Knitting with Double Pointed Needles

When I knit in the round, my favorite type of knitting needle is a double pointed needle. I know lots of knitters prefer a 9 or 16 inch circular or the magic loop method but for me the most comfortable knitting is with double pointed needles. The small circular needles tend to make my hands ache and the magic loop method keeps the stitches too close together and all that extra cord gets in my way. I conquered the problem of ladders when I first started using them. Holding the yarn tightly when knitting the first stitch on the next needle has elevated that situation for me.

I use double pointed needles in varying lengths for different projects.

Sock Knitting

For my sock knitting, I have been using a 5 inch needle for many years. Here’s a sock on my 5 inch rosewood needles. I cast on 60 stitches on U.S. Size 2 needles and find that I have just the right amount of needle to help my knitting progress nicely. I achieve a level of flow in my knitting that brings me great peace.

Recently, I have begun using Kollage Square needles. I purchased a 6 inch U.S. Size 2 set and have been using them for my latest pair of socks. I find these needles extremely comfortable and the extra inch of needle has made holding them even more comfortable without adding too much length to the needle for the amount of stitches on each needle.

Gloves, Mitts, and Mittens

When knitting fingerless gloves or mittens, I prefer a longer length. These fingerless gloves are knit using a 7 inch bamboo U.S. Size 6 needle. I like the way a wood needle grips the stitches especially if the stitch pattern is more complicated than ribbing or stockinette stitch.

Motif Knitting

My current sweater project is a motif pattern as I wrote about here. For this project, I determined that the fingering weight yarn and a U.S. Size 4 needle (as required in the pattern) would be most comfortable to knit using the Kollage square needles. Since these motifs are knit from the center outward, ending with a large number of stitches, I purchased this set in a 7 inch length. These needles are made of aluminum and although I gave up metal knitting needles many years ago, the square shape makes the aluminum comfortable to use.