In my quest to get through my backlog of projects this summer, I spent the my making time over the last few days finishing up my latest pair of socks. This was another project that got pushed to the side during the end of semester chaos, and it was nice to get back to them. These socks were a bit of an experiment, with a self-written pattern and some self-dyed yarn. The biggest change from my usual, was that I decided that knitting with small needles was going to be my main challenge on this project.
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Why Knit with Small Needles?
I’ve been a sock knitter for a while. I stared out with the Cozy Cable Socks kit from The Crafter’s Box (still my favorite kit!), moved on to knitting pretty socks from A Bee In the Bonnet. Eventually, I started writing my own patterns, which I’ve recently started releasing in my new Etsy shop.
But while I love knitting socks, I was starting to notice some issues with how they were holding up over time. I found they tended to stretch out, and then develop holes. And as much as I love mending, I also love not having holes in my socks.
Now, there are all sorts of reasons why my socks have been developing holes. Yarn construction and fiber content are almost definitely part of the issue. But sock construction also likely contribute. So, since I happened to have a stash of custom dyed fingering weight Superwash merino from Knomad leftover from my recent experiments in yarn dyeing, I decided the best first step would be to see if knitting my socks at a tighter gauge would make a difference.
I got the idea from a comment I saw on Reddit a while back that I can’t seem to find again. It was part of a discussion about sock knitting, and the commenter mentioned that she knit all her socks at a very tiny gauge in order to improve their longevity. This made sense to me, as a denser fabric is more likely to hold up over time.
Where to Buy Small Knitting Needles
This, of course, necessitated switching to smaller needles. I try not to knit too tightly (it stresses my hands), so I was already knitting my socks with US size 1 (2.25mm) needles to get a gauge of 7.5 columns by 10 rows over 1″ (30 x 40 in a 4″ square). I’m used to using bamboo needles, so the smallest size I was able to find was a set of size 0 (2.0mm) double pointed knitting needles. With it, those, I was able to get a gauge of 9 columns by 12 rows over 1″.
Designing A Pattern For Small Needles
Writing a pattern for smaller needles isn’t significantly different than designing a knitting pattern for socks intended to be knit on the more common size of needles. The main factor was figuring out how many stitches I was going to need to cast on. Usually, I like the fit of socks that start with 58-60 stitches. Any bigger than 62 stitches and they start to feel too loose, and fewer than 56 stitches and they start to get tight.
When I did the math, I ended up with estimating that I’d need to cast on about 72 stitches with my new, smaller gauge. However, when I started knitting, it became clear that the socks were going to be wider than I prefer. Since I swatched flat in stockinette and move to knitting in the round in pattern when I started my sock leg, this isn’t surprising.
I had about 1/2″ of excess circumference, so I decided to eliminate about 5 stitches. The stitch pattern I was using repeats in groups of 6, so I ended eliminating 6 stitches. After unraveling what I’d already knitting, I cast on again, this time with 66 stitches.
The pattern itself was a pretty standard top down sock. I did 12 rows of 1×1 ribbing at the top. I used the Eyelet Weave Lace Pattern I found after a bit of Pinterest searching for my leg and instep. I did an eye of partridge heel flap (badly, because I was trying to knit and read subtitles at the same time) and a half handkerchief heel. I like this combo because it’s just different enough to feel fancy, but not significantly harder than a standard reinforced heel flap and round heel. As always, Sock Architecture by Lara Neel was my go-to reference book for sock design.
How Knitting with Small Needles Feels
There wasn’t a hung difference between my old needles and knitting with small needles. The smaller ones felt a little more bendy than the larger set, but that was it. I didn’t find them harder to hold or otherwise awkward. You might notice the difference more if you’re used to knitting your socks with US size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles.
The project didn’t feel like it took significantly longer, even though I did need to do a few extra rows and columns compared to other socks I’d knit. If you’re jumping from one sock project to the next, you may notice the slowdown, but otherwise it isn’t a big deal. It comes out to an increase in stitches of about 10% over the course of the whole project, which for me means an extra episode or two of whatever show I’m binging at the moment.
Next Steps
My plan is to start keeping track of how many times I wear new socks before they start developing holes. Since it’s summer, I doubt I’ll be wearing socks a lot for the next few months, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be knitting more variations to test!
I still have three more skeins of that same Knomad yarn that I used to practice dyeing with, so I think I’ll make a few more pairs to test gauge variations. I’ll want to make one pair using my previous standard US size 1 (2.25mm) needles. Then I think I’ll try going really small. I found DPNs made out of carbon fiber that go down to US size 00000 (1.0mm). I think trying out the size 00000 and the US 000 (1.5mm) would be interesting. I’d really like to see if my gauge would significantly change with needles that small, or if I would hit the edge of how tight I it’s possible to knit fingering weight yarn.
If all goes well, who knows, maybe I’ll take up micro knitting and try some of these stainless steel needles.
Have you tried knitting with small needles? What did you make? How small did you go? Let me know in the comments or over on Instagram!