Saturday, April 22, 2006

Needle confusion

I just received the 20" size 2 addi turbo that I ordered to do the neck ribbing on the SC (I got gauge using size 3 and 2 needles). I was also going to use it on the sleeves (2 circ, instead of dpns). However, I realized its not the same size as my susan bates size 2 29" circular! The addi says US size 2, but it also says 3mm, and my needle sizer says that a US 2 is actually 2.75 mm, and a US 3 is 3.25mm. So what do I have? Obviously I'm not going to use it for the sleeve- they would end up a mess, but I might use it for the neck anyway. Has anyone ever run into this? Should they have been sold as size 2? Do I send them back to Patternworks? I'm so confused...

3 comments:

Dawn said...

It is true that needle sizes change from manufacturer to manufacturer. That's why people suggest that you don't change brands mid project. Definitely go with the mm size rather than the us size. Size "3" is after all rather arbitrary...lol

Jan said...

FYI: Needlesizers are only good for the brand of needles that put the sizer out! In other words a Susan Bates sizer is only good on Susan Bates needles, Addi on Addi needles, and so on. How do I know this? This very topic came up last time I was at the LYS. The best thing is to go by the measurement of the needle, Brand X may mark a 3mm at one size while Brand Y may have that same size listed as 2.75mm.

insaknitty said...

I had one of those moments recently too! I had planned to use my susan bates size 2 dpns for the sleeves of a sweater I'd made with my addis and was surprised to see that they were different! I've since decided that I'm going to ignore us sizes when needle shopping now... :P