Dpn knitting

Woooo hoooo and congrats, Alison! Now, try 5 instead! (I like knitting in a square rather than in a triangle, grin!) Hugs, Noreen ... going to bed now.

Woohoo, Alison! I should warn you, though, that socks are addictive.

Higs, Katherine

Congrats ,,, you have gained a very useful knowledge , mirjam who knits EVERY thing in the round !!!

Good for you! I also just started using dpns and have made a total of

5 socks in the last week and half. It's really fun isn't it?

Hesira

The truth leaks out in dribs and dabs!

And, how long do you like your dpn?

I like 5 inch dpns for socks, 6 inch for everything else, and think

7inchers are tarrantula's! veg, Noreen

gee these are 8" (20cm) needles, sadly lacking in sizes with dpns only got the one set, well, sounds like a good excuse to go back to the wool shop : ) and of course I will need sock wool..........lol oh Im going to have fun!

-regards Alison

YES! Exactly like those tarantulas that throw nasty spines at anything that bothers them!!

So how come all the craft stores have all those packages of long, SHARP, aluminum, skinny DPN on their racks? They would not have them if someone was not buying them!?? Walk into Michael's or Joanne's and you would think that we have a major cottage industry around here of knitting cuffs and collars.

Are there millions of refugee FairIsle knitters, each with their leather knitting belt (from the old country), frantically wearing their skinny aluminum DPNs down to the nub? I do not see knitting belts for sale. And, if the aluminum needles wear out so fast, that people need to keep buying them, why don't they sell steel needles?

Or, is it that people knit a sweater on cable needles, buy a package of 7.5" DPN to finish the cuffs. Then, by time they are done with the cuffs they hate those spiny things so much that they throw those spidery DPN out the window, and the next time they finish a sweater, they have to buy a new set of DPN?

Maybe those racks of 7.5" aluminum DPN are a conspiracy against beginning knitters?

And, how come they do not sell nice little 5.5 inch birch sock needles? No wonder Michael's is up for sale.

Early on I bought a "sock kit" with 8" epoxy coated #3 DPN. They were sharp and slippery. They did not work with the yarn in the kit. And, they kept sliding out of the work. Only beginners buy kits, so why did they needles that are so hard to use in a kit for a beginner? (Because those needles had not sold!!!!)

I do not teach knitting, but I think the right needles for a beginner to learn to knit socks on is 5.5" wooden or bamboo DPN in size 6 with worsted weight yarn*. Make an effort and go find a nice, local yarn store, that carries good stuff. It will be more expensive than the internet, but it will be worth it. Oh, and go to your local library!

That first pair of socks will be a bit "clunky", cause of the thick yarn, but that first pair of socks that I knit myself is still one of the most comfortable pairs of socks that I own.

After you have got some good needles, and knit some good socks, then go to a crafts store and buy some wood dowel, and make yourself a bunch of needles. ( Knit gauge swatches and they do not even have to be standard sizes.) In using the needles that you made, you will learn what you really like in a needle. Then, go buy some more commercial needles if you like.

I make most of my own needles now, cause I can make them the way I like them!

*Assuming that you are sort of a "beginning knitter" that big yarn (for a sock) will make it easier to see the stitches. When you know your stitches better, move to smaller needles and finer yarn.

THe birch sock needles break. And the others don't wear out - we lose them!

Higs, Kather> YES! Exactly like those tarantulas that throw nasty spines at

I like the ones i can buy and than i have many sets double , sometimesi use 6 on a project ... mirjam

I don`t know why you say Aluminium needles wear off i still use alumium needles my mother got when she had me ,,,,, 1943 , there are still wonderful to knit with , even if they are a bit crooked here and there ,,,, Plastics needles on the other hand dry up and break Suddenly over the years ,,,, mirjam

I've been told that

will custom-cut and grind needles at a reasonable price. It might be worth asking.

=Tamar

I prefer dpns to circulars. I like the light weight of aluminum and the different colors of anodized aluminum needles. I like to have a needle color that contrasts with the yarn. That makes it easier to see small stitches. Having an extra set means I can do two things the same size at once.

=Tamar

I've never seen a 5.5" DPN. Which company makes them?

Tamar My feelings exactly thank you ,,, but not all i can buy here so i cherish the ones i have ,,,, But when traveling i can`t use dp and have trnsfer it to circulars ,, mirjam

Bryspuns are short. Pony's are short. HTH, Jan! Noreen