Looking for metric needles

In getting a particular gauge, texture matters. The texture of the needle
and the texture of the yarn affect the actual size of the stitch, which
produces a particular fabric. So needle size and yarn are selected to
produce a fabric with a texture that you like, and then enough stitches are
knitted to produce the required amount of fabric. Standard needle sizes are
close enough together, that is to necessary to go to intermediate needle
sizes to produce a particular type of fabric or fabric with a particular
hand.

You can "rough up" smaller needles so that they will produce larger stitches
and you can polish/ varnish/lubricate larger needles so they knit tighter.
How the yarn is held and the amount of hand lotion or spinning oils on the
yarn affects the tension and gauge. The strength of the hand and how tired
the hand is also affects the gauge. With an elastic yarn, the needles with
long points can produce tighter stitches as the stitches are formed on the
needle points to produce very tight knitting for that nominal needle size.
So factors other than needle size are important to gauge, the texture of the
fabric, and knitting to fit.

Remember that when using such large needles, the resulting fabric will have
some elasticity and so size need not be calculated on a millimeter scale.
This stretch and elasticity is the virtue of knitting.

My suggestion is to knit swatches with widely available US 10.5 /6.5 mm and
US 11/8 mm needles and decide which fabric you like better, and then adjust
the stitch count to make the garment fit as required. The effort to find
7.5 mm needles is not like to worth while considering the number of modern
patterns calling for 7.5 mm needles.

Then see http://www.texere.co.uk/yarns.php?ca...subcategory=11 for 7.5
mm circular knitting needles.

Aaron


"suzee" wrote in message
...
Richard Eney wrote:
In article , suzee
wrote:
Richard Eney wrote:

Also, it's a size that doesn't even appear on my conversion card,
which lists metric sizes 7mm (US 10 1/2) and 8mm (US 10 3/4) but
not 7.5mm.
I have a needle gauge that has US/metric on one side and
US/Imperial(UK)
on the other side with measurements in inches and centimeters along the
edges. It has 10.5 as 6.5mm which I think is standard.

You're right, I misread my card. US 10 1/2 is 6.5mm, US 10 3/4 is 7mm.
US 11 is 8mm. But still no 7.5mm on the card.

Very handy gadget - discovered that some of my really old needles
are almost the next size up from what they're labelled.

I once tried to correlate several different conversion lists and there
were some big differences. Of course, the size changes in the mid-20th
century didn't help, but the variations go back further than that.
I have a bunch of antique knitting needles and they are all sizes in
between the official ones even on the old gauges.

Mine aren't exactly antiques, they're younger than I am! They're about
40 years old though.

And Jenny, you could take some that you think might be close to 7.5mm
with you to a store and `try out' their needle gauge to see which is
what.

What a good idea!

I did that with a couple when I started up knitting again last year. I
wasn't sure what sizes they were.

sue

wrote:
In getting a particular gauge, texture matters. The texture of the needle
and the texture of the yarn affect the actual size of the stitch, which
produces a particular fabric. So needle size and yarn are selected to
produce a fabric with a texture that you like, and then enough stitches are
knitted to produce the required amount of fabric. Standard needle sizes are
close enough together, that is to necessary to go to intermediate needle
sizes to produce a particular type of fabric or fabric with a particular
hand.

You can "rough up" smaller needles so that they will produce larger stitches
and you can polish/ varnish/lubricate larger needles so they knit tighter.
How the yarn is held and the amount of hand lotion or spinning oils on the
yarn affects the tension and gauge. The strength of the hand and how tired
the hand is also affects the gauge. With an elastic yarn, the needles with
long points can produce tighter stitches as the stitches are formed on the
needle points to produce very tight knitting for that nominal needle size.
So factors other than needle size are important to gauge, the texture of the
fabric, and knitting to fit.

Remember that when using such large needles, the resulting fabric will have
some elasticity and so size need not be calculated on a millimeter scale.
This stretch and elasticity is the virtue of knitting.

My suggestion is to knit swatches with widely available US 10.5 /6.5 mm and
US 11/8 mm needles and decide which fabric you like better, and then adjust
the stitch count to make the garment fit as required. The effort to find
7.5 mm needles is not like to worth while considering the number of modern
patterns calling for 7.5 mm needles.

I'm already changing the stitch count as I'm using a thinner yarn than
in the pattern and so went to larger needles. I've already tried it on
the 11/8mm; it was too loose. As soon as I finish what's on the 7mm's
I'll try them out, knitting a little looser. But this pattern requires a
lot of stitches to be picked up and they have blunter tips - maybe I can
use another needle for that part of the process. I'd always wanted a
size between US 10.5 and 11 and then I found two in metrics last year. I
do have a 7.5mm, it's just that it's way too short for this sweater.

Then see http://www.texere.co.uk/yarns.php?ca...subcategory=11 for 7.5
mm circular knitting needles.

I realize these sizes are readily available in the UK and Europe, but
I'm in the US. Very close to Canada actually, but not close enough to
run over the border and check out the stores there. And postage should
be a little less keeping it on this continent.

sue

I often use smaller needles to pick up stitches - particularly when I do
socks. Sometimes in desperation, when I have knit rather tight, I even
resort to a crochet hook. I make tiny wooden ones with a hook at one end and
a knitting point at the other end. But, then I am a poor knitter that must
resort to subterfuge to compensate for my lack of knitting skills.

Aaron


"suzee" wrote in message
...
wrote:
In getting a particular gauge, texture matters. The texture of the
needle
and the texture of the yarn affect the actual size of the stitch, which
produces a particular fabric. So needle size and yarn are selected to
produce a fabric with a texture that you like, and then enough stitches
are
knitted to produce the required amount of fabric. Standard needle sizes
are
close enough together, that is to necessary to go to intermediate
needle
sizes to produce a particular type of fabric or fabric with a particular
hand.

You can "rough up" smaller needles so that they will produce larger
stitches
and you can polish/ varnish/lubricate larger needles so they knit
tighter.
How the yarn is held and the amount of hand lotion or spinning oils on
the
yarn affects the tension and gauge. The strength of the hand and how
tired
the hand is also affects the gauge. With an elastic yarn, the needles
with
long points can produce tighter stitches as the stitches are formed on
the
needle points to produce very tight knitting for that nominal needle
size.
So factors other than needle size are important to gauge, the texture of
the
fabric, and knitting to fit.

Remember that when using such large needles, the resulting fabric will
have
some elasticity and so size need not be calculated on a millimeter
scale.
This stretch and elasticity is the virtue of knitting.

My suggestion is to knit swatches with widely available US 10.5 /6.5 mm
and
US 11/8 mm needles and decide which fabric you like better, and then
adjust
the stitch count to make the garment fit as required. The effort to
find
7.5 mm needles is not like to worth while considering the number of
modern
patterns calling for 7.5 mm needles.

I'm already changing the stitch count as I'm using a thinner yarn than
in the pattern and so went to larger needles. I've already tried it on
the 11/8mm; it was too loose. As soon as I finish what's on the 7mm's
I'll try them out, knitting a little looser. But this pattern requires a
lot of stitches to be picked up and they have blunter tips - maybe I can
use another needle for that part of the process. I'd always wanted a
size between US 10.5 and 11 and then I found two in metrics last year. I
do have a 7.5mm, it's just that it's way too short for this sweater.

Then see http://www.texere.co.uk/yarns.php?ca...subcategory=11 for
7.5
mm circular knitting needles.

I realize these sizes are readily available in the UK and Europe, but
I'm in the US. Very close to Canada actually, but not close enough to
run over the border and check out the stores there. And postage should
be a little less keeping it on this continent.

sue

suzee wrote:

Yarn Forward wrote:

suzee wrote:

If any of you have a 7.5mm circular needle, 80cm or so, that you'd
like to part with -- I'm interested in buying one. Or perhaps one of
the Canadians would be able to buy one from their LYS and mail it to
me - pre-payment to be arranged. Contact me at my good address --
qiuser at yahoo dot com.

sue


You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a low
cost one.


I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the set.

sue
let me know if you want me to see if I can find what size I have ,and if
it is something you need I can send it to you.
Jenny

jheller wrote:
suzee wrote:

Yarn Forward wrote:

suzee wrote:

If any of you have a 7.5mm circular needle, 80cm or so, that you'd
like to part with -- I'm interested in buying one. Or perhaps one of
the Canadians would be able to buy one from their LYS and mail it to
me - pre-payment to be arranged. Contact me at my good address --
qiuser at yahoo dot com.

sue

You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a low
cost one.

I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the set.

sue
let me know if you want me to see if I can find what size I have ,and if
it is something you need I can send it to you.
Jenny

Thanks, check your email.

sue

wrote:
I often use smaller needles to pick up stitches - particularly when I do
socks. Sometimes in desperation, when I have knit rather tight, I even
resort to a crochet hook. I make tiny wooden ones with a hook at one end and
a knitting point at the other end. But, then I am a poor knitter that must
resort to subterfuge to compensate for my lack of knitting skills.

I'm sure we all use some sort of compensation, just to make things
easier. I often knit the last row with a needle about 2 size larger so I
can use a crochet hook to bind off with. g

The smaller needle is so blunt tipped that I often have trouble just
using it for an increase; I'd really like a pointy one for picking up
these stitches.

sue

You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a low
cost one.



I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the set.

sue



There are 7.5 mm circulars in bamboo.

http://www.yarnforward.com/bambooneedles.html

Roger.

Yarn Forward wrote:
You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a low
cost one.

I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the set.

sue

There are 7.5 mm circulars in bamboo.

http://www.yarnforward.com/bambooneedles.html

Roger.

Yep, I finally found them too, had overlooked them before because I was
looking for the Aero needles. Thanks.

sue

suzee wrote:
jheller wrote:

suzee wrote:

Yarn Forward wrote:

suzee wrote:

If any of you have a 7.5mm circular needle, 80cm or so, that you'd
like to part with -- I'm interested in buying one. Or perhaps one
of the Canadians would be able to buy one from their LYS and mail
it to me - pre-payment to be arranged. Contact me at my good
address -- qiuser at yahoo dot com.

sue


You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a
low cost one.


I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the
set.

sue

let me know if you want me to see if I can find what size I have ,and
if it is something you need I can send it to you.
Jenny


Thanks, check your email.

sue
Sue,
sent you email,
Jenny

jheller wrote:
suzee wrote:
jheller wrote:

suzee wrote:

Yarn Forward wrote:

suzee wrote:

If any of you have a 7.5mm circular needle, 80cm or so, that you'd
like to part with -- I'm interested in buying one. Or perhaps one
of the Canadians would be able to buy one from their LYS and mail
it to me - pre-payment to be arranged. Contact me at my good
address -- qiuser at yahoo dot com.

sue

You can buy metric needles from us

http://www.yarnforward.com/needleshooks.html

And a needle guage

http://www.yarnforward.com/kalist.html

There is a funky one at the top of the page, or scroll down for a
low cost one.

I was at this page last night, but don't see any 7.5mm except in the
set.

sue
let me know if you want me to see if I can find what size I have ,and
if it is something you need I can send it to you.
Jenny

Thanks, check your email.

sue
Sue,
sent you email,
Jenny

Got it, thanks.

sue