won’t fit on the standard needle length.  When knitting in the round, make sure you choose the appropriate length for your circulars so the stitches fit comfortably.  Most pattern will specify the length if circulars are necessary.

Double point needles are 4-5 single, short needles that are pointy on both ends.  Used as a set, they are for knitting in the round when circular needles are not small enough.  Great for making hats where the circumference gets progressively smaller as you knit from the bottom to the top of the hat.

How to choose the right knitting needles

If you’re just starting out, I suggest using short, straight metal or plastic needles, size 8-11. They are big enough to easily see the stitches you make but are not too unwieldy for beginners.   I’ve tried a lot of different types and really prefer the bamboo circular needles.  I would suggest them for anyone.  Metal and plastic are cheaper ($4 vs $10 for a set of size 10 needles).  If you aren’t sure if knitting will be a long term hobby for you, feel free to start out with cheaper supplies at first.  Or you know, make friends with a fellow knitter and ask to try out different needles!

Now that you got your needles, lets check out the yarn.

How to knit needles and yarn

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How to Choose the Right Yarn for Knitting

February 20, 2017 by Liz

How to Knit - Choosing Yarn

Haaaave you read about needles?  Confused yet?  It gets better.  Let’s choose the right yarn.  Once you get started knitting it all starts to make sense.

How to Knit - Choosing Yarn

Take a stroll down the yarn aisle at your local craft store.  There’s a huge variety of yarns to choose from.  Let’s put aside talk of the different colors, ’cause seriously ALL THE COLORS!!!

What should I call my yarn?

Be honest, you didn’t even know this was a thing, right?

If you want to blend seamlessly into to packs of herding knitters you gotta speak the lingo.  Say this with me:  Skein.  Rhymes with keen.  Now say Peachy Keen Skein.  Now say that 5-times-fast.

A skein is a wound length of yarn with a center pull strand.  Meaning you can pull both ends of the yarn, one from the around the outside of the skein and the other from the middle.  The is different from a ball of yarn where one end is enclosed inside the ball and one one end is free.

I prefer winding my skeins into balls before I work with them.  That completely personal preference.

How to Choose the Right Yarn – What is it made of??

Yarns are made from different materials.  Most of the yarn you get in a craft store will be acrylic, meaning no natural fibers.  However, a lot of commercial brands are coming out with acrylic / wool blends now.  There are advantages to using natural fibers.  And an entire group of knitters that won’t use acrylic yarns at all.  If you’re a newbie don’t sweat the material.  Natural fibers are more expensive than acrylic.  If you want to knit a cashmere sweater, the yarn alone could cost more than simply buying a sweater at a store.

If you’re confused about what yarns are made of here’s a quick list.  This is not exhaustive list by any means…I’ve seen a book on how to make yarn from dog yarn.  No, I’m not kidding.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

Wool yarn is made from sheep or goat fibers.

Cashmere is made from a specific goat – the cashmere goat.

Alpaca is a llama-like creature.  Alpaca yarn is notoriously soft and beautiful.

Mohair yarn is made from the Angora goat.

Not be confused with Angora yarn, which is made from the Angora rabbit.  Right?  I know.  But do me a favor, google “Angora Rabbit.”  (pause here for Awww’s and Squeee’s).

Cotton yarn is made (obviously) from cotton.

Acrylic yarn is a man-made fibers.  This is much like man-made fibers in most of the clothes we wear.

You can get acrylics and some wool at the big-box craft or fabric stores.  Small local shops and online stores often carry the natural fiber yarns.  Yarn label, like clothing labels, should indicate what the yarn is made of.

How To Choose the Right Yarn – Yarn Weight

Yarns have different sizes, called weights.  The different weights correspond loosely to different needle sizes.  I say loosely.  You will always choose the size needles that work for your yarn, your project, and your knitting tension.  You can see below, the thicker the yarn the larger the recommended needle.  Pretty simple.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

Read more about tension and gauge swatch here.

Yarn labels will indicated the yardage (or meters) and the weight of yarn in the skein.  Fatter yarns will have less yardage per weight than skinnier yarns.

Commercially produced yarns and some specialty yarns will have a label on them that can help you decide what size needles to use.  Here’s what to look for.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

Look for the square icons on the yarn label.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

The yarn weight is listed in the yarn icon.  This weight can give you an idea of where you should start to pick a needle size.  I created a handy needle size and yarn weight guide here for reference.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

There is a square for knitting and one for crocheting.  These are generally instructions for making a 4 in x 4 (10cm x10cm) in gauge swatch.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

I’ll cover how to read the knitting square but the crochet instructions are read the same way.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

Needle size is indicated (in US and mm).  “S” indicates how many stitches to cast on to the needles.  “R” is the number of rows you should stitch.  Knit your gauge swatch and it should be approximately 4in x 4 in.

How to Choose the Right Yarn

As you practice you’ll learn the types of yarns you like to work with.  It is really personal preference and your own knitting style.  Now go out there and practice!  Grab the colors you like and start trying them on different needles.

If you want to know my tried and true method for choosing yarn, walk into the store and rub your face all over the yarns.  Pick the ones that pass the face rub test!  Ignore the people that stop and stare at you.

Hopefully now you feel a little more comfortable choosing yarn for you project.  Or maybe you just want to adopt an angora rabbit?  I can’t help you with rabbit rearing.  Next step in your knitting saga it to get started.  Let’s learn to cast on stitches!

How To Knit – Getting Started          How To Knit – Casting On

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I’m on Bloglovin…and bought more furniture

July 26, 2016 by Liz

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I’m on Bloglovin.  If you haven’t checked out this site, it’s a great way to see all the updates from all the blogs you’re following at once!

In other news, we brought home some brand new members of our household.

No!  Not babies or pets.  Furniture.

[Read more…]

IKEA Rast hack with hinged lid

July 10, 2016 by Liz

Do a quick search on Google, Pinterest, or Instagram for “IKEA Rast hack”…I’ll wait…

What did you come up with?  Approximately 4 million hits?  Yeah.  I can’t decide if I’m being redundant or if this is some sort of DIY blogger right of passage.  If it’s the later, I’ll run out and get a fiddle leaf fig tree too.

Here it is!  I’m actually pretty proud of this one.

[Read more…]

An Inspired Love of All Things Crafty

March 22, 2016 by Liz

This is ultimately a blog about inspiration.  I’ve come to realized almost every “wonderfully original” idea I have gets quickly relegated to “things I just haven’t Googled yet.”  There is a wealth of information available to us.  It’s powerful to have that kind of rapid, instant gratification.  I have to say, the only time the internet has let me down is retrofitting/updating our square recessed lighting.  More on that later.

My grandmother served as my first source and wealth of information when it came to all things crafty.  She was a wonderful sewer, knitter, cook…and a wonderful person.  Back in a time before the internet she had books, magazines, patterns, and recipes.  She passed some of that knowledge to me through instruction and personal interaction. She is one of my inspirations in life and in this blog.  I inherited her model 3-120 Singer sewing machine.   It’s probably older than I am but still runs beautifully.  It won’t do a zig-zag stitch or button holes.  Straight stitch or nothing.  But I can’t imagine sewing with anything else.

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I have the greatest parents that made sure I had an endless supply of rock tumblers, looms, bedazzlers, fabric, and yarn.  I spent countless Sunday mornings watching This Old House with my dad.  I spent my entire childhood being encouraged to create.

How many of us started this way?  Realizing this love of crafting and DIY was fulfilling not only because of the feeling of accomplishment.  It was a connection with another human.  Connection and community.  Maybe it was through a personal interaction or through reading blogs or taking classes.  If you’ve ever stayed awake at night because that shelf isn’t quite level or agonized over uneven stitches or wished your personal style was more effortless.  YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  And this is why we blog.

No surprise that home ownership would open up an entire world of DIY, crafting, and design.  Our circa 1983 house was upgraded with new appliances, marble counters in the bathrooms and kitchen, marble fireplace, new flooring, and wainscoting in the living and dining rooms.  It has a beautiful deck out back.   At 1500 sq. ft. and three bedrooms, it’s not the forever home.  Most of the DIY work is coming up with practical upgrades that will help sell this house at some point.

The front door was a big selling point.  Here a pic of the front entry before we bought it.

Front before 1

We loved the door instantly and vowed to keep the color.  The electric lime green color suits us.  Even after all the doors and windows got replaced we recreated the door color…and kept the old door for some future, as yet undefined, DIY project.  Here’s the front porch now:

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Happy Reading and Welcome!

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