Knitting needles are really the only bit of kit you need to start knitting, but they can be really confusing! Should you buy straight needles or short circulars, or maybe long circulars or DPNs, or even flexible DPNS…? Which needle type will be best for your project? Maybe you don’t have the needles that your pattern calls for, but you want to make a start anyway, or perhaps you’re a new knitter and you want to know which needles to invest in to get started.

In this post we’re going to do a full rundown of the needle types that are available, pros and cons of each, when you might want to use them, and how to get the most for your money.

Before we start: A word about materials

Knitting needles come in a whole range of materials. The main ones are metal (usually stainless steel), wood, bamboo or plastic. You will probably find that you have a preference for a particular material, so it’s worth trying them all out and seeing which you like best. Generally wooden or bamboo needles are warmer in your hands and they grip onto the yarn better, but you won’t always get a particularly sharp tip. They’re great for beginners as stitches tend not to slide off them too easily. Metal needles won’t grip the yarn as well, but you can get a sharper tip, so they’re great if you’re knitting at a small or tight gauge or working something like a lace pattern where you have lots of increases and decreases. Plastic needles are light and grip yarn well, but have a tendency to bend and warp with use.

Start Here: Straight Needles

Straight knitting needles on a patch of garter stitch

Also known as knitting pins, these are normally the first needles that you will learn to knit with. They come in pairs and each needle has a stopper on one end, so that you can only knit from the other (pointed) end. Knitting kits often contain straight needles and there’s usually a big stash of them in every charity shop. They come in lots of different lengths and they are great for beginners as they are fairly easy to use and you can only knit in one direction.

Straight needles are great for knitting things flat. That might be a scarf, wrist warmers that you knit and then seam down one side to make a tube, or garments that are knitted in pieces. They aren’t so great for larger pieces of knitting as you’ll either need to bunch up your stitches on shorter needles, or use really long unwieldy ones. It’s also impossible to use straight needles to knit in the round, so they are going to be of limited use if you want to make hats, gloves, socks or any garment that isn’t knit flat.

Pros: great for beginners, really easy to get hold of.

Cons: long ones can be difficult to manoeuvre, you can only knit flat so they are not very versatile.

Use them for: Learning to knit, small flat pieces, your first scarf.

Knitting in the Round: Double Pointed Needles

Double pointed needles (DPNs) are like straight needles, but they don’t have any stoppers, so you can knit with both ends. This means that you can use two to five (or more) of them to knit in a continuous circle and make a tube. They normally come in packs of five or six and they vary between about 15cm-25cm in length.

Double pointed needles are relatively inexpensive so it’s quite affordable to buy a set containing lots of different sizes. This is really great as it means you can swatch, and then use whichever size you need to get the correct gauge for a pattern without having to buy more needles.

Because they are relatively short, they really come into their own for small circumference projects like socks, hats and gloves. It’s up to you how many DPNs you use for a project, but having your stitches distributed over three or four needles and using another to knit with is pretty standard. Your pattern may specify how many to use, but it’s unlikely to matter too much.

The main drawback of DPNs is that more needles means more needle tips for stitches to slip off. This is a bigger problem when knitting a larger circumference, as you will probably have more stitches on each needle.

Pros: inexpensive, great for knitting small circumferences in the round, can be made completely from metal, wood or bamboo (so no plastic)

Cons: Can be fiddly to work with up to six needles at once, easy to drop stitches, especially on larger projects. Sometimes ‘ladders’ can form wherever you change from one needle to another (more information on how to avoid that here).

Use them for: Small circumference knitting in the round (socks, hats, gloves, etc.). They can also double up as cable needles.

Fixed Circular Needles

Fixed circular knitting needles are comprised of a needle at each end, with a plastic (or plastic coated metal) flexible cable joining them. They can either be used to knit in the round, or you can knit flat by turning your work over at the end of each row. This means that they are more versatile than both straight and double pointed needles. It’s definitely worth trying out more than one brand of fixed circular as the flexibility of the cable can vary quite a lot between brands and some cables can kink, or become twisted. The smoothness of the join between the needle and the cable is also important as it’s really annoying if a bad join catches on your knitting or makes it harder to move it along the cable. It’s also worth checking the length of the needle at each end: if it’s too short it might be uncomfortable to grip, and of it’s too long it will be harder to knit smaller circumferences - this will depend on your personal preference.

Fixed circular needles come in a range of cable lengths, and you can choose to match the length of the cable plus the needles to the circumference of whatever you’re knitting. If you do this then a slightly shorter cable is better than a longer one, as it’s easier to bunch your stitches up than to stretch them over a needle that is too long. Your pattern should tell you the length of cable that is required for your project.

You can also use a clever technique called ‘magic loop’ to knit small circumferences with longer circular needles. This works by keeping half of the stitches on the flexible cable as you knit the other half. You just need to ensure that your cable is long enough to form the loop. Since a fixed circular can never be too long to use magic loop (but it can be too short), the most cost effective thing to do is buy the longest ones you can, as they will work for any project.

Pros: Really versatile, can be used in place of DPNs or straight needles for knitting in the round or flat.

Cons: Can be more expensive than DPNs or straight needles and will normally contain some amount of plastic,

Use them for: Anything! Fixed circulars are great for any knitting project, you will probably need to use magic loop for small circumferences (e.g. socks)

Interchangeable Circular Needles

Interchangeable circular needles are very similar to fixed circulars, except that the needles at each end of the cable can be removed and swapped for a different size. This means that you can potentially just buy one cable and a number of different sized tips. It also makes it really easy to change needle size mid project. You can normally get stoppers for the ends of cables too - these are useful for keeping stitches on hold (e.g. when dividing for sleeves), or if you need the tips to work on something else.

The tips normally screw onto the cables, but different manufacturers will have different designs, so they won’t all be compatible with one another. You will normally be supplied with a ‘key’ that slots into a hole in the needle to help you tighten or undo the join as this needs to be really secure while you are knitting.

A set of interchangeable circular knitting needles in a red case

If you are getting at all serious about knitting then you might want to consider investing in a good interchangeable needle set. This will typically contain several sizes of tip and a range of cable lengths as well as whetever accessories you need to change and tighten them. This can be an expensive option, but it will ensure that you have every needle size that you could possible need which makes swatching and knitting a project much more enjoyable!

Pros: Same as fixed circulars, but you can use many tips with the same cable, easy to swap tips mid project. You can also use the cables for ‘on hold’ sections (or projects!)

Cons: Same as fixed circulars, but you have to use cables and tips that are compatible, need a good tightening mechanism so they don’t come undone while knitting.

Use them for: Anything! A good set of interchangeable circular needles should contain all the needles that you will need for almost any project.

Flexible Double Pointed Needles

Flexible DPNs are a sort of hybrid of DPNs and short circulars. You usually get three in a pack and they have rigid tips with a section of flexible cable in the middle. They are specifically designed for small circumference projects like socks and gloves, and they work really well for these, however they’re not much use for larger projects.

Pros: Like DPNs, but you only have to use three, great for small circumferences

Cons: Not particularly versatile, can’t be used for larger projects

Use them for: Socks.

Conclusion

Once you have a couple of knitting projects under your belt, you will probably have a fairly good idea of which type of knitting needles you prefer to work with. For the absolute beginner, straight needles are a good starting point. If you’re only ever going to knit small circumference projects then it would be worth investing in a good set of double pointed needles or flexible DPNs, but if you plan to knit a range of projects then the most versatile option is clearly either long fixed circulars and the magic loop method, or interchangeable circulars. Whether you choose to invest in a whole set in one go, or to build it up over time, it’s worth buying the best needles that you can as it really will make your knitting much easier and more enjoyable.

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