Posts Tagged ‘needles’
Don’t Hurt Your Wrists: Large Needles and Portuguese Knitting Caution
January 12, 2011 | 
Author Hey there. I just wanted to let you know what I’m finding out as I work on a scarf using super bulky yarn on US 15 metal needles. The taper on the tips of these needles is kind of long, and what I’m finding is that it has me moving my hand sideways at the wrist in both directions more than on smaller needles, resulting in significant soreness in short order. I think it’s in part due to using the Portuguese style of knitting combined with these big needles.
It would take a lot of attention to make myself not do that movement. I even restarted the scarf on #13 needles in metal but they are also long tapered. My Knitpicks circulars have a shorter taper and were better, but still had me worried. So I’m using my bamboo 13s which have an ever shorter taper – altered by me last year – and paying attention. I also needed the longer needles as it was hard to do the cables fast on the circulars.
It may be that I’m a bit knitted out after xmas, having done five scarves and two shawls. I wasn’t sore when I finished them, but now I’m getting sore. Be careful and don’t think you can tough it out. If you get sore, give it a rest. I know this may seem insane, but you do not have to knit all the time.
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Knitting Cables: An Excellent Alternate Way
In perusing the ravelry.com cable knitting groups I found a thread “defending the lowly cable needle”. I have no doubt each of us will have our preference for working cables. Some are adept and doing it with an old fashioned cable needle as instructed in the patterns, to “let the cable needle hang to the front/back” while knitting the other stitches. Some people are scared of cables, but I’ve found there are other ways that may be easier and a lot less scarier. I really like the look of cables so was very frustrated trying to do it the more common ways, so I kept looking and thinking, with good results.
One way I came up with recently is outlined in the post A New And Better Way To Knit Cables. It uses a crochet hook in the right hand along with the right needle, and can be used with any knitting style. While posting to groups about this discovery I found the thread mentioned above and in it Lynne from Great Britain, who goes by the ravelry.com name Mini-mum, tells about her way of doing cables. She has been knitting for over 40 years and is quite adept at cables. Her techniques is also great, and it will work fine for English and Portuguese styles of knitting but it won’t work for continental or eastern/combined knittiers as it requires you to hold a third needle in your left hand while knitting, and that’s where they hold their yarn. If you use continental or eastern/combined (or English or Portuguese) then try my way with a crochet hook, or try the pinch methods.
Lynne says,
“I normally use slick nickel plated needles for knitting with. I love them. However, I find it helps to use a bamboo (third needle) as it clings to the knitting better and doesn’t slip around ‘without permission’.
Definitely use a bamboo needle. Lynne uses a spare dpn herself. I went to Joann’s and got a set of #4 straight knitting needles by Clover for use with most of my cable knitting. I figure that size will be easy to get into loops for several sizes upwards of that, and the smaller size doesn’t matter relative to the needles you are knitting with as your right needle determines your gauge. I’ll probably get a set of #1s for when I do socks, now that I see this method works fine, although considering the tight workspace of sock knitting I may go with my crochet hook method. I’ll have to do some tests.
HOLDING THE THIRD NEEDLE
Lynne writes,
“The (third needle) is not exactly parallel as my left index finger is in between the two needles to keep them apart, otherwise it would get in the way of knitting.”
“The (third) needle is held in my left hand, parallel to the left hand needle. I don’t move it unless it’s to roll it over the LH needle to the front (for a right twist cable) rather than the back (for a left twist cable). I don’t drop it, I don’t put it down, I just flick it out of the way, between other fingers, but bear in mind that I enjoy cable projects that have a lot of cables in them, not just every few rows.”
This pic shows how I tried holding the third needle. It also shows Max noticing the bamboo needle.
Experiment with holding the third needle while knitting. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Knitting Cables | 
Tags: cables, Cat picture, dpns, needles, Portuguese Knitting | 
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Zephyr Acrylic Needles Review: Is Clear Too Clear?
UPDATE: I have found that the frost effect produced by the method below doesn’t necessarily last very long with the friction of the yarn over it, so I’m looking into better ways to frost the tips. You don’t want to keep going over them with steel wool as that will wear them down. I will say that you do get used to the clarity of the tips after a while, so you may not need to bother if your eyesight is good enough. Use them for a while and see what you think.
I got a sample of the new Knitpicks.com Zephyr acrylic Options circular needles and liked them a lot at first try, so I ordered a set. In the days before they arrived I played with them more and started to feel that I didn’t really like the glass-like clarity much. It made it harder to see what I was doing. I could see the yarn through the needles as well as in front of it and in placing the needle tip that made it a good bit less distinct than I preferred.
I don't like seeing the yarn through the needles like this.
In the mean time the box with my set arrived and I let it sit on the dining table until I could come up with a decision or solution. I looked on the internet for ways to stain the acrylic a less transparent color but found nothing. Then it occurred to me I could just make the tips frosted by going over them with steel wool.
The tape gives the frosting a nice, even edge.
So what I did was wrap some scotch tape around the needle one inch from the tip, nice and straight around the shaft. I tried some 000 steel wool but it didn’t give it enough of a frost, so I tried some #1 steel wool, which is courser. It does leave some faint lines in the surface but as it is more abrasive the overall effect was better frosting.
Twisting the tips evenly in the #1 grade steel wool.
You will want to experiment with how to do this; how hard to pinch and where. I wrapped the tip in a bit of the steel wool and twisted sideways, working my way to the tip and back, dusting it off and checking where I was missing. Then I went lengthwise toward the tip to give it a crosswise abrasion, then again did it twisting side to side. Dust off the tip on some cloth to see how it’s coming. Compare it to an untreated tip and see if it’s frosty enough. Remove the tape when you have the frost effect the way you want it.
The frostiness will be reduced by the angle of the lighting or oil from your hands. The one on the left has not been frosted yet.
I tested my first treated pair and find it is very satisfactory. The distracting transparency is much reduced. Additionally, the smoothness and slip of the needle tips is further reduced. Whereas the Zephyrs have a sort of faint creaky feeling or sound when new, the frosted ones feel and sound more like bamboo. This is fine with me as less slip is one of the reasons I got them.
If you try this you do it at your own risk. Be methodical. Also, be aware that steel wool sheds a lot, so do it over newspaper and be sure to dump the shed fibers in the trash. If they get on the rug and ever get wet they will rust and stain the carpet. You may want to vacuum when you are done for good measure. If you don’t like the frostiness you can reverse it SOME by using 0000 steel wool or maybe with clear nail polish.
So I decided to keep the Zephyrs. They do have the sharpness, friction and travel-worthiness I was looking for, and they do have a certain futuristic elegance.
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Posted in Products and Tools, Reviews, Updated Since Posted | Tags: circular needles, knitpicks.com, needles, Options Interchangable, review, tools | 1 Comment »
Needle Overview for the Beginning Knitter
What to buy? Everything? No. As fun as it is to buy new toys it’s best to learn some things first. I’ve found from my first explorations that there are ideal collections of needles for knitting. You will read that some yarn is more slippery so it is better to use bamboo with that kind, and other yarns are better on metal or other slick needles. Here’s my discoveries as I learned to knit.
At first I started with a set of aluminum needles from Walmart and the written instructions. I found it very frustrating trying to control the yarn on the slippery metal needles but that may have been, and most likely was, due to my choice of knitting method and lack of proper application. I almost quit a few times because of how slippery it was, and as I mentioned before, I came to feel like I needed to be an octopus to knit.
It was recommended in various places that bamboo is better for the beginner, but in my opinion maybe not. Bamboo does give you more control but it can also get a bit frustrating. One thing is that the points are duller, sometimes too dull, depending on the brand, and that can make it a bit harder to catch the yarn and pull your loops through your loops. If you are handy you can sharpen the tips a bit – be sure you keep a good taper. I haven’t tried this yet, but will soon.
Point Sharpness Varies. Top to bottom and all size 8 US: Clover bamboo, cheap bamboo, aluminum, Options Nickel-plated.
Another thing is that you may not like the lack of slipperiness with the yarns you will tend to use. It’s best to reserve bamboo for slippery yarns. If you want to have some around, you may not want to have them be your only set. Try some first, then buy more if you like them. Go to a real yarn store and learn about the yarns that will be better on bamboo and decide if you will ever really want to use it. Alternately, you may want to buy the bamboo and then make the slicker with polishing or even clear coating. (If you intend to clear coat with something like urethane or whatever, be aware some bamboo has been waxed and that can interfere with extra coatings.)
On my current exercise, which is the sweater sampler from The Sweater Workshop book, I started with a set of 16 inch bamboo circulars and didn’t like the friction of the needle so I used the 0000 super fine steel wool to polish them and I like the new surface better. It has some bite but the yarn slides better. This may be a good middle ground for you, and I will give any bamboo units I buy the same treatment.
Super Fine steel wool, marked 0000, is for polishing. It will remove any clear coat on the bamboo.
One reason to get bamboo is that you can get a set of fifteen sizes for about $25 on amazon.com and elsewhere. This is a great buy, and handy if you feel like having everything you need available in case you need to change needle size to adjust your gauge result for a project. Then you don’t have to run out trying to find what you want. If you don’t like the points you can, again, sharpen them.
By the way, sharpening should not be attempted with a blade. You will want a powered sander disk or belt. Ideally, I would use a stationary belt sander to get an even and quick taper, then fix the point the way you like it. Finish with 00 (double zero) steel wool and then 0000 superfine steel wool for your final shine – or whatever process it takes to get it smooth. If you have a buffing wheel you could use that but don’t use any compound.
BUT, as you will read below, you may find it more economical to get something like the Options wood or nickel circulars as they can be dual purpose, instead of spending money on a set of bamboo you may have to labor over to sharpen or polish if you aren’t totally satisfied with them. There are other brands of interchangeable circular needles. I chose the Options based on a very positive review and I’m very happy with them. Read on.
I liked bamboo at first but now that I have learned to control the yarn I don’t feel much need for its lack of slipperiness. When I got my new set of Options Nickel-plated interchangeable circulars – which you can use as “straight” needles by capping the cable with the “button” end that comes with it – I fell in love with the slickness. It’s like knitting on glass. Very sexy.
About controlling the yarn; at first I tried to learn regular continental and then English knitting but had trouble. I was very pleased with I found Portuguese knitting as yarn control is totally handled by the yarn around the neck or around a pin on your left shoulder. Then I discovered Eastern European knitting and I really like both the speed and yarn handing. I use both, depending on the project. I find Portuguese knitting is a bit better for bulky yarns – or maybe I just need more practice.
So on to the rest of the needle commentary. I mentioned my nice nickel Options set. I got them from knitpicks.com, the manufacturer and seemingly the only source. They were under $60 for the set, which comes with pairs of points for sized 4 through 11 and two pairs of cables to make two 20 and two 34 inch circulars. They come in a handy-sized bag to protect them from the cat and keep various parts and tools together.
Options Interchangeable come in a handy bag to keep everything together.
Like I said, you can cap the two cables and make each point into a one-ended knitting needle that is about 15 inches long. Or you can put both points on one cable and just turn your work like you normally would without joining to knit in the round. Voilá, you have a nice set of “straight” metal knitting needles as well as a set of metal circular needles. I’m going to use these for a flat scarf that is project #2 coming up, and also for a sweater that will be knit in the round. You can also get longer cables and also points up to size US 15, all purchased separately for a reasonable price. And of course if you prefer a bit more friction you can try the wooden version, which is rather colorful as well. I haven’t tried them so I can’t testify to what they are like but I’ve heard people like them plenty.
A single Options tip set up for use as a single pointed "straight" needle.
So, that handles all your circular and straight needle needs. What about smaller sizes? Usually this is for things like fine lace and socks. I don’t know a thing about lace, so you will want to read elsewhere for that. Socks are what got me into knitting – no, I haven’t started a set yet but I bought all I need – so I will address that part.
What I bought for socks is based on a middle of the road approach. Those pointy double pointed needles (dpns) look kind of scary, like massaging a hedgehog, so for starters I’m going to try the magic loop method, which recommends a 40 inch circular needle. I got Addi Turbo needles in nickel plate #2 US, as well as a 47 inch one in case I decide to knit two socks at once on separate needles, and some people suggest having the circular needles of differing lengths so you can tell them apart in case that is ever a challenge. That would depend on your pattern and where you are in it.
Socks and sweater sleeves and sometimes sweater collars and parts of hats and other stuff are often done on dpns. You can use circulars on these parts but at some lengths the cable may become an obstacle to wrestle with. Usually the pattern will suggest a 16 inch circular, which is pretty tight but not really hard to work with. I don’t own any in metal yet. They are pretty expensive, like 15.00 and up. You can also get metal in 12 inches. I bought a set of bamboo at 16 inches for $25 off amazon but as I said, I have to polish them with the 0000 steel wool to be happy with the feel of the bamboo on the yarn I’m using.
So for such applications it may be a good idea to get some dpns just in case. Recommendations I’ve found are to use bamboo or wood as they are less likely to slip out of your stitches, especially if you make a sudden move, like to free up your yarn supply. I don’t like the thought of trying to put stitches back on a needle so I’m going to get a set of bamboo. They come in various lengths so you will want to get a set that will suit your most likely projects. The set I found with five pieces is $20 now on amazon.com. I will probably get a set that are 8 inches long. Better too long than too short.
Another note on dpns: they come in sets of 4 and 5 and sometimes 6. You knit with all but one in loops and knit onto the empty one. You may prefer to own a set of 5 so you can have all your stitches split between front and back, especially for socks and if you are working with an even number of stitches, or if your stitches are divisible by three you can divide them on three needles and knit with the fourth.
So, here’s the summary:
I got my Options in nickel because I like the slickness and can use them as circulars or straights.
I found bamboo frustrating due to non-sharp tips and also higher friction before buffing with steel wool, and don’t think I will have much need for the friction for the yarn I’m likely to use. If you discover you want to use slippery yarns then get a set of bamboo straights for $25 off amazon.com or better yet, maybe a set of the wood Options Interchangeable Circulars which can be, again, be used as circulars or straights.
If you are nervous about knitting on slippery metal, get some expert help on yarn control and look into Eastern European or Portuguese knitting. And practice. You get better.
I bought 40 inch and a 47 inch #2 US Addi Turbos for socks for when I get around to that. Again, I like the metal.
I am ordering a set of 8 inch bamboo dpns for other uses in case I need them, again, so the needles will be less likely to slip out of my work.
I hope all this is of use to you. Nothing like the voice of a little experience, and that’s what I have – a voice and a little experience. If you have anything to add please leave a comment.
And here’s Max’s latest picture as official Knitty Kitty:
"Yarn makes a nice pillow. Wa-wa!"
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Posted in Products and Tools | Tags: amazon.com, Cat picture, china, circular needles, dpns, eastern european knitting, knit, needles, Options Interchangable, sleeves, Socks, Sweater Workshop book, wood, yarn | No Comments »
A Fist Full of Needles: The Good and The Bad
My order of bamboo circular knitting needles and straights and crochet hooks from Asia arrived while I was laying by the pool. I found a web site that offered them wholesale but when they arrived the other day the quality was not so good in that the points are too dull to knit with. The taper is correct but apparently the finishers didn’t have an example of how sharp they should be. So now I have over 45 sets of needles that I can’t use. Fortunately they were pretty darn cheap.
I thought of sharpening them and looked around for appropriate power tools. I found a grinder/buffer that would work but after experimenting with a good set of Takumi bamboo circs that I prefer metal. Being new to knitting I didn’t like aluminum needles at first because I could barely control the yarn. They were so slippery.
After trying metal and bamboo – and getting better AND learning Portuguese knitting (which solved the yarn control problem) – I’ve settled on a nice grown-up’s set of nickel plated Options interchangeable circs from knitpics.com. They had a very good review on handknitsbysusan.com, and after looking at a bunch of others on amazon I decided this was a good choice for the price and features. I could have got some cheap aluminum ones but the trial pair I got had a very stiff cable, worse than the Takumi bamboo pair, which wasn’t that bad.
The one’s from Asia had a very flexible hollow vinyl tubing for the cable that might have been nice but I couldn’t test it out because I literally couldn’t get the needle into the cast on stitches, it was that dull. There were a few sets that would probably be okay but not enough to justify declining a refund. I wrote to them requesting a refund but their first reply was that these dull points are what people are buying wholesale all over the world. I compared them to bamboo needles in a store but those were all as sharp as the usual metal needles. So I wrote back saying I still want a refund.
I got a reply saying that will refund it if I mail it back to them. I’ll have to see what the cost is for that. Oh well. I think for a hand-finished wooden item like this you take a chance. I will order a set of sixteen inch circulars I found on amazon.com that have a lot of good reviews.
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Bamboo, Bamboo, Bamboo
I just ordered some needles from China – a couple 15 pc sets of circs in 2 lengths, a set of 15 bamboo needles and a set of ten crochet hooks. It was a great buy. I just hope the quality is good. If not, I could them myself. I can smooth, sand, refinish or reshape if I need to, but it may end up being a lot of labor I don’t need.
I plan to use that also in a test to see if I can give them crochet tips myself, as I want to experiment with hook knitting. I tried it with some crochet hooks a few days ago and it was quite easy to knit that way. It was mentioned that they use hooked knitting needles in Portugal and elsewhere, so this may come in handy.
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Posted in Products and Tools | Tags: china, circular needles, crochet, needles, portugal | No Comments »
