Knitting needle size, US V MM?

I bought a knitting needle guide from "Boye" and it has measurements in
US needle size and mm sizes.

The mm sizes are listed as 2, 2/1/4, 2/3/4.. and one my questions are,
how come they list a mm as a fraction?

It seems to me that the mm would be 2, 2.25, 2.75 etc.

Mona

IIRC needles are available in metric 2mm, 2.25mm, 2.5mm, 2.75, 3mm,
3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm. Not all types of needles are
necessarily available in all sizes or from all manufacturers, mind - I
have all of these sizes in my needle case but they're from a variety
of makers and hte smallest needles are double points. (I've also got
9, 10, and 12mm needles)

US sizes are NOT the same as metric sizes. I've given up on US sizing
to the point that I don't even know what mm needle is supposed to be
what US equivalent any more.

Be that as it may, the Boye needle sizer provides, for each opening,
the metric measurement (millimeters), the US size (which has
absolutely nothing to do with the diameter of the needle in
millimeters), and you can even use it to find the letter size of your
crochet hook.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:34:23 -0800, wrote:

I bought a knitting needle guide from "Boye" and it has measurements in
US needle size and mm sizes.

The mm sizes are listed as 2, 2/1/4, 2/3/4.. and one my questions are,
how come they list a mm as a fraction?

It seems to me that the mm would be 2, 2.25, 2.75 etc.

Mona

IIRC needles are available in metric 2mm, 2.25mm, 2.5mm, 2.75, 3mm,
3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm. Not all types of needles are
necessarily available in all sizes or from all manufacturers, mind - I
have all of these sizes in my needle case but they're from a variety
of makers and hte smallest needles are double points. (I've also got
9, 10, and 12mm needles)

US sizes are NOT the same as metric sizes. I've given up on US sizing
to the point that I don't even know what mm needle is supposed to be
what US equivalent any more.

Be that as it may, the Boye needle sizer provides, for each opening,
the metric measurement (millimeters), the US size (which has
absolutely nothing to do with the diameter of the needle in
millimeters), and you can even use it to find the letter size of your
crochet hook.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:34:23 -0800, wrote:

I bought a knitting needle guide from "Boye" and it has measurements in
US needle size and mm sizes.

The mm sizes are listed as 2, 2/1/4, 2/3/4.. and one my questions are,
how come they list a mm as a fraction?

It seems to me that the mm would be 2, 2.25, 2.75 etc.

Mona

OH! Mono, this is a question I have been asking ever since I set foot in the
USA on my first visit in 1990. It has to be an American thing -a sort of
half hearted approach to decimals, and perhaps taken up by the manufacturer
of knitting needles - where ever that may be, and thus understood by
Americans since they have grown up with what I feel is a strange idea of
measurements.

Pertol(gas) is listed at the service stations as $2.25 9/10 surely that
should be $2.259. Back then the stock exchange was listed as rising or
falling in eighths. With the dollar being a decimal currency, I would ask
,why sell and buy in eighths? Also it would say it rose ,say,1/8 - I
presume it meant 1/8 of a dollar which would be 121/2 cents - would it not
have been better to say it rose 12.5 points. Fortunately , just before my
last visit in 2001, it was stated on the news here that the USA Stock
Exchange had gone fully decimal in line with the rest of the world - but why
take so long ? On that visit I noticed that coca cola bottles had litre
measures printed on them- this was in the south where I also saw some
Kilometre signs on the roads - so that may have been because of the Atlanta
Olympics. Nor can I understand why measurements are in the old English
measure while the currency is in decimal.

lFrank helped a friend put some gadget on his truck and they found it
difficult because portions of the truck were in decimal measurements from
Canada and other parts were USA measurements - and never the twain could
meet !! God Bless Gwen



--

Gwen Kelly


wrote in message
...
I bought a knitting needle guide from "Boye" and it has measurements in
US needle size and mm sizes.

The mm sizes are listed as 2, 2/1/4, 2/3/4.. and one my questions are,
how come they list a mm as a fraction?

It seems to me that the mm would be 2, 2.25, 2.75 etc.

Mona

OH! Mono, this is a question I have been asking ever since I set foot in the
USA on my first visit in 1990. It has to be an American thing -a sort of
half hearted approach to decimals, and perhaps taken up by the manufacturer
of knitting needles - where ever that may be, and thus understood by
Americans since they have grown up with what I feel is a strange idea of
measurements.

Pertol(gas) is listed at the service stations as $2.25 9/10 surely that
should be $2.259. Back then the stock exchange was listed as rising or
falling in eighths. With the dollar being a decimal currency, I would ask
,why sell and buy in eighths? Also it would say it rose ,say,1/8 - I
presume it meant 1/8 of a dollar which would be 121/2 cents - would it not
have been better to say it rose 12.5 points. Fortunately , just before my
last visit in 2001, it was stated on the news here that the USA Stock
Exchange had gone fully decimal in line with the rest of the world - but why
take so long ? On that visit I noticed that coca cola bottles had litre
measures printed on them- this was in the south where I also saw some
Kilometre signs on the roads - so that may have been because of the Atlanta
Olympics. Nor can I understand why measurements are in the old English
measure while the currency is in decimal.

lFrank helped a friend put some gadget on his truck and they found it
difficult because portions of the truck were in decimal measurements from
Canada and other parts were USA measurements - and never the twain could
meet !! God Bless Gwen



--

Gwen Kelly


wrote in message
...
I bought a knitting needle guide from "Boye" and it has measurements in
US needle size and mm sizes.

The mm sizes are listed as 2, 2/1/4, 2/3/4.. and one my questions are,
how come they list a mm as a fraction?

It seems to me that the mm would be 2, 2.25, 2.75 etc.

Mona

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:13:58 +1000, "Gwendoline Kelly"
wrote:

... On that visit I noticed that coca cola bottles had litre
measures printed on them-

Beverage bottlers were very early metric enthusiasts, because they
began selling litre bottles for the same price as the old quart
bottles.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:13:58 +1000, "Gwendoline Kelly"
wrote:

... On that visit I noticed that coca cola bottles had litre
measures printed on them-

Beverage bottlers were very early metric enthusiasts, because they
began selling litre bottles for the same price as the old quart
bottles.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

I looked up Boye on the net and on their site it says that they are an
American company and the only one that makes knitting needles and
crochet hooks in the US.

I'm guessing that they made the hybrid mm size to distinguish themselves
from other companies.

BTW, I found that I have a pair of knitting needles that are size
61/2mm-US101/2. I'm guessing they are made by Boye.

It does not make sense to me to combine metric and fractions.Strange.

Mona

I looked up Boye on the net and on their site it says that they are an
American company and the only one that makes knitting needles and
crochet hooks in the US.

I'm guessing that they made the hybrid mm size to distinguish themselves
from other companies.

BTW, I found that I have a pair of knitting needles that are size
61/2mm-US101/2. I'm guessing they are made by Boye.

It does not make sense to me to combine metric and fractions.Strange.

Mona

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 07:56:09 -0800, wrote:

I looked up Boye on the net and on their site it says that they are an
American company and the only one that makes knitting needles and
crochet hooks in the US.

I'm guessing that they made the hybrid mm size to distinguish themselves
from other companies.

BTW, I found that I have a pair of knitting needles that are size
61/2mm-US101/2. I'm guessing they are made by Boye.

It does not make sense to me to combine metric and fractions.Strange.

Mona

Actually what us poor ignant merkins have done is to make the metric
needle sizing fit into our own preconceived notions of correct needle
sizes.

So the half and quarter sizes that are NOT the millimeter measures are
in fact just "made up" sizes to make what's coming off hte assembly
line fit into the metric system.

European needle makers have been metric for ages now. My rosewood and
ebony needles, made in Germany, come in full and half millimeter sizes
starting with 2mm through 5mm, then I get whole millimeter sizing
through 8mm, with a jump to 10mm and 12mm. I've got some US-made
Brittany birch needles that came in 2.25 and 2.75mm sizes.

I think its a holdover with a lot of "Americans are better than most
everyone else, so our sizing system is too" condescension :P

I much prefer metric measurements - they're easier to handle in my
head.