The sharpness of the needle tips can both help and hurt your knitting.
We give you a lot of information on different types of needle tips so we can help you decide what works for you. To be clear, there are lots of other types as well, but these two are the most common.
This is part of our Knitting 101 series. Get the entire PDF when it comes out on November 21, 2020!
Blunt Needles
A blunt needle can be good if you have yarn that you think could easily be split apart. It can also be helpful if you’re working with a single-ply yarn.
And, depending on your personal knitting style, if you end up pushing against the tip to move the stitches along, a blunter tip can be a lot kinder to your fingers (I have a tip for that below as well).
Sharp Needles
A sharp needle can help you working stitches that have multiples (like a K2tog or a KFB). They can also be easier to use if you’re working with a nicely twisted yarn.
On the flip side, a sharper needle can dig into your finger if you use your fingertips to move the stitches along the needle. TIP: I use my nail instead so I can avoid that.
I’ve also heard of people wearing a protector on their finger as well (sorta like a stretchy thimble that you keep on your finger).
Which Needle Sharpness is Better?
In the end, it’s really up to you.
For me, personally, I like to work with sharper needles. But, I came to that decision after test-driving A LOT of needles.
A LOT.
After that, I bought a large amount of one needle.
And then, something else came out that I liked better. So, I bought a bunch of that other needle too. Having a bunch of both is far from ideal. You either keep both sets or give them to someone else who might appreciate them (either a friend or a donation).
Take a Test Drive
You owe it to yourself to try a bunch of different needles. How else will you know what you like?
Many LYSs will let you sit there and try needles out. You’ll learn a lot by just making a swatch. Seriously. Give it a go!
If you find something you think you like, just buy one before you go crazy and buy a bunch or a whole set of interchangeables.
And, if you’re like me, you’ll end up changing your mind several years later. That means I have several types of needles. Unless your job really takes advantage of this (like mine), you’d be better off selling them or lending them to another knitter. Be kind. Pay it forward. Or just enjoy things a bit cleaner and more organized.
I am also a fan of sharp points – good tip about the protectors, those old-fashioned rubber fingers my teachers used to use to turn pages!
My pet peeves about needles – I use circulars almost exclusively even when knitting flat – is reading sizes and storage. It is almost impossible to read size and length when they are printed on the cords, and even those marked on the needles themselves rub off. I have quite a few Addis, which I love, and I am not willing to convert to interchangeables, especially because the ones I’ve used catch at the join. I suppose I could use a needle gauge each time, but those aren’t always consistent. If one size goes halfway in and sticks, is that closer to the true needle size than the next size up, which leaves space all around when inserted? I am thinking photo storage boxes may be an option, but I am afraid they’d increase curling. Right now all mine (probably 15 at least) are held together with a binder clip with no separation by size. Anybody got a neat solution that doesn’t require a lot of space? Zipper bags don’t appeal to me as tidy storage.