While some knitters prefer long needles when doing their crafts, using a knitting needle that you’re not used to will definitely put you in some tangling situation that should cause you problems along the way. As such, a happy middle ground for needle length should be between 9” to 12” in length.
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What length needles for socks?
Knitting needle sizes: 1-3
The sock sneaks up on all us knitters at some point. Most socks are knit using a size 1 or 2 needle, but you can also find sock patterns that are designed for heavier non-sock yarns. In addition to socks, you can knit up beautiful shawls using sock-weight yarn and these small needles.
How long should circular needles be for socks?
By way of background, to knit in the round, there’s the full needle method, whereby you use a standard circular needle—typically 16 inches/40 cm or longer—and cast on enough stitches to go all the way around.
How long should a sock cuff be?
6 to 8 inches
Knit the cuff to your desired length (1 to 2 inches for anklets, 6 to 8 inches for standard socks). Keep in mind that if you make very long cuffs, it may be necessary to start out with more stitches, because your leg gets wider toward the top.
How long should your knitting needles be?
Medium sizes are generally the best for beginners. This means you should look for a width size of six (4mm), seven (4.5mm), or eight (5mm). For length, a 10-inch needle is usually a good starter size because they’ll be small enough to handle easily.
How long do you use DPNS for socks?
If you’re knitting something with a small circumference, like a pair of socks, then a length of five or six inches will suffice. But if you’re knitting a hat, then eight or ten inch needles will be more comfortable. The most popular DPN lengths fall between five and eight inches.
Does length of circular needle matter?
You may have thought all along that bigger circular needles produce better stitches but you are wrong! Every circular needle size and cord length has its own purpose. Each needle size is numbered and the smaller this number is, the smaller the circular needle will be and you will also have to use a thinner yarn.
What size circular needles do I need to knit socks?
Sock Knitting on Double Pointed Needles (DPNs)
Socks are usually knit on size US3s or smaller, so DPNs of this thickness can be quite delicate. Lightweight metal needles can bend and bamboo may crack and splinter, particularly if the knitter has a tight gauge or the pattern calls for a lot of dense increases.
What length circular needle do I need?
Circular needles hold up to 3 times the length of the cable only i.e. needle length minus the length of both the tips. For big knits such as a blanket the bulk of the knitted fabric you’re making is a factor, so need to allow more length for this.
Which is easier toe up or cuff down socks?
1. Cuff-down socks have an easier cast-on. Because you’re casting on more stitches and doing so in a loop, the cast-on for a pair of cuff-down socks is a bit easier than the cast-on for toe-up socks, where you are casting on a small number of stitches in a straight line and then growing a loop outward.
How long should the heel flap be?
The heel flap will ALWAYS be 1/2 of your total number of stitches. Another thing to remember about the heel flap is its length. It must be long enough for you to pick up the correct number of stitches for the gusset. Well how do you figure this, you ask?
How do you calculate stitches for a sock?
If you knit from the top-down, as a rule of thumb, you’ll need to cast on around 14 or 15 stitches per needle (56 or 60 stitches total) if you have a regular woman’s size and 16 or 17 stitches per needle (64 or 68 stitches total) for a regular men’s size.
Is it better to have longer or shorter knitting needles?
You need much longer needles to knit an adult sweater than small items like toys or baby clothes, because you need to fit a lot more stitches on your knitting needle. Project size aside, some knitters prefer to knit with long straight needles that they can tuck under their arm as they knit.
What needles do I need to knit socks?
There are three main different types of knitting needles you can use to knit socks; a set of double pointed needles, a long circular needle with an 80cm cable, or a small circular needle with a 25cm cable.
Are long or short knitting needles better?
Double-pointed needles range in size from 5 to 8 inches long. Shorter needles work well for tiny projects such as small socks, while the longer ones are good for tubular shaped projects like hats. DPNs come in the same materials as other knitting needles.
How many DPNS should I use?
Double pointed needles come in a pack of five, but the knitting tradition in America is to usually use only four at a time. Three needles hold the stitches while a fourth knits them. Sometimes you do use all five, four to hold the stitches and the fifth to knit.
Can you knit socks on 2 straight needles?
It is actually quite easy to flat knit socks. To knit socks on 2 straight needles, you will basically knit a flat piece of fabric and then sew up the seam at the end. Many knit flat sock knitting patterns advise to use the Kitchener stitch to seam the piece.
Can you knit socks on long circular needles?
Practicing it is a good intermediate step between working with double-pointed needles and working two socks at a time on two circular needles (if you love to knit socks, that’s exceptionally efficient). You do need to make sure you are working with needles that are the same size.
What is a vanilla sock pattern?
“a simple pair of hand knit socks that follow a basic recipe personalised to fit the knitters foot” — a definition of vanilla socks. I must admit- I just made up this definition of vanilla socks.
What if circular needles are too long?
What can you do if your circular needles are too long? If your circular needles are too long for your project, you can switch to a shorter pair, use the magic loop method, or even use two pairs of circular needles of the same size (a substitute for the magic loop method).
What if my circular needles are too short?
If your circular needle length is too short, your stitches will be crowded. Crowded stitches are more difficult to manuever – and it’s a bit harder to catch mistakes. Check out the video and photos below for more detail about choosing the right circular needles for your knitting project.