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Double-pointed needles are somewhat shorter than single-pointed or circular needles, and are usually used in the 13–20 cm length range, although they are also made longer. Double-pointed needles are depicted in a number of 14th-century oil paintings, typically called Knitting Madonnas , depicting Mary knitting with double-pointed needles ...
Spool knitting is a form of circular knitting using pegs rather than needles, one peg per stitch. A variant automates the stitching action, thus producing a hand-crank circular knitting machine. Commercial knitting machines are heavy-duty powered versions of the hand-cranked ones; they may knit multiple threads at once, for speed.
Circular knitting needles in different lengths, materials and sizes, including plastic, aluminum, steel and nickel-plated brass. The ability to work from either end of one needle is convenient in several types of knitting, such as slip-stitch versions of double knitting. Circular needles may be used for flat or circular knitting.
Circular needles are typically 24-60 inches long, and are usually used singly or in pairs; again, the width of the knitted piece may be significantly longer than the length of the circular needle. Special kits are available that allow circular needles of various lengths and diameters to be made as needed; rigid ends of various diameters may be ...
The Craft Yarn Council of America (CYCA), an industry trade association, has collated a table of crochet hook and knitting needle sizes from de facto industrial standards and elicited the cooperation of its member organizations in adopting them to regularize sizing in the United States. The listed gauge systems are also widely used internationally.
Yarn weight is a factor; thicker yarns with less loft overall produce larger stitches than thinner yarns (reducing the number of stitches per width and length). Larger knitting needles also produce larger stitches, giving fewer stitches and rows per inch. Changing needle size is the best way to control one's own gauge for a given pattern and yarn.
A more hands-on method, there is the test swatch and the gauge swatch. Knitting a test swatch requires knitting the yarn into a small, roughly 4 in (10 cm) square textile of even stitches. [4] Comparing this with recommended needle sizes, yarn, and the knitter's own signature tension, allows for adjustments to all of these things.
Hand knitting can either be done "flat" or "in the round". Flat knitting is done on a set of single point knitting needles, and the knitter goes back and forth, adding rows. In circular knitting, or "knitting in the round", the knitter knits around a circle, creating a tube. This can be done with a set of four double pointed needles or a single ...