WHat length straight needle?

Hi all!! i do not know what my obsession is with single point, straight needles, since i am a confirmed KP circular user. But i guess i like to use single points sometimes. SO every once in a while i buy a pair. My question is - how do you all choose the length? 10 or 14 inch (or whatever). I tend to pick the shorter, as the longer seems awkward. But i guess if i were to knit a sweater in pieces, or an afghan, i would want the longer? is that the only reason i'd want the 14's?? WOuld i want the 10's for most regular old knitting projects? I guess i mostly do small stuff, anyway, So another question is, should i get the 14's, since i can always do smaller stuff on longer needles, but not bigger stuff on shorter needles.... right?

thanks for your input!!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jenny on October 20, 2010 at 6:00am

thanks peggy - Ya, i have my SPs in a jar, but it doesnt need the rice, but i will save that idea!

i have the acrylic stand form KP, but i guess i take my tips out so much that it was easier to just toss them in a box (that sounds so awful - i should say a tidy l ittle acrylic box with a flip lid and slots just the right size, lol)

i said i would try it, buti dont know if a binder is right for me - i think i wont take the time to slide them in carefuly, so i will use my accorsiand accounting file box (cardboard) i think it will be easier....

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on October 20, 2010 at 6:08am

We're so careful with our needles until the project is done, and then we just toss them aside like old boyfriends, LOL! I have a bunch of needles at the bottom of my project bag. I really should go through and put them away!

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on October 20, 2010 at 6:17am

Same here... I really need to regroup everything before I leave town, or I'll never find them again! LOL

Permalink Reply by Jenny on October 20, 2010 at 6:20am

ya, it felt SO GOOD to go through my needles the other day - i took all the tips and cables apart, put them away neatly.. really told me what i needed to know when it came to shopping, LOL>

but then i was kind of annoyed when i went to go grab a needle yesterday, and it wasnt attached to a cable already HAHA.

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on October 20, 2010 at 4:45pm

When are you doing mine? HAHA!

Permalink Reply by Deb Van Iderstine on November 4, 2010 at 3:35pm

Before I started using circs as much as I do these days, I got quite a few "extra pairs" from the woman who initially taught me to knit, both 10" and 14". I found that the 10" tended to feel very crowded when I was working on a sweater, so most of the ones I've bought over the years have been 14"-I started thinking of the shorter needles as "old fashioned", which as I consider it now is how I'm inclined to view all my straight needles. What I would see them as valuable for now would be helping keep one's stitches even, especially for a beginning knitter who is still learning to control her/his tension. I recently did a shared project of scarves with my mom-a hesitant knitter at best-got straights for her and circs for me, since it didn't seem to make sense to buy 2 identical pairs of needles, especially if, as I anticipate, I end up with both of them.

I keep my needles in a wrap that I bought at a craft fair years ago, brilliantly made in that the slots are in a piece of cloth cut at a slant, so the pockets will accommodate anything from dpns and crochet hooks to 14" straights. I'm looking for a better system to accommodate my options needles and cables, hesitating between a binder or another wrap type, as I've already collected quite a few, and they're starting to get out of control,