 Another quick post. I just finished a total revamp of my circular knitting needle pages. Over the years my stock has grown to include quite a few lines, and I stock every single size. Good seller or NOT!. While my stock increased, I continued to cram them in on only a few pages on my web site. Finally, I was able to replace those slow loading pages with 23 new pages. I stock 23 different circular sizes. But here's the problem. How to divide the needles.So I remembered what the standard request is when someone needs a needle. Knitters usually say "I need a #7 needle". After they are focused on the size they want, they then decide the brand. So I decided to start by dividing the needles into sizes. Then I ran into another snafu. A snafu that has bugged me for years. US Manufacturers cannot agree completely on US sizes. On a risk, I decided to not divide them by US sizes, but rather by millimeter sizes! I bring you: | |||||||
Select the page for the needle size you need. Thank You !! Be Careful! Not all manufacturers agree what makes a US size. I select my needles based on millimeters. | |||||||
1.5mm (US#000) 1.75mm (US#00) 3.5mm (US#4) 6.5mm (US#10.5) | |||||||
| I keep promising, so here I go. I'm giving away your choice of knitting needles up to a $30 maximum value. I'll pull a name the last weekend of this month. Comment on the blog your experiences of US and MM sizing and how you store your needles, and I'll put your name into the hat! | |||||||
Friday, January 16, 2009
Organization!
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13 comments:
I haven't been knitting very long, so I haven't built up my supply of needles as much as I would like. It seems like every new project requires a needle size or type that I don't have. I keep hearing about the Addi Turbo needles and I really would like to try them out...
I haven't really paid attention to the mm sizes before but I do see now that they have more in-between sizes. I store my needles in the packages they came in to keep them--is that weird? :o
I was rather surprised to learn that there were two different millimeter sizes that are considered US#1, 2.25 mm and 2.5 mm. Fortunately, my pattern specified 2.25 mm so I was able to order the right size.
To store my circular knitting needles, I have a great little device I bought online. It hangs on a hanger and has sleeves down its length, each marked with the mm size and the US size. You simply thread your circular needle through the appropriate sleeve and it hangs free on the ends. It helps to avoid kinking of the cables, too.
I am not very well and things
confuse me as it is. I find it
very confusing with all the different sizes out there. In the
past I use to knit my socks only
with Number 2 needles. Now sometimes I knit them with Number
l's or 1 1/2's. I'm still very confused.The only thing I'm not confused about is the length of the circulars that I need.
I forgot to mention in my other
comment that I went to a sporting
good stores and they have these
little pouches very cheap (I think
they may be bait or fishing hooks). They have a lot of plastic
little bags on three ring binders
and you can buy replacements. They hold a lot of circular needles.
Hello Angelika,
My mother in law gave me some Addi Turbo needles from your store for Christmas which is how I found your website. I'm not a very adventurous knitter - hats, christmas stockings and recently - socks - oh, and one frog. The sweaters I've made are nightmares of sizing - maybe if I actually paid attention to the gauge...
I store my needles in a narrow drawer - also in their original packaging like SJ - If I have it.
Blogging is new to me - but I found yours interesting. There's a lot more to owning & managing even an online store than I imagined.
I like your site, too - nice and clear and easy to navigate. I'm salivating over all of the sock yarn. Once I finish my current pair of socks, I'm going to pick something out from your site to knit next. Before I saw the catalogs you included in my mother-in-law's order, I never thought of putting patterns on my socks - the striping was cool enough at the time - but I was early enough in the socks (toe-up socks knit on two circular needles rules!) to start a simple pattern. THANKS for the cool ideas and awesome neat yarns!
With only knitting for a little over a year, I have collect quick a collection of needles minus the smaller size needles. I store all my needles in the ashland sky needle holders which I have grown to love, I've used just about every type of needle holder and found the Ashland to be the best.
I'm on the same boat as not paying attention much to the mm sizes and I do find it confusing at times. I think I will start paying more attention and see what I come up with.
I also have not been knitting very long. I had no idea that all the US sizes were not the same. I guess I need to pay more attention to the mm.
As for storing my needles...well...I throw them into my desk drawer. Shameful I know.
Well, I have lots of needles and most of them I keep in the original packages which I have packed into XL ziploc bags, (not very attractive but gets the job done and I always know where they are!). As for needle sizes. I always have gone by US sizes unless the size is not specified, like on some ravelry patterns. I didn't really pay much attention at all to the mm sizes until recently I have noticed there is a big difference between the size 2.25mm and 2.0mm etc. when knitting socks. Going down just the one mm size does make such a tighter sock that doesn't wear out as quickly.
Seems I'm always buying needles. I keep my straights in a cloth roll up organizer and my dpns in an Ashland organizer. I love the Ashland organizers. I have the Denise interchangeables, but since I've tried the Addi turbos, I've been buying more of those. I keep them in their original packaging for now, but will probably buy an Ashland organizer for them soon. Sigh, seems like there's a perfect needle for each project, unfortunately it's not one that I currently have in my inventory. I'll just have to keep collecting. Don't tell my hubby;)
I find the consistencies extremely irritating. I knit socks constantly and find that socks knit on 2.25 mm usually provide a much better fit than 2.5 mm (particulary on Shepherd Sock which I use all the time). But try finding circular addis in 2.25 mm at your lys. Many store owners aren't even aware that there are 2 size 1 options unless they are sock knitters. This is not a problem if one is using dpns. It's actually harder to find those in 2.5 mm. It's so confusing that it's hard to make people understand who haven't already discovered this inconsistency. Anyway, the gist of this is that I prefer the mm sizes because i can achieve a better fit. As in the science world, metric is more precise and the US should adapt.
Even with all the needles I think I have I still seem to not have what I want. I really need to address old projects and decide if I'm really going to finish them or not and collect all my needles back up!
I've even spoke to a few of the very large distributors in the US about abandoning US sizing, but they said knitters darn near have a heart attack when they bring the idea up. At least all needles include the mm on the package now.
I'm quite new to knitting, which I can prove by admitting that I only have three circular needles and two sets of dpns! My smallest size is US 4, but I'd like my next project to be baby booties. Yeah - when looking at the small needles to buy, I've started to get confused. I did figure out to just pay attention to the millimeter sizes, though!
For now, I'm just storing the needles in their original packaging. When I have enough needles, I'll sew a case for them.
Thank you for holding this awesome contest! I'm very excited about new needles and I'm going to buy some new yarn from your store right now.
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