The Best Needles For Shawl Knitting.
Let’s get this straight to the point!
The best needles to knit a shawl are…
1) …circular needles!
The bigger your shawl gets, the more it will weigh. With circular needles that weight will be held by the cable instead of by your needles. It makes your shawl knitting much more comfortable and healthier, too.
2) …an interchangeable set for circular needles!!!
This is an add-on, but one I find fairly useful.
Most shawls start with a small number of stitches at the cast on and it gets really annoying knitting those with a long cable. The cable will always stay in the way and feel a bit ridiculous, too.
With an interchangeable set, you can start with a short cable and adjust to a longer cable when you get more stitches on your needles. There are also connecting pieces available to put different cables together and create your perfect cable length.
Sure, you could do this with different circular needles – but how many do you want to buy in the same size!?
The other thing with shawls is – they are usually long-term projects. Chances are high you want to knit another project at the same time or squeeze in a smaller accessory, like a hat or so, to give yourself a break. In that case, you can borrow your needles. Add the end piece to your cable and your stitches are secure until you want to start again.
What is the best material for your needles?
That depends… I bought one circular needle for my very first attempt at knitting. I fell so hard in love with knitting, that I asked my mum to gift me a needle set for Christmas. It was the best present I ever got! That set is from Knit Pro and has these beautiful wooden needles and it was great to get started.
I believe a year later or so, the knitters at my LYS have been raving about the steel needle set from Chia Goo. It took me a while to jump on that train, but these needles – oh my, it’s like fighting with a samurai sword. There is no way back! I wouldn’t recommend them for beginners though.
As a beginner, I was very worried that my stitches could fall off my needles. Although I did knit so tight, it would never have happened! However, wood was the better material for that time and experience level, for sure.
Today, I am worried that I knit too slow, and sticky stitches are my worst enemy. I want my stitches to fly off my needles and steel is the perfect material for this time and experience.
There is no right answer here. You have to find your perfect partner in life – and knitting.
Can I knit a shawl with straight needles?
Well, yes – some… but why would you want, too!? Okay, let’s not discuss this – you probably have a good reason.
There are some shawl shapes I would recommend – if you want to knit with straight needles. Keep in mind that long rows with lots of stitches will get heavy and you need really long straight needles for it. The other thing I would avoid are constructions where you have to knit around the corner, like a classic triangular shawl shape. It’s probably going to feel weird.
I believe the best shawl construction to knit with straight needles is a sideways triangular shawl shape. The rows are straight and usually don’t get long.
