Last night, I pulled out my trusty 2.25mm Signature Needle Arts DPN’s and cast on for a new pair of Hunter Hammersen socks. Then, I made peace with the fact that the chart is 34 stitches wide and a truly smart knitter would be magic looping. So, I switched my shiny green DPN’s for addi circulars, only to realize that the stiletto tips had been terribly handy given all the lovely twisted stitches. So, today Lisa and I headed to an LYS to hunt down some addi sock rockets.

Now, I’ve knit more than a few socks. The majority of these have been Hunter Hammersen patterns. For most of her patterns to fit my foot, I check the gauge and end up knitting with 2.25mm needles. The yarn shop had 2.0mm needles and 2.5’s. The owner kindly ordered my preferred size.

Here’s the conversation in the car on the way back from the shop:

Lisa: So, 2.25mm. How did you discover that was THE size for sock needles? trial and error?

Me: I don’t use 2.0mm because wooden needles that small break too frequently, Signature Needle Arts doesn’t make 2.0mm DPN’s, and sometimes they give me hand cramps.
2.5mm needles do not give me a fabric as dense as I like.

Lisa: I just wonder if .25mm could matter that much?

Me: Well, Elizabeth Zimmermann knit a sock on four different sized needles to prove that it could be done and needle size doesn’t really matter. But, I think we both know I’m not Elizabeth Zimmermann.

She did not disagree.