Miniature knitting needles are made from steel wire,
(as compared to alluminiun, plastic, wood etc. from which normal knitting pins are made).
The quality of the wire can vary from uncoated piano wire, which is flexible and prone to bending, to coated stainless steel which is much stronger and more rigid.
The highest quality and most expensive needles are stainless, diamond hardened, and either coated or hard polished.
NEEDLE SIZES
British made miniature knitting needles
have traditionally made use of the 'British Standard Wire Gauge' size-numbering system
as used in the steel wire manufacturing industry.
for example: a size 21 needle is made from 21 BSWG steel wire
However since decimalization in the UK,
the thickness of the wire now has to be expressed as the diameter in millimetres.
for example: a size 21 needle is made from steel wire which has a diametre of 0.813 mm
NEEDLE SIZE CONVERSION CHART
The info given in this chart was provided by Comax Ltd.
UK wire gauge
and |
Standard Wire Gauge
(BSWG) |
American Wire Gauge
(AWG) |
| needle size number |
diametre in mm |
equivalent mm |
| 18 |
1.219 |
1.151 |
| 19 |
1.016 |
1.0236 |
| 20 |
0.914 |
0.912 |
| 21 |
0.813 |
0.813 |
| 22 |
0.711 |
0.724 |
| 23 |
0.61 |
0.6426 |
| 24 |
0.599 |
0.5740 |
| 25 |
0.508 |
0.5105 |
| 26 |
0.457 |
0.4547 |
