Circular Knitting Needles - What Size?

[itscherij]

If you only bought one size of circular needles, what size would you buy? I want to do afghans, and it may be that I can only purchase one set (because my mom would have to mail them to me from the US).

[N0obKnitter]

I have two kits...I'm too lazy or something to try to pick them out individually. Incidentally, once you go circular, you almost never go back, I sure haven't.

[suzeeq]

If they're full size then 36" would probably work better. You could probably do them on a 32" though.

[itscherij]

OK. But then there´s the question of the diameter of the needles, too, right?

[suzeeq]

Right, I didn't know that's what you were asking. It depends on the yarn weight you're going to use. If it's something like a worsted, then a size 10 or so. If it's a thin yarn, you could double it to work on the 10s. If you're making a baby afghan with thin yarn, then maybe 7s or 8s. A bulkier yarn would need to be 11s or 13s.

[Raven Fyre]

There are alot of circulars out there, I'll share with you what I'm probably going to do

http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/Try...t__D90252.html

this way you can try a couple of different ones can't beat the price either.

[Lisa R.]

The size needle you use (circular cord length as well as diameter) depends on what you're trying to make and what gauge you need.

I started out buying individual needles from Wal-mart for every new project requiring a new needle size...but after about three purchases, and a few days of looking online for patterns I wanted to make, I realized that every project I looked at required a different needle.

A little quick math told me that I either needed to seriously limit what I was knitting to only on those things that could be knitted on the 2-3 needles I had at the time, or I needed to bite the bullet and invest in an interchangeable set.

I went for the KP Options (nickel), and after a year or so, also bought the harmony wood set. For what you get, they are reasonably priced. I haven't priced the other sets in a while, but you might want to do some research and see if an interchangeable set will be best....or research the afghans you want to knit, and see what size the most common patterns call for, if you only want to get one or two needles.

[cacunn]

One consideration would be a set of bamboo circulars from ebay. they are not the best needles but I got a set when I first started and they were not bad. Many of the sets go US size 0 to US 15 and you can get the set in different lengths.

I think, always a problem, that if I were to get only one length circular I would get 40 inch cable. With magic loop you can knit small items as well as some fairly large projects. Depending on the vendor the entire cost would be $20 or less (US).

NOTE: I am not saying that these will be as good as Knitpick, Addi, Denise, HiyaHiya, but they could get you started in circular knitting. Once you find what size needles you are using the most you could start buying individual needles in these sizes. By buying interchangeable needles, you can purchase one set of cables and the start collecting the needles as needed. Buying individual needles will cost more in the long run but the cost can be spread out as need and funds demand.

[suzeeq]

Though when you buy the interchangeable tips one at a time instead of a set, you won't end up with sizes you don't need. I've though of a set, but I don't use anything smaller than an 8, so half of it would be useless to me. Same for someone who doesn't use larger than a 10.

[Daylilydayzed]

I ordered the Knit Picks Try it set and I love it. They sent me size 6Nickel tips,size 7 Zephyr Clear acrylic and size 8 Harmony wood tips. I am currently using the Zephyr tips on a string market bag using Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Twists in the Mod Twists color.