Stitches

how long of knitting needles do I need?

I want to knit a baby blanket, crib size. I have been told that I should use needles with a cable. How long of knitting needles do I need? Are these the best kind of needles to use? Also are bamboo needles better than other kinds of needles?

Public Comments

1. Use 14" needles. You can use circular needles if you wish. If you are new to knitting, I suggest straight needles. I like bamboo needles. For me, I have more "feel" when knitting. My Mom (who is 90 yr old) prefers metal needles. Try needles of different materials and go with what works for you.
2. Personally, a pair of straight needles will be enough. you can have a try of the 14inch. each kind of needles have their own strong points. the bamboo needles have natural feel and warm touch in your hands. and they don't weigh as much or make noise. they can keep the stitches from dropping off compared with metals. here is a url in case you are in need. www.8season-knitting.com these needles really nice which you might want to try~~
3. Right,14 is enough. And the needles are many, you can use the knitting needles as you like. If you i were you, i will use the metal needles instead others. And visit http://www.toboc.com/forum3/default.aspx?g=posts&t=535, maybe you can get more information about the knitting needles.
4. The cable one that you've been told to use is a circular needle. It's basically 2 shorter needles connected by a thin cable. In this case you wouldn't join to work in the round- you would knit back and forth on them. (some people think at first that circulars are only for knitting in the round, like a hat or body of a sweater- not so) I like these better than straights for bigger projects because the weight of the piece is more in your lap than on your needle. I got mine at www.knitpicks.com and I love them. 14" straights or a circular in 16" or bigger (extra cable doesn't really matter in this case- I usually use 24" or 30 some inch ones!) There are fixed circular needles, and interchangeable sets where you can unscrew the needles from the cables and change needle size. The material the needle is made of is really personal preference. Metal needles tend to be more slippy which is good with textured or sticky yarn but bad when you're dropping stitches. I use the Harmony wood needles most of the time- they are smooth and slick but not quite so much as the metal ones. I only tried bamboo once- they were really cheap ones and I threw them away! I couldn't move the yarn on them. Some people love bamboo though. You might change your preference of needle type depending on what type of yarn you're using. Try a few and see! Good luck on the blanket!