Knitting Question

[kaybee]

I want to make a shawl that will be 24-27 inches wide and have only been able to find straight needles that are 14 inches long. Instead of using circular needles, can I just use the straight needles and scrunch the work up on the needles as I knit? Will that affect the quality/appearance of my knitting? I bought a pair of circular needles, but the nylon between the needles is coiled very tightly and the needles, which are bamboo, are catching on my thread. I've read that they will get smoother as they are used, but I'm not sure I have the patience or skill to work with this!

KB

[margo49]

Of course you can!
Your tension is stitch by stitch so it should not affect the finished product. Personally I knit like I write - a bit uneven and tense. Mum knitted Dad a cricket jersey on regular needles and it even had all-over cables.
Remember knitting is like breadmaking - whatever you end up with you can use. (Eat or wear). You just might do it better next time
And (as the Mother Superior and the Mistress of Novices agreed in The sound of Music ) the wool of the black sheep is just as warm as the wool of the white
....but don't let me get started on that particular "kink" of mine

[kaybee]

Thanks Margo! I suspected I could, but I'm teaching myself this as I go along, and have "confidence issues." I don't want to waste precision time and yarn and end up with something that I don't want to wear. Of course, if it's not perfect, I could just say that the "imperfections" are part of the design!

KB

[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

[Duck on Wheels]

In Norwegian style knitting you hold the yarn (sometimes several strands of different colors) stretched over an outstretched index finger on the "from"-needle hand (left for me, but I guess if you're knitting left-handed it might be the right). With the "to"-needle you kind of crochet each stitch by hooking the needle around the the yarn from the front or back (depending on whether you're doing a k or p stitch) and pulling through. I've never really mastered this and knit the way I learned in the States just 2 sweaters before my first visit to Norway -- i.e. holding the yarn in my "to"-needle hand, steadying the needles together with the "from"-needle hand mid-stitch, then wrapping the yarn around the needle with the "to"-needle hand before pulling it through the stitch. People who have mastered the Norwegian style are much faster than even masters of the US style. There's also a French style, I've observed, where the "from" needle is kind of planted under your arm. French knitters are super fast at that.

But back to the original question -- go ahead and scrunch the stitches together. And it doesn't matter whether you tend to knit tight or loose. Just be sure to knit up a test patch and check how many stitches and rows you're getter per 4x4-inch block, or however they state the gauge in the pattern (stitches per 10 cm, stitches per inch, inches per x number of stitches, or whatever). If your stitches are smaller than the pattern is based on, then try a larger needle until you get the right gauge. If they're bigger, then try a smaller needle. That way your knitted product comes out in the size and tightness of weave the pattern illustration has led you to expect.

[Offthegrid]

I triple the vote for the Addi Turbos. Once you knit with these, you will never want to use another needle again.

[kaybee]

Ladies, thanks so much for all the great advice. I went to another craft store last night and bought metal, circular needles. Didn't even have time to take them out of the package last night, but will experiment over the long weekend. I will be sure to try the baking-pan-and-hot-water method suggested by SK to uncoil the nylon. I feel much more confident now! Thanks again.

KB