Knitting Needle Types

There are quite a large range of knitting needles on the market these days making the choice on which ones to buy even harder. They are also known as knitting pins. They come in Straight, Double Pointed (dpn) and Circular needles they vary is Diameter, Length and Material. Here is a guide that may help you make your choice.

Metal Knitting Needles

Aluminium

These can be plastic coated or not coated at all, these and nice and light to hold, the wool/yarn will glide smoothly over the needle, sometimes to smoothly depending on the type of yarn you are using.

Plastic Knitting Needles

Usually Grey in colour these are the most commonly bought as they are the cheapest needles, they are also available in a variety of other colours these days, clear plastic with glitter in or pearl colour plastic ones, as pretty to look at and can be helpful when knitting a contrasting colour yarn these are a little more expensive than the grey ones but can be used for decoration in a vase, they are nice and easy to use, they don’t often break.

Glass Knitting Needles

Glass needles and relatively new, they are very beautiful to look at as the light bounces trough the glass, again the wool/yarn will glide very easily over these needles, these tend to be quite expensive but make fantastic ornaments when placed in a vase like flowers, they are a luxury buy but great for a treat or present for a loved one.

Wood Knitting Needles

Wood needles are very nice needles to own they are warm to the touch and very easy to use, because they are warm and made of wood there is no vibration up the needle when they click together they are very good for people who suffer from Arthritis, RSI or injury to the hands. They are also good as they do not make the sometimes irritating noise of metal or plastic needles, they come is a few different materials and vary in price. They come with differnt shapes at the end, some painted, some a differnt wood, some a differnt material all together.

Bamboo Knitting Needles

These are a very light colour and light in weight at the same time these are not as smooth as some of the other material used for knitting needles this can be helpful as there is less chance of the yarn slipping off the needles causing dropped stitches.

Rosewood Knitting Needles

These are beautiful dark Hardwood needles, they are lovely to use a real luxury hence they are not the cheapest of needles but a nice investment and lovely present. Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish making perfect knitting needles.

Blondewood Knitting Needles

These are again a luxury item but well worth the investment, you can never have enough pairs of needles, lovely needles to knit with.

Ebony Knitting Needles