After last week’s intense #fridayfunda on silk, I pick on a rather simpler topic this Friday – Knitting Needle Gauges.
Knitting essentially requires needles and yarn. Now, the size of the needles and thickness of the yarn will determine the dimensions of the final product.
But have you ever seen a knitting needle? Rarely, very very rarely, is the size of the needle stamped on it. I really wonder why. Now with experience I can correctly guesstimate the size without using a measuring device, but that’s not really wise. I may be able to tell the difference between a 3mm and a 5mm needle, but I would probably not be able to correctly guess the exact dimension of a 2.25mm needle. Crochet hooks are better off, almost all of them will have their size stamped on them.
So what is one to do? One obvious way is to check it with a metric ruler. But I personally don’t find it very accurate, since a needle tends to roll off the scale when placed on it, imagining itself to be rolling in green meadows and eventually ending up in some obscure corner where I have to use all my pilates and yoga moves to get to.
A saner and practical answer? A Knitting Needle Gauge.
Knitting needle gauges are the most accurate way to measure needles. It is a ruler of course, but it’s a bit odd looking. It has holes in it, with the diameter of the hole marked next to it in mm and US sizes.
All you need to do is insert the needle, or crochet hook, into the corresponding hole. If the needle doesn’t go through the hole, like how silk goes through a ring, then try the larger one. If it goes through the hole like how Vitaly did through the fire rings in Madagascar 3, then you probably need to try the smaller hole.
Once again, as with all other tools, this gauge can be super simple or extremely fancy. Some are downright hilarious, shaped in the form of sheep or llama!
I always thought the architect’s multi-scale ruler was one of the most fascinating tools I could possess. As I think about it now I know for sure that all tools that are used by the human hand – be it in woodwork, cooking, pottery, art or craft – all have gone through so many adaptations and are so perfect for the job today. It is just low-key sad to see these tools slowly disappear after everything got so mechanized. Can you think of some tool that you don’t see any more of in today’s world? Something that you have used perhaps? Let’s talk!