Knitpicks Needle Sizer

For my entire knitting life, I've always had Boye knitting gauges. Cheap. Available at the discount store.

It never occurred to me that there could be something better until recently when I started using two different sizes of #1 needles, 2.25mm and 2.5mm. Somewhat difficult to eyeball the difference between the two.

The Boye needle sizer has only one #1 hole, 2.25mm, but it's plastic and I can force a 2.25mm needle through the hole if I try hard.

Suspecting, but not being sure that the Knitpicks needle gauge has a separate hole for each #1 size, I added one into my last order to help get to the free shipping minimum. Needle gauges are something I mislay often and I like to have multiples, so I was willing to take a chance at only $2.99.


I was pleasantly surprised at how superior it turned out to be. It has the following features not found on the Boye:

• Made of thick heavy plastic. No cheating allowed.
  
• A centimeter ruler and an inch ruler.
  
• A magnified gauge counter strip that goes all the way up to 6 inches and 15 centimeters.
  
• The frequently used 4 inch/10cm measurements are vividly marked - and they're not the same line. 4 inches is NOT 10 centimeters. 4 inches is 10.2 centimeters. 10 centimeters is 3.9 inches. When is this important in knitting? I'm not sure, but I hate to see the difference ignored in patterns and on yarn labels.
  
• Needle sizes not found on the Boye -
  #1=2.5mm
  3mm labeled as a second #2
  #10.75=7mm
  #17=12mm (Who uses needles this big? Do you still call it knitting? Or log throwing?)