Does Knitting Needle Size Matter?

Why Does Size Matter? The size of the needle affects the length of the stitches and thus your finished product. ... Usually, larger needles will produce a larger gauge, but the type and weight of the yarn also will make a difference.

How do I know what size knitting needle to use?

A simple guideline: Add the measurements (in millimeters) of the suggested needle size for each yarn and then use the needle that is closest in size to that number. For example, for a swatch of two strands of Wool-Ease Chunky, we added 6.5 mm plus 6.5 mm to get 13 mm. The closest needle size is 12 mm, which is a US 17.

Is it better to go up or down a knitting needle size?

The real way to change the number of stitches that you knit in an inch is to change the needles that you're using. A needle with a smaller diameter means that you make smaller loops when you wrap the yarn, and therefore you get smaller stitches. Likewise, bigger needles make bigger stitches.