Tag Archives: dpns

Getting those needles into shape!

I admit, this is a little bit of a silly one, but something that I’ve been needing to do for literally years. I’ve done it. I’ve officially organized my DPNs! *Applause please.*

For a long time, I tried to keep my DPNs in their original packaging, but that was a mess. It looked awful. I had packs of needles stashed everywhere, and I could never find the ones I needed.

Then several years ago, I put all my needles in one big ceramic jar. I figured they’d at least be all in the same place. I didn’t have to go rummaging through thirty-seven different project bags, or digging in my desk, or looking through my various pencil cases and backpacks.

And they looked cute! Bonus!

But that was quite a while ago, and in the interim, I’ve acquired *ahem* quite a few more needles. (I don’t have a problem, you have a problem.)

I was digging through them the other day, looking for some US6’s, and I ended up so frustrated that my husband offered to help (looking through probably 100+ nearly identical needles will do that to you). He immediately said “There must be a better way.” Which made me realize that there must be a better way.

Why had it never occurred to me!? I like to think that I’m pretty smart, but sometimes I question my own intelligence.

Anyway, I was thinking of what I wanted, and I knew I still wanted my needles out on display, and I wanted to be able to grab the size I needed at a moment’s notice (or at least without a half-hour long search and a lot of swearing).

Long story short, I ended up at Target, and found a “lipstick organizer” (Who’d have thought that was a thing?!). It’s a short-ish organizer with 16 little spaces, plenty for each size of needle to have its own spot.

So far, it’s working great! It still looks a little messy, but it gets the job done. I think I might add little stickers or something to label the sizes, but for now, it’s working out OK.

I can’t believe I wasted so much time digging through that old jar… sigh.

How do you organize your needles?

Getting to the Point, Part 2

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(Can I just say how ridiculous this title is? I didn’t come up with the title until I had written out this whole post as well as the last post. Anyway. Dorky me and my wordiness.)

Even once you have decided on the kind of needle material you want, you still have to figure out the type of needle you are going to use. Here, again, you pretty much have three choices.

“Straights” or “straight needles” are your grandmother’s knitting needles. They’re they kind that you imagine when you hear the words “knitting needles.” They’re straight (obviously), usually longish (12+ inches), and have a point on one end and a nubbin on the other. The nubbin stops your stitches from falling off the end. They are great for learning on, and are good for knitting flat things. However, if you knit big projects (like blankets or sweaters), you might want to avoid using straights, because the weight can cause wrist/hand problems.

The second type of needle are Double Point Needles (or DPNs). DPNs are usually shortish (in the 5-8 inch range), and, as the name implies, have points on each end. They’re sold in sets of 5 or so (depending on the brand). They’re used to knit up small projects in the round. If you’re making mittens, socks or sleeves, you might make the whole project on DPNs. Or, you could make the top of a hat on DPNs. They’re a little scary to use the first time, since you use so many at the same time, but they’re really the best/only way to make certain projects.

The last type of needle is the circular needle. These are two short needles (usually about 3-8 inches, depending on the brand) connected by a long cord. These are my absolute favorites. They’re versatile, allowing you to knit flat (like with straight needles) or work large projects in the round. The fact that the project hangs more or less evenly between your hands means that there is less chance of arm/hand fatigue. Also, if you knit in public/on the bus/on a couch next to people, circulars are nice and compact so you won’t keep poking your neighbors. But, one drawback of circular needles is that they are fairly specific to the project you want to make. For example, even though they’re both knit on size 8 needles, you will need a long circular needle to make a sweater in the round, but a short circular needle to make a hat. (But, that’s a pretty minor complaint in my biased opinion.) Also, poorly made circular needles can snag where the needle joins the cord, which can be a huge pain in the butt when you are cruising along a project. This means that when I buy circular knitting needles, I almost always go for the super fancy ones (like Addi Turbos), which cost way too much. But, I think it’s worth it to not hate my knitting.

They type of needle you use is pretty much determined by the project you’re making, but still you’ll develop preferences. If you hate DPNs, you could end up buying a whole bunch of tiny little circular needles, so you never have to break out the DPNs on a sleeve. Maybe you love circulars, so you end up knitting everything on circulars and never touch straights again. It’s really all up to you and your personal preference. What do you prefer?

You spin me right ’round

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I love stripes, and I adore knitting stripes especially. The whole “knitting with two colors at the same time” is pretty much the best. But I do not love weaving in all the ends at the end of a project. It’s like the world’s worst knitting practical joke. “Oh, you think your sweater’s done? HAHA NO! You get to spend the next six hours weaving in ends. Sucker!” Not fun.

So, here’s a trick that I like to use when I want to make something in the round with itty bitty stripes. Essentially, I’m working both colors at the same time, spiraling them together. This way, it looks like I have perfect jogless stripes, AND I don’t have to worry about a million little ends to weave in at the end. (Also, despite my poor description, it’s actually quite easy.)

Please forgive the messy drawings… I’m still figuring out the whole “graphics” thing.

1. Cast on with your first color, and join in the round using a set of 5 dpns (4 to hold your knitting, and one to use). Knit a few rows (it can get too fiddly if you don’t have a good solid base before adding the second color).

2. At the beginning of the round, start knitting with the second color, but don’t cut the first color. Knit needles 1, 2, and 3 with the second color.

3. Stop knitting with the second color, but don’t cut the yarn. Pick up the first color and start knitting where you left off. This time, only knit two needles (needles 1 and 2).

4. Pick up the second color again, and knit two needles (in this case, needles 4 and 1)

5. Keep going in pattern, picking up the first color and knitting two needles (needles 3 and 4).

6. See how the pattern is going? You knit two needles of the first color, then two needles of the second color. This way you keep building up a spiral of stripes, until you end up with a great big long spirally/striped scarf/hat/mitten etc.

When your project gets long enough, knit until your secondary color is back at the beginning of the row, then cut it. Do a couple more rows in the first color, and bind of as usual.