Knitting Question

[margo49]

I grew up in a time and space where *all* girls were taught to knit as a matter of necessity. Knitting has now become a craft and an art. Mind you so has sewing and to some extent cooking...

[Bikingmomof3]

KB,
Yes straight needles would indeed work fine. My preference is circs. I knit everything with circs, but not bamboo. The only circs I use are Addi Turbo.

Have fun with the shawl.

[SadieKate]

Addi or Inox circs only for me!!!

Circs will let you support more of the weight of the shawl on your lap rather than on the needles. Supporting the growing weight on long straight needles can really affect fatigue and lack of skill. Not to mention, you can't ever sit in a chair with arms while you knit because the needles hit them. Scrunching the stitches on a straight needle too much means a stitch can pop of when you least expect it - not a happy event in any kind of fancy pattern.

The coils - the nylon will relax with the shawl's growing weight or a dunking in warmish water or simply hung from something with some weight attached. The nylon stays coiled from being stored in the packaging.

Secondly, different fibers react completely differently on different needle materials. Addis and nickel or teflon-coated (and less expensive) Inox are very slippery. Wool has a lot of little scales (like human hair) that will catch on wood. If you knit tightly (says the voice of experience), bamboo won't let the wool slide at all. If you knit loosely, bamboo can be wonderful. I use wood and bamboos needles only as a last resort because, well, when you have someone like Nancy Bush pick up your work and say she's never known anyone to knit that tightly, well, um, you don't use wood. I had the same thing happen to me in a pine needle basket course. I don't know why I'm wired that way.

Any way, you need to match the material type and your personal knitting tension to the needle material. For instance, if you knit with slippery synthetic ribbon, bamboo can be great.

Do you know about the knitting forum over at www.knitty.com? Those folks are a source for tons of anwers to any question you can think of, plus lots of great patterns.

[kaybee]

Thanks, SK. Looks like it's back to the craft store. I do knit tightly, so that's probably part of my problem with the bamboo needles. I will definitely check out knitty.com. Thanks again!

KB

[wannaduacentury]

I prefer the non bamboo circulars( I love bamboo straight needles though). I have a pair and they drove me crazy. Had the same problem, too crinkly-twisty wire, hard to shift yarn, said the heck w/ it and bought metal/aluminum Boye /Susan Bates etc ones, much better. You can use 14" needles, your work will be crowded that's all. I did a shawl last yr on circulars, ended up w/ 143 stitches across( a triangle shawl w/ fringe) turned out great.

http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/...ngleShawl.html

Jennifer

[KnottedYet]

I use all bamboo needles. (Clover brand) I've never had one catch on my yarn. Can you use an emery board to smooth out your needle?

Oh, but I had a pair of lovely turned black walnut needles, those were my non-bamboo needles.

I've never use circulars, I always use straight needles. And I use the arms of my rocking chair to help when I knit, but I knit left-handed Norweigan style, so I'm weird anyway.

(actually, I lost custody of my knitting bag and knitting chest with all my needles and snips and cable needles and stitching needles and yarns and other goodies in an ugly "divorce". I am somewhat despondent over the loss, but I have a good yarn shop near me, and I've bought one new pair of Clovers already.)

Yes, you can jam all your stitches up on a straight needle, no fear.

[salsabike]

When I get a new pair of circular needles (metal) I get out the big baking pan, put the needles in, and pour very hot to boiling water in there, let them soak for 5-10 minutes. Uncoils them pretty quickly. Your knitting will not stick on metal circulars, either. I use metal if I want it to move quickly. If the yarn itself is very slippery, I'll use wood or bamboo. And I'm pretty converted to circular vs. straight now.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I knit pretty snugly too, and when I use bamboo needles it is too annoying to always have to push the knitting along on them. I like plastic or metal needles for that reason- the stiches just slide along nicely by themselves.
I do shawls on circular needles. Make sure the connecting length is long enough. I like Addi Turbo metal circulars- my knitting zooms along on them and they can hold a huge shawl if necessary. They ARE slippery at first in the hands, but after an hour or two you get used to them and then no more problems keeping them held properly.

I used to feel self concious about my "snug" knitting, even though I didn't feel it was tight or too tense. But then a girlfriend who has worked in several museums dealing with ethnic antiques and old textiles told me that my knitted socks reminded her of the nice firm knitting she's seen in traditional european old knitting examples, and how she wish her knitting wasn't so "American and loose". After that I liked my own knitting more!

[Kano]

I've never use circulars, I always use straight needles. And I use the arms of my rocking chair to help when I knit, but I knit left-handed Norweigan style, so I'm weird anyway.

Norwegian style?

Nothing weird in the left-handed part, but what's "Norwegian Style" knitting???

Karen in Boise