Stitches - Is it necessary to follow the recommended knitting needle size on yarn?

Is it necessary to follow the recommended knitting needle size on yarn?

I brought some knitting yarn and it suggests that I use a size 13 (9mm) knitting needles. I am knitting a hat. Do I have to follow this recommendation? If I used a size 7 would this not work? Why? Thanks so much, I am just trying to avoid buying a new needle size whenever I start a new project!

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Buying a new set of needles whenever you buy different yarn won't last long. You'll soon acquire the sizes you'll most commonly use. A way to avoid this, however, is to only choose patterns that call for the needles you already have. The needle size is determined more by the yarn than anything else. If you have yarn that is bulky enough to call for 9mm needles, using 4mm or so (I think that's a size 7 US) won't be good for that yarn. The pattern would also come out the wrong size. If you wanted to use a 7mm needle instead of a 9mm, I'd still say you needed to adjust the pattern. It might work, however. The difference you have is too great to really do well, unfortunately. www.lionbrand.com and www.coatsandclark.com have tons of free patterns in all skill levels. Check them out and find one that works for your needles, then get some new yarn. Or, buy a new set of 9mm needles. If you are going to be serious about knitting, I'd suggest going to eBay and finding a set of Chinese bamboo needles that come in a wide range of sizes. I got mine for under $20.- including shipping, and it's got all the sizes I will ever need, from 2mm to 10mm -- and they are bamboo, which is very nice to work with.
There is a huge difference in size 13 needles and size 7 needles. There may also be a difference in your gauge on size 13 needles and the gauge of the person who wrote the pattern--so you may actually need size 11 or size 15 to duplicate that hat in the size you expect to get. Some knitting needles can be very expensive--but all of them are not. Most knitters eventually end up with several pairs of needles; some end up with many more than that. While you are building your "tool box" for knitting, you might check with local thrift shops and check the "Clearance" rack at the craft shops every time you go in. I have bought bundles of needles on eBay for very little money. I have also bought sets of plastic needles in several sizes at low prices from craft shops and on-line suppliers such as http://www.herrschners.com, http://www.marymaxim.com, and http://www.joann.com. Or ask around among your friends who knit--perhaps someone will have needles they no longer use that your could negotiate for.
You choose the needle according to the size of the yarn. You may sometimes have to adjust a half or a full size up or down, depending on how firm a fabric YOU want and on how tight or loose YOU knit. Because I was always a very tight knitter, I always used a larger size than recommended. I'm better now, and can get the fabric I want by eye-balling the yarn. You will learn eventually that this kind of yarn needs this size needle. Experience is a great thing! I do heartily recommend that you have all the sizes in your kit. You can't be called a real knitter if you don't have all the common sizes (and a few others). Well, that's my opinion1 :-) I have several sets, in metal, bamboo, some plastic. I collect needles! I got a lot of my needles in second-hand shops. Sometimes you just strike at a time when there are a lot. And over time, I added to them and now have several complete sets, in all lengths and in single, double-point, and circular. If size 7 is 4mm (when will the US catch up with the rest of the world?), then you can't really get anything useful using it instead of 9 mm. You might get away with 8 or 10 mm without much noticeable difference. You will find 9mm quite useful if you are going to use this kind of yarn again. You other alternative is to find a finer yarn, one that will work with your 4mm. That would mean you need to make some major adjustments to your pattern... so that may not work. Get another set of needles.
The needle size is not only decide by yarn but also by your knitting pattern. As I see, a full set of needles in your knitting bag will be better.
it sounds like that yarn is a bulky weight yarn, a size 7 would be too small and the hat will come out way too stiff.
No, it is not necessary to use the "suggested" needle size. Unfortunately, if the yarn worked for someone who used a size 13 needle, whatever you make on a size 7 needle might end up being very stiff. There's a technique called "swatching" which all knitters should do before knitting a project. (I'll confess to NOT being one of those knitters who always swatch!) Patterns always include the term "or needle to get required gauge". As the knitter, you also have to be comfortable with the texture and drape of the fabric you get with that yarn. To swatch, cast on what the yarn label says would be enough stitches for at least four inches in width, and knit a square in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row). Take the square off your needles and put it flat on a table, then count how many stitches you have in an inch in the middle and how many rows, also in the middle. If you have the same numbers as the yarn label says, good for you! You're knitting "to gauge". Now look at the square. How do you like the texture and drape of the fabric? Is it too loose and open or too tight or stiff? Most knitters have needles in a range of sizes so they can move up or down in needle size until they match the gauge of the pattern (have the right number of stitches and rows per inch) or have a fabric they like. If you're a loose knitter, you might be able to get away with a size 10 needle, but if you're a tight knitter, you might have to go up to a 15! That's what swatching is for, to find out what the right size is for YOU as you make the item. The gauge on the yarn ball and on a pattern merely tell you what "some knitter" used on one particular day to get those numbers.
Your hat on a size 7 is not going to work very well. If you don't have a size 13 needle, look for a pattern that uses a 7. While needle sizes in patterns are a starting point, depending on how you knit, you usually don't find people who knit so loosely that they get the correct gauge on something as much smaller as a size 7. Plus your number of stitches cast on is determined by the yarn and needle size recommended by the pattern (a size 13 needle pattern might possibly be knit on a 10.5, 11, or 15 needle, depending on someone's personal knitting style), but the number of stitches cast on for a 7 needle will be considerably higher. Having a full range of needle sizes can be very important, unless you don't plan on ever knitting anything in a fine yarn. Most knitters who don't do baby or fingering/sock yarns can usually need needles from size 4 through size 13. Needle sizes beyond 13 are usually specialty sizes used for bulky knitting, and may not be used often. Baby things, lace in fine weight yarns, and fine gauge knitting usually use size 3 and smaller needles. Buy one needle at a time as you can, and gradually build up your needle inventory. Thrift shops can often be a source of inexpensive, experienced needles, btw.
No. It's only suggested to obtain a certain gauge. Smaller needles will create tighter stitches (more stitches per inch), while larger needles will create bigger stitches (less stitches per inch).
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Most definitely not! This is the good side of that whole "gauge" tangle that drives some knitters crazy. Each knitter knits differently, either loosely or tightly (EZ says looser is better, so chill!) which will give YOU your gauge for a yarn. So you can really think in more broad terms ... for a worsted weight yarn, you might work best with a size US6 or you might need to go all of the way up to a 10 if you knit tightly. I guess there's bad news in there, too ... you might as well just buy sizes 7, 8, 9 and get it over with! : ) So here we come to gauge - if the pattern you're working says to use 13s, it will also give you a measure of stitches per inch that this ought to work up as. I'm going to guess that this is some pretty hefty yarn and that unless you're a really loose knitter, the 7's won't work. But give it a try ... work up a bit in the pattern and see how it goes. This isn't rocket science AND there are no knitting police. And knitting can be undone and reworked ... all good news. In general, I like to think in broad terms - if you look at something like this: http://www.knitpicks.com/knitting+yarn.html you can see the yarns by weight. I know for myself I will use a size 1-4 for fingering, a 6 - 9 for worsted, etc. Most of the time I use the very lazy "close is good enough" method with gauge but then will get completely obsessive when need be (that 1/2 mm DOES make a difference sometimes!) So no, you don't need to follow the directions. But yes, you will probably end up buying lots of needles! : ) See the sites below for some needles to bring joy! Happy Knitting! Anniessa
It really depends on how tight or loose you knit. This is what you do, make up a swatch and measure it to see if it coincides with what the measurements are on the yarn packaging. If it is too big, then you need to use smaller needles. If it is too small, you need to use larger needles. I have never used the needles as recommended on the yarn packaging as my knitting varies in tension depending on how fast or slow I knit. Hope this helps.