Checking needle sizes

General Knitting
1

Hello!!

I bought some plastic circular needles at an estate sale recently. But I don’t know what size they are. They are too big for the holes in a needle gauge.

Anyone know how I can figure this out??

Thanks
Knitcindy

2

I would use a caliper to measure the diameter of the needles.

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3

Thanks. I didn’t know which way to measure. I was using my tape measure to go around the outside but that didn’t look right. Now I just have to find a caliper!!!

Knitcindy

4

You can also use a tape measure to measure the circumference in mm then divide that number by pi (3.14) to get the diameter. Knitting needle sizes are measured by diameter.

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5

I was thinking to suggest this solution too :grinning:.

Also, if you do not have a caliper, you could put the needle between two boxes/blocks/boards with straight edges and with a ruler measure the distance between them.

2 Likes
6

Thanks so much! I had no idea how knitting needles are measured with mm. I think I will try with a tape measure. Amazing what you can learn here!!

knitcindy

1 Like
7

Do you have a needle gauge? I always keep one around for such occasions. You can pick up a cheap one at Joann’s or Michael’s or a yarn store.

8

Yes, I do have one. But the holes aren’t big enough for these needles!

Thanks,
knitcindy

9

How about this? Largest hole is 25mm. Not sure if there’s enough size range for you, but larger gauges are likely available somewhere:
https://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/accessories/pony-knitting-gauge-large-with-cutter

10

I’ve never seen such a thing before. I was going to say the needles may have been when the “broomstick” knitting was popular, and there were only a couple sizes for that, if I remember correctly. But it sounds like there’s more to those larger sizes than I realized.

11

Hi there justfriends3!!!

Yes, big needle knitting has really taken off lately. They have needles now up to size 100, believe it or not! I’ve seen videos of someone using sharpened logs to knit with 1,000 strands of yarn together!! AND I’ve seen someone knitting with straight pins and the resulting sweaters fit on their fingertip!! So there is quite the wide variety of shapes and sizes now-a-days!!!

Knitcindy

2 Likes
12

Am I ever out of the loop! I hadn’t realized that. And going the opposite direction – beyond my comprehension.

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13

My dad used to knit when I was a little girl and he told me that the largest size needle (at that time) was a 7 or eight!!(US sizes). That’s hard for me to comprehend. I like to use size 35 or 50 with 4 or 5 strands of yarn together to make an afghan.

Knitcindy

1 Like
14

Wow, in that case it’s probably easiest to take a millimeter measuring tape and wrap it around the needle and see how big the needle is.

15

I like the callipers idea. I have a digital pair but it didn’t occur to me that they could be used for measuring needles. Saves digging around for one of my many gauges that I can never find when I want them!