Think of how Apple forced unique chargers and cables on their customers for two decades. Miss Lambert probably called her needle gauge “ Standard Filière” for very similar reasons – distinction. The Singer Corporation famously heralded this change towards international marketing around that time with their sewing machines ( source) with a kind of success that would dominate the industry for the whole century to come.

Side note: The SWG was only implemented in 1884. Before that, it was the Birmingham Wire Gauge; keep that in mind when you follow historic patterns). The yarn label of the most commercially produced yarns should provide you with a size range. It has to be noted that these kinds of recommendations are only a first step. The right needle size for you will largely depend on two factors:

Wooden needles: As with Bamboo, these are a great choice for when knitting with more slippery yarn if you find that your stitches usually slide off your usual metal needle tips. Our favourite wooden needles are from LYKKE and come in a fabulous range of colours.

DK yarn is one of the most common yarn weights, often seen as the standard weight that sits halfway between fine and bulky. Needles of 3.75 - 4.5 mm will usually give you a good result with DK yarn. What size crochet hook should I use for chunky wool? In Japan, knitting needles use different standard metric sizes, starting at 2.1 mm and going up to 25 mm. What is My Knitting Needle Size? Given the many immigrants (but also the rising economic power) from Germany, this mixture cannot be seen as all that surprising from a certain point of view – especially as it feels a little bit more intuitive that a larger number constitutes a larger size. It would be very limited to assume the U.S. only imported haberdashery from the UK. After all, companies like addi have been selling fine knitting needles since 1829!

Knitting Needle Sizes and Conversion

A large crochet hook, at least 6.5 mm, should be used with chunky wool. The larger the hook, the more space you will see between stitches. What size crochet hook should I use for DK wool? On top of that, different materials (e.g. wool, alpaca, or cotton) are also an important factor. Some of these might change their appearance drastically after the first wash. If you have knitting needles from all over the world or of unknown origins, your best bet for identifying their size is by using a knitting gauge. Again, please understand that these are only general recommendations. Two different companies might call their yarn DK weight but that doesn’t mean that both should be knitted with needle size 6 for the best results. Does knitting needle length matter?

Americans use their own numbering system, which you will often see if you're using patterns from the USA. In this system, 2mm needles are a size 0, and the numbers go up as the needles get bigger. Confusingly, there's also an old British system where the numbers go down as the needles get bigger, so 2mm needles are a 14. This isn't used very much anymore, but you may still see it on vintage patterns.

Japanese Needle Size Chart

The weight of your yarn is the most important factor when it comes to choosing the right size knitting needle or crochet hook. In general, a basic rule of thumb is: the finer the yarn, the smaller the needle. For circular knitting needles, the distinction is mainly a matter of preference. The longer the needle body, the more you can use the needles as leverage but the heavier they are. And of course, whenever you are knitting in the round, the stiff length of the needle itself defines the minimum diameter you can knit with these comfortably – except you are using the magic loop technique (e.g. you cannot knit a 10-inch circle with needles that are 4 in long each). How are knitting needles sized – a short history

To help you decipher the world of knitting needle sizes, refer to the charts below! Knitting Needle Sizes Chart for US and UK Knitting is the perfect way to relax and enjoy the hours spent in airport terminals and airplane seats. Not only does it help pass the time in a productive w... This knitting needle size conversion chart compares knitting needles in the US and UK, with crochet hook sizes thrown in for good measure! Metric (mm) It's easy to get confused with terminology when you see needles and hooks discussed online. That's because there are three different numbering systems that people use to talk about sizes!There's one final thing to take into account when you choose needle sizes: gauge. In the knitting world, gauge refers to the number of stitches and rows per centimetre. When you follow a pattern, it should tell you what the gauge is. If your knitting matches the pattern's gauge, then your project should turn out well. In the UK and most of the world, it's common to use the metric system to talk about needle sizes. The smallest widely available needles are 2mm, while at the top end of the spectrum, it's possible to find very large needles of 10mm or more. Most patterns will specify the yarn that they used to make the project. If you didn't want to use the exact same yarn, you could substitute for something which is the same weight yarn. Knitting needle and crochet hook sizes Remember, knitting gauge is very sensitive. If you change mid-project from plastic to bamboo needles, for example, you might find that your gauge changes, too. Types of knitting needles