Dpn knitting

I sometimes find the commercial steel, and particularly the plated needles
slippery, but the needles that I make myself, never feel slippery. I have
stopped machine buffing my needles. Rather, I polish them by hand with #800
crocus cloth, which leaves a very nice finish but is not as slippery as a
machine buffed polish. Plating is even smoother finish than a machine buffed
polish.

If your steel needles are not plated, try polishing them with crocus cloth.
that should make them just a bit less slippery. (You can get crocus cloth
in a hardware store for about $2.00/sheet.) If there are any spots of
tarnish, crocus cloth is the right way to take it off.

Steel needles in #1 or #0 sizes have a spring to them, they feel alive!
Brass is pretty and feels ever so smooth, but it does not have any life to
it. Aluminum's virtues are that it is light weight, not slippery, and does
not rust! Long steel DPN feel like they are working with me and are
helping me along. That is worth all of the extra care that they demand.

Aaron

"Katherine" wrote in message
...
I have some old steel ones, too, Aaron, but I seldom use them. I find them
quite slippery.

Higs,
Katherine

wrote:
I understand what you are saying! I have some old Boye aluminum single
points. The color has worn off, but they are still very good
needles. But, I have also had needles that when the color wore off,
the aluminum underneath was so soft, that in a matter of a few
minutes of knitting, the aluminum point would abrade, and deform, and
start snagging yarn. If you have to stop knitting, and "scrap a
stone" every few minutes, then those needles are "wore out."

I had some nickel plated brass cable needles that I loved. They had
a metal cable between them. The nickel wore through. That was OK.
Then, the remaining nickel started flaking off leaving sharp edges
that would cut me and snag the yarn. That was OK. Then the cable
broke leaving really sharp ends of wire. Knitting needles do wear
out.

My steel DPN will never wear out. God may punish me for sloth or
greed by causing them to rust, but they will never wear out.

Aaron

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
I am sorry to disappoint you , but any aluminium needles made in 40s
are of a very low quality, Europe in war and after the depression ,
didn`t spend good materials nore good craftmanship on knitting
needles. they are all bent , their edges are not sharp anymore, but i
learned that when that happens i just should sharpen those by
scrapping a stone. I would never say a needle wore out. So what if
they lost color ? scrap a stone , and go on using them ... It has
nothing to do with beuing a better shopper , Both in the 40 s when my
people were perscuted and my mother was fleeing for her life and
later imprisoned she could not shop what she wanted nore enter
anyshop she wanted. And later here we didn`t have much choice we
depeended on what the importers brought .... But we also learned
that one has to do with what one has ...
mirjam

I suspect that many of the aluminum needles that I see are lower
quality than the needles that are available to you. The needles
that you have from 1943 are likely made from a relatively hard
aluminum alloy. Where as what I see is quite soft aluminum alloy
protected by a very thin layer of anodizing. I had one set of
circular needles with aluminum tips, and the anodizing wore through
as I knit 6 hats. At that point, those needles were "wore out."
The DPN in the local craft stores are just a bit harder aluminum
and a bit thicker coating, but they are still fairly cheaply made.

I am probably not as good a shopper as you are and I am more likely
to just buy shoddy goods if they are very cheap. My wife scolds
me, and tells me to just spend the money and get good stuff that
will last. But, I tend to go for the cheap.

Aaron

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
I don`t know why you say Aluminium needles wear off i still use
alumium needles my mother got when she had me ,,,,, 1943 , there
are still wonderful to knit with , even if they are a bit crooked
here and there ,,,, Plastics needles on the other hand dry up and
break Suddenly over the years ,,,,
mirjam

YES! Exactly like those tarantulas that throw nasty spines at
anything that bothers them!!

So how come all the craft stores have all those packages of
long, SHARP, aluminum, skinny DPN on their racks? They would not
have them if someone was not buying them!?? Walk into Michael's
or Joanne's and you would think that we have a major cottage
industry around here of knitting cuffs and collars.

Are there millions of refugee FairIsle knitters, each with their
leather knitting belt (from the old country), frantically wearing
their skinny aluminum DPNs down to the nub? I do not see
knitting belts for sale. And, if the aluminum needles wear out so
fast, that people need to keep buying them, why don't they sell
steel needles?

Or, is it that people knit a sweater on cable needles, buy a
package of 7.5" DPN to finish the cuffs. Then, by time they are
done with the cuffs they hate those spiny things so much that
they throw those spidery DPN out the window, and the next time
they finish a sweater, they have to buy a new set of DPN?

Maybe those racks of 7.5" aluminum DPN are a conspiracy against
beginning knitters?

And, how come they do not sell nice little 5.5 inch birch sock
needles? No wonder Michael's is up for sale.

Aaron
" YarnWright" wrote in message
...
I like 5 inch dpns for socks, 6 inch for everything else, and
think 7inchers are tarrantula's!
veg,
Noreen


--
change n e t to c o m to email/reply to me.
wrote in message
et...
The truth leaks out in dribs and dabs!

And, how long do you like your dpn?

(For socks and swatches, I like 6 inches.)
Aaron
" YarnWright" wrote in message
...

"abutteriss" wrote in message
...
Hello ladies, Just wanted to say a huge "thank you" to all
members for raising my curiosity about knitting with dpn's,
because of that I have just taught myself to knit with four
needles to create a round (doing a
happy dance) watch out socks here we come!!!!!!!!! -regards
Alison B

Woooo hoooo and congrats, Alison!
Now, try 5 instead!
(I like knitting in a square rather than in a triangle, grin!)
Hugs,
Noreen
... going to bed now.

What a neat tip, Aaron. I'll have to have a look for that crocus cloth.
Thanks.

Higs,
Katherine

wrote:
I sometimes find the commercial steel, and particularly the plated
needles slippery, but the needles that I make myself, never feel
slippery. I have stopped machine buffing my needles. Rather, I
polish them by hand with #800 crocus cloth, which leaves a very nice
finish but is not as slippery as a machine buffed polish. Plating is
even smoother finish than a machine buffed polish.

If your steel needles are not plated, try polishing them with crocus
cloth. that should make them just a bit less slippery. (You can get
crocus cloth in a hardware store for about $2.00/sheet.) If there
are any spots of tarnish, crocus cloth is the right way to take it
off.

Steel needles in #1 or #0 sizes have a spring to them, they feel
alive! Brass is pretty and feels ever so smooth, but it does not have
any life to it. Aluminum's virtues are that it is light weight, not
slippery, and does not rust! Long steel DPN feel like they are
working with me and are helping me along. That is worth all of the
extra care that they demand.

Aaron

"Katherine" wrote in message
...
I have some old steel ones, too, Aaron, but I seldom use them. I
find them quite slippery.

Higs,
Katherine

wrote:
I understand what you are saying! I have some old Boye aluminum
single points. The color has worn off, but they are still very good
needles. But, I have also had needles that when the color wore off,
the aluminum underneath was so soft, that in a matter of a few
minutes of knitting, the aluminum point would abrade, and deform,
and start snagging yarn. If you have to stop knitting, and "scrap
a stone" every few minutes, then those needles are "wore out."

I had some nickel plated brass cable needles that I loved. They had
a metal cable between them. The nickel wore through. That was OK.
Then, the remaining nickel started flaking off leaving sharp edges
that would cut me and snag the yarn. That was OK. Then the cable
broke leaving really sharp ends of wire. Knitting needles do wear
out.

My steel DPN will never wear out. God may punish me for sloth or
greed by causing them to rust, but they will never wear out.

Aaron

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
I am sorry to disappoint you , but any aluminium needles made in
40s are of a very low quality, Europe in war and after the
depression , didn`t spend good materials nore good craftmanship on
knitting needles. they are all bent , their edges are not sharp
anymore, but i learned that when that happens i just should
sharpen those by scrapping a stone. I would never say a needle
wore out. So what if they lost color ? scrap a stone , and go on
using them ... It has nothing to do with beuing a better shopper ,
Both in the 40 s when my people were perscuted and my mother was
fleeing for her life and later imprisoned she could not shop what
she wanted nore enter anyshop she wanted. And later here we didn`t
have much choice we depeended on what the importers brought ....
But we also learned that one has to do with what one has ...
mirjam

I suspect that many of the aluminum needles that I see are lower
quality than the needles that are available to you. The needles
that you have from 1943 are likely made from a relatively hard
aluminum alloy. Where as what I see is quite soft aluminum alloy
protected by a very thin layer of anodizing. I had one set of
circular needles with aluminum tips, and the anodizing wore
through as I knit 6 hats. At that point, those needles were
"wore out." The DPN in the local craft stores are just a bit
harder aluminum and a bit thicker coating, but they are still
fairly cheaply made.

I am probably not as good a shopper as you are and I am more
likely to just buy shoddy goods if they are very cheap. My wife
scolds me, and tells me to just spend the money and get good
stuff that will last. But, I tend to go for the cheap.

Aaron

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
I don`t know why you say Aluminium needles wear off i still use
alumium needles my mother got when she had me ,,,,, 1943 , there
are still wonderful to knit with , even if they are a bit crooked
here and there ,,,, Plastics needles on the other hand dry up and
break Suddenly over the years ,,,,
mirjam

YES! Exactly like those tarantulas that throw nasty spines at
anything that bothers them!!

So how come all the craft stores have all those packages of
long, SHARP, aluminum, skinny DPN on their racks? They would
not have them if someone was not buying them!?? Walk into
Michael's or Joanne's and you would think that we have a major
cottage industry around here of knitting cuffs and collars.

Are there millions of refugee FairIsle knitters, each with their
leather knitting belt (from the old country), frantically
wearing their skinny aluminum DPNs down to the nub? I do not
see knitting belts for sale. And, if the aluminum needles wear
out so fast, that people need to keep buying them, why don't
they sell steel needles?

Or, is it that people knit a sweater on cable needles, buy a
package of 7.5" DPN to finish the cuffs. Then, by time they are
done with the cuffs they hate those spiny things so much that
they throw those spidery DPN out the window, and the next time
they finish a sweater, they have to buy a new set of DPN?

Maybe those racks of 7.5" aluminum DPN are a conspiracy against
beginning knitters?

And, how come they do not sell nice little 5.5 inch birch sock
needles? No wonder Michael's is up for sale.

Aaron
" YarnWright" wrote in message
...
I like 5 inch dpns for socks, 6 inch for everything else, and
think 7inchers are tarrantula's!
veg,
Noreen


--
change n e t to c o m to email/reply to me.
wrote in message
et...
The truth leaks out in dribs and dabs!

And, how long do you like your dpn?

(For socks and swatches, I like 6 inches.)
Aaron
" YarnWright" wrote in message
...

"abutteriss" wrote in message
...
Hello ladies, Just wanted to say a huge "thank you" to all
members for raising my curiosity about knitting with dpn's,
because of that I have just taught myself to knit with four
needles to create a round (doing a
happy dance) watch out socks here we come!!!!!!!!! -regards
Alison B

Woooo hoooo and congrats, Alison!
Now, try 5 instead!
(I like knitting in a square rather than in a triangle,
grin!) Hugs,
Noreen
... going to bed now.