Needle-size info, provided by All Dolled Up Kits @ www.AllDolledUpKits.com. Please send questions & comments to AllDolledUpKits@Yahoo.com

Knitting Needle Sizes

1 yard (36") ÷ circumference (estimate of stitches/yard)*

Typical yarn weight for given needle size

(§WPI = wraps per inch)

Typical uses of this needle size

Comparable Crochet Hook Sizes

US Sizes

Metric in mm (standard)

UK Sizes (& sometimes Canada, Australia)

Inches (mm/25.4)

Diameter

Circumference (diameter × 3.14)

Diameter

Circumference

U.S.

UK (sometimes also Canada, Australia)

Metric diameter, in mm (standard)

0^×7

0.50 mm

1.5708 mm

0.020"

0.062"

580.65

Superfine, e.g., lace weight, crochet thread

(>22 WPI)

Doilies & other delicate lace work

-

-

-

0^×6

0.75

2.3562

0.030

0.093

388.07

-

-

-

0^×5

1.00

3.1416

0.039

0.124

291.06

10 steel

-

1.00mm

0^×4

1.25

3.927

16

0.049

0.155

232.84

8 steel

-

1.25

000

1.50

4.7124

15

0.059

0.186

194.04

7 steel

-

1.50

00

1.75

5.4978

0.069

0.216

166.32

5 steel

-

1.75

0

2.00

6.2832

14

0.079

0.247

145.53

B (1)

14

2.00

1

2.25–2.50

7.0686

13

0.089

0.278

129.36

Fine, e.g., Light Fingering & Fingering

(19–22 WPI)

Jacquard knits, fine garments, baby garments, socks, lacy shawls & other lace work

13

2.25

2

2.75

8.6394

12

0.108

0.340

105.84

C (2)

12

2.75

-

3.00

9.4248

11

0.118

0.371

97.02

-

-

-

3

3.25

10.2102

10

0.128

0.402

89.56

D (3)

10

3.25

4

3.50

10.9956

-

0.138

0.433

83.16

Light, e.g., Sport, D.K.

 (12–19 WPI)

Lightweight items, e.g., summer sweaters, baby blankets

E (4)

9

3.50

5

3.75

11.781

9

0.148

0.464

77.62

F (5)

9

3.75

6

4.00–4.25

12.5664

8

0.157

0.495

72.76

G (6)

8

4.00 to 4.25

7

4.50

14.1372

7

0.177

0.557

64.68

Worsted, Aran

(10–12 WPI)

Almost anything, e.g., jacket, sweater, afghan

    (7)

7

4.50

8

5.00

15.708

6

0.197

0.618

58.21

H (8)

6

5.00

9

5.50

17.2788

5

0.217

0.680

52.92

I (9)

5

5.50

10

6.00

18.8496

4

0.236

0.742

48.51

J (10)

4

6.00

10½

6.50

20.4204

3

0.256

0.804

44.78

Bulky (& many novelty yarns)

(8–10 WPI)

Winter garments & cold-weather blankets

   (10¼)

3

6.50

-

7.00

21.9912

2

0.276

0.866

41.58

K (10½)

2

7.00

-

7.50

23.562

1

0.295

0.928

38.81

-

0

8.00

11

8.00

25.1328

0

0.315

0.990

36.38

L (11)

-

-

13

9.00

28.2744

00

0.354

1.113

32.34

M/N (13)

00

9.00

15

10.00

31.416

000

0.394

1.237

29.11

Superbulky

(<8 WPI)

Great for quickly knitting big projects (or small ones)

N (15)

000

10.0

17

12.00–12.50

37.6992

0000

0.472

1.484

24.25

P (17)

0000

12.00–12.50

[18]

14.00–15.00

43.9824

-

0.551

1.732

20.79

Q (19)

00000

15.0

19

15.50–16.00

48.6948

00000

0.610

1.917

18.78

-

-

-

35

19.00

59.6904

-

0.748

2.350

15.32

S (35)

-

19.0mm

50

25.00 mm

78.54 mm

-

0.984"

3.092"

11.64

-

-

-

About choosing the right needle size for your yarn. How can you figure out which needle you should use for your yarn? Each thickness and texture of yarn has its own favorite needle size you can use to knit a firm, smooth, flexible, drapey fabric.

• Easiest: Find the yarn manufacturer's suggestion for needle size on the yarn's label.
• If you don't have a label, or the label doesn't specify, try this:
  • Grab a knitting gauge (the index-card-size gizmo with all the holes and numbers!).
  • Fold down the end of a strand of your yarn.
  • Poke the doubled-up strand through a few different holes.
  • Through trial and error, find the hole that works best -- Goldilocks's not too big and loose, but not too small and tight.
• No gauge? Try this:
  • Grab a ruler, and place your yarn strand over the 1" mark.
  • Twist up the ruler, slowly coiling your yarn around it.
  • Gently smoosh your yarn a little, so that the coils snuggle together in a friendly but not too pushy way.
  • Stop when you get to the 2" mark. The number of times your yarn wrapped around the ruler between the 1" and the 2" marks are your -- Ta-Da! -- wraps per inch (WPI).
  • If you peek in the 7^th column of this table, you'll see a number for WPI, corresponding to a range of needle sizes to use.
  • This will give you a good start. The rest is up to you. Try knitting with this yarn on various needles until you find the needle size you like for this yarn. If you know you're a tight knitter, start with the larger end of the size range. Loosey goosey? Start with the smaller end of the size range.

A little more about choosing the right needle size. Some very unpleasant people sometimes say, "You can never be too thin or too rich." Well, in knitting, that's totally wrong. Your needle can be too skinny for a given yarn. (I dare you to try knitting bulky yarn on a U.S. size 2 needle!) On the other hand, your needle can almost never be too fat for almost any yarn! Why not try using a U.S. size 50 needle with a superfine lacy yarn? You'll end up with a lovely lacy-looking fabric. Fat-needle-lovers unite!

Also. You're the boss! Read the information here as suggestions. Use what you like, and ignore the rest!

* To roughly guess how many stitches you may get from 1 meter of yarn, divide 318 (1000 mm/3.14) by the needle's mm diameter.

© 2007, Shari D. Hatch, All Dolled Up Kits. All rights reserved.

Handy-Dandy Pocket Chart

Needles I own (•); Needles I want (♡)

Knitting Needle Sizes

Straight

Circular

DPN (double-pointed)

US

mm

7–10"

≥12"

29"

12–24"

≥32"

≤9"

≥10"

0^×7

0.50

0^×6

0.75

0^×5

1.00

0^×4

1.25

0^׳

1.50

0^ײ

1.75

0

2.00

1

≥2.25

2

2.75

3

3.25

4

3.50

5

3.75

6

≥4.00

7

4.50

8

5.00

9

5.50

10

6.00

10½

6.50

11

8.00

13

9.00

15

10.00

17

≥12.00

19

≥15.50

35

19.00

50

25.00

© 2007, All Dolled Up Kits. All rights reserved.