Tight Knitter

[Janet71]

I just taught myself to knit about a month ago and find myself to be a tight knitter. What type of needles would be best for me to use (bamboo, alum. etc.)?

[cftwo]

To some degree it depends on how tight you knit and what kind of yarn you are using. In general, I prefer metal needles for acryllics and wools, and they will be more difficult to bend/break if you knit super-tight, so I would start there. I find that Boye/Bates needles are just fine (and I'm using them on my current project), but Addi Turbo needles are fabulous.

[OffJumpsJack]

I learned to knit with a looser tension by switching to bamboo needles for a small project.

It was just impossible to move the stitches until I relaxed my tension on the yarn. Then when I returned to my metal Bates, I was a loose knitter and the projects just flew along on my needles.

Of course I now much be careful with my WIPs so they don't slide right off my metal needles.