Portal:Knitting/Selected article/Knitting needle

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A knitting needle or knitting pin is a long stick or rod used as a tool in the manufacture of hand knitted fabric. The needle is used to reach through a knitting stitch in order to snag a bight of yarn and pull a length back through the stitch to form a new loop at the top of the current wale of stitches. The simplest requirements of knitting needles are that they must be smooth, thin and long enough to reach through a stitch and strong enough not to break while manipulating the bight of yarn.

The oldest known knitting needles, still very much in use, are double-pointed needles. They are generally used to form tubular fabrics such as socks and the bodies or sleeves of sweaters. As the name implies, double-pointed needles are tapered at both ends nearly to points. They are normally used in sets of four or five as depicted in a number of 14th century oil paintings, typically called Knitting Madonnas, depicting Mary knitting with double-pointed needles. Typical 21st century double-pointed needles range from about 4 to 15 inches in length. Shorter needles are used for knitting socks and the fingers of gloves. Longer needles are used for nearly all other work, including sweaters, shawls and blankets.