How To Choose The right Yarn And Knitting Needles

Have you ever walked into a yarn shop and just become overwhelmed with the choices offered?

It has happened quite often to me, that being the case I had to learn to be prepared..

If I have a project in mind then I need to know in advance what I need.

What To Do ? What To Do ? So Many Choices

So with list in hand.

You will need to know, what type of yarn to use, consider the weight, the amount, is it washable? who is it for? I have to keep in mind that my daughter is allergic to Angora, many many people are allergic to wool, so it is important to consider that factor as well.

How much do I need? If you are making socks for a baby or a child one Skein may be enough , on the other hand, if you are knitting socks for a woman or man you will need more, also consider the dye lots. It is best to purchase the right amount or even extra, you can, within a reasonable amount of time return any unused skeins. However, if you have not purchased enough, you are taking a risk of not being able to find the same dye lot.. This could result in the color not matching..

When purchasing needles you will need to know the size , this however, can be difficult to do . The reason for this is that the needle size given in the pattern is determined by the gauge, that the original knitter/tester used when knitting the project. Keep in mind that some knitters will knit tighter or looser than others. So you may need a smaller or larger needle then the pattern suggest. After having knit for awhile this is not a problem for me as I probably have collected and own every size available..as will you.

The needle size is described first, by its diameter and secondly by its length. The stitch size is determined for the most part by the diameter of the knitting needle used to form it, because that affects the length of the yarn-loop drawn through the previous stitch. So, large stitches can be made with large needles, and so then fine knitting requires fine needles.

The length of a needle would therefore,determine how many stitches it can hold at once; for example, a large project such as a shawl or an afghan with hundreds of stitches would require a longer needle than a small project such as a scarf or baby bootie.

Will you be using Straight Needles or Circular Needles. When using circular needles you also need to consider the diameter of the project, are you working in the round? are you using the magic loop method?

Another method of knitting in the round would be to use Double Pointed Needles..often referred to as dpn's.

A cable needle is another type of double-pointed needle that is usually very short and used to hold a very small number of stitches temporarily while the knitter is forming a cable pattern. They are sometimes U-shaped, or they may have a U-shaped bend, this is to keep the held stitches from falling off while the primary needle is being used.