Not Enough Needles

It's a fact: We can only knit as wide as our needlebed

Whether you are knitting a blanket or a sweater, you probably have discovered the fact that our knitting machines have a limited number of needles to work with. This means we can only knit pieces that are a limited size.

Unlike hand knitting, we can't use a longer cable needle and add more stitches. We have to get creative to knit larger pieces on the machine.

Options for machine knitters:

1Use a stitch pattern that uses fewer stitches per inch

• Tuck, lace and stitch patterns with needles out of work can knit wider than plain stockinette and may give you more width needed.

2Knit in panels

• Add a center front/back seams or panels to sweaters
• Knit sweaters sideways Classroom: Sideways Knitting
• Knit blankets in panels. Classroom: Blankets

3Use a ribber and "U" (tubular) knitting (stockinette or hand-manipulation only)

• Video: Circular (Tubular) Knitting

How many needles do you have available?

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