Choosing Your Knitting Needle: Sizes of Needles

Knitting needles come in many different sizes. In this video, knitting expert Jill Wright shares her needle knowledge with you to give you an overview on choosing the right knitting needle for your project.

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When starting a knitting project, the pattern will list the gauge needed to make the piece. The gauge is particularly important as it will affect the final size of a project. If your gauge doesn’t match the pattern, your project will be larger or smaller than the project in the pattern. It’s critical to use a knitting needle that gives you the gauge that matches the gauge listed in the pattern.

Jill works three swatches of Stockinette stitch using a worsted weight yarn. The first swatch is knit on very large needles, which gives her a loose, mesh-like fabric. The fabric also has a great deal of stretch. A fabric at this gauge might work well for a scarf of shawl project.

The next swatch is worked on small knitting needles. As Jill notes, the fabric has little to no stretch. This fabric might work well for a knitted bag. This fabric is too dense even for socks, as there is not enough stretch in the fabric to pull over the heel and onto the foot.

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Finally, Jill shows a completed swatch worked in the knitting needles called for on the yarn label of the worsted weight yarn. She notes that the resulting fabric is nice and even, has some stretch, and is perfect for garments.