WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES A NEEDLE MAKE?

Do you think about the needle you will use when you start a new project? Not just the size to get gauge, but the physical characteristics of that needle. How do the needles work with the yarn you have chosen. Does the size and shape of the needle-tip suit your project. Are those needles comfortable to hold and still knit efficiently?

Carson Demers, the guru of Knitting Physical Therapy, explores the tiny elements that we often overlook when knitting. If you’ve experienced finger/hand pain while knitting, Carson’s video could give you help. If not, using his techniques may prevent injury and pain.

His topics: Passive tensioning strategy to reduce effort of the forearm, wrist, and hand. columMinimize contact stress, that is, small areas that experience high pressure as you’re knitting.Balance the amount of friction between yarn and needles, and to learn to match needle type and tip to stitch requirements and fiber content.

What to bring if you’d like to swatch along: Try different combinations of needle and yarn while watching the video. If you would like to experiment with needles, you can bring as many (or few) needles of different materials: wood, steel, bamboo, plastic, acrylic and wood or steel cubic needles. Another consideration is the shape of the tip. Is it blunt or sharp, and is it long or short. To complete your experiment you will need different types of yarn. Carson suggests a wool that is tightly plied and another that is loosely plied; a 2-ply and a multi-ply (3 or greater) of the same fiber content, and a superwash wool and non-superwash wool of similar ply and construction. The idea is to try yarns that range from slippery to ‘sticky’.