Hi peeps,
Hope that you are all doing well.
This week’s post is all about knitting needles: metal ones, verses Bamboo.
When I first started knitting again, probably in my late twenties. I needed some knitting needles but all I could find were ones made from Bamboo. As I hadn’t knitted anything for several years, so I thought that Bamboo needles were all the ones available now. I found them strange and difficult to use, mainly because I was afraid of breaking them! Also, I had only ever used metal needles before so using something so light and fragile seemed strange. I did get used to them eventually and discovered that metal ones were still for sale, which was great news.
Metal Needles: Are predominately made from aluminium and are available in most sizes. Although some larger needles can only be bought made from plastic – which I’m not keen on.
Pros:
- Sturdier.
- Easy to use.
- Durable.
- Comes in a range of sizes.
- Readily available.
- Makes the associated sound of knitting.
- Cost effective.
Cons:
- Can be slippy.
- Stitches are easy to lose. Particularly when increasing or knitting a lace pattern.
- Using a thin yarn on small metal needles can be difficult as the yarn is difficult to grip with the needles.
- Can be heavy.
- May make your wrists ache.
Bamboo Needles: Can only usually be bought from 3mm up to 6mm. All other sizes would be either metal or plastic.
Pros:
- Light-weight.
- Easy to use.
- Easy to grip thinner yarn with.
- Portable.
- It’s a preferred choice by people with wrist related issues as they are lighter and puts less pressure on the wrists.
Cons:
- Can be expensive.
- Have more of a tendency to snap/break.
- Doesn’t have a wide size range.
There’s a quick overview of needles. It’s by no means exhaustive and it’s only what I have discovered myself, but it’s a personal choice and other people will probably have more of a different experience. That’s fine, make your own decision. I really don’t like using plastic needles if I can help it as they do not knit smoothly, and I find them difficult to use as the yarn doesn’t slide easily on them. Sometimes I have no choice because if I’m making a project and I need a larger needle then plastic is my only option, but if I can choose, I would pick either metal or Bamboo, depending on what I’m making.
Thanks for reading my post! Feel free to share,
Sarah. 😊
