Which Needle am I Using? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Knitting needles

The two basic stitches used in knitting are called knit and purl. To knit a stitch, you insert the working needle into the front loop on the standing needle so that the tips of the two needles are together (which is called inserting into the front of the stitch) before wrapping the yarn around the working needle and slipping the loop over that wrapped yarn. This leaves a new stitch on the working needle. The stitch produced appears to lie flat, with two vertical sides forming a V shape. On the reverse side, the horizontal portion connecting the top of those two sides is visible. If you just knit every stitch, alternate rows face opposite directions (called garter stitch), and the result has a 'bumpy' look.

To complete a purl stitch, the working needle is inserted in the opposite direction. The result is a stitch that lies facing the opposite direction from a knit stitch, allowing you to create patterns with the different textures. Very often, knitters alternate knit rows and purl rows (stockinette stitch) so that one side is quite flat and smooth. If you want to have a tighter edge, such as on the cuff of a sleeve, you may work a pattern in which knit and purl stitches alternate in each row, with the stitches in each row lined up to produce columns of alternating smooth and rough stitches. This is called ribbing, and is a stretchy stitch which naturally shrinks in on itself.

I should mention here that I am referring to the standing needle and the working needle rather than left and right because some left-handed knitters (not me) reverse the usual arrangement, and work from their right needle onto their left one.

Answer: Knitting needles

Now that we know how to knit and purl, the two different stitches can be combined in an amazing variety of patterns, but a few of them are so widely used that they have names, and an experienced knitter doesn't need to be given any more details than, for example, work 5 cm in ribbing. One such pattern is seed stitch. Like ribbing, it uses alternate knit and purl stitches on each row, but this time they are lined up so that the flat side in one row is under the bumpy side in the next row. The result is a knobbly texture, seed stitch.

If you work two rows as if you are planning to rib, then shift the next two rows as for seed stitch, you produce a slightly different effect called moss stitch or double seed stitch. Seed stitch is usually worked as k1, p1, but you can work it with k2, p2 (either single or double seed stitch) to produce a slightly different effect. If you use more stitches than this, you create interesting visuals, but they no longer look have the knobbly texture of a seed stitch.

Answer: Knitting needles

This instruction is shorthand for "knit two stitches together". To do this, you insert the needle as if to knit, but through the front two stitches on the standing needle rather than just the first one. You end up with one stitch instead of two, so it is a type of decrease stitch. Specifically, when you look at it, the combined stitches seem to point towards the back of the working needle.

There are other ways to decrease a stitch when you want to shape your work, the most common one is "slip-k-psso", or similar abbreviation. To decrease this way, you slip a stitch from the standing needle to the working needle, then knit a stitch as usual, then use the standing needle to pull the slipped stitch over the knit stitch. Once again, you have one stitch instead of two, but this time the slipped stitch slants towards the front of the working needle.

Answer: Knitting needles

This is the abbreviation for yarn over, which means to wrap the yarn over the top of the working needle and back to its normal position. This produces an extra stitch, and at the same time creates a small hole in the work. The presence of that hole means this is a clumsy way to increase stitches if that is all you want to do, but some are happy to use it when the increase is near a seam, so not going to be obvious in the finished product.

Yarn over is more commonly used to produce a lacy effect in your work, by combining this increase with a decrease either in a nearby stitch or in the following row, and creating an intentional hole. A similar hole-producing stitch is 'yarn round', in which the yarn is passed under the working needle and back across the top. Depending on what else you are working in the region, the effect may or may not be visibly different from yarn over, and some knitters prefer to ignore a pattern's instruction for one they find to be more awkward, and use their favorite.

Answer: Knitting needles

A cable is a way of twisting the stitches to produce a raised effect that (in its simplest form) resembles plaiting. A basic cable involves slipping a certain number of stitches, often 3 or 5, onto a separate extra needle, holding that needle either in front of or behind the work, working that same number of stitches from the standing needle to the working needle, then working the stitches from the extra needle.

That extra needle can be a specialised item called a cable needle, which has a bend that helps keep the stitches from sliding off, but that is not necessary. Any double-pointed needle can be used equally well, and I have even resorted to a crochet hook! If you don't have a needle that allows you to slide the stitches on one end of it and knit them off the other end, you can use a regular knitting needle, but you then need to slide the stitches back onto the standing needle before working them, which is cumbersome.

An instruction to perform a simple cable usually includes the word forward or back, telling you on which side of the work you should hold the extra needle. Complex patterns can be produced by combining cables with different numbers of stitches, and worked over varying numbers of rows. Some patterns actually use what is in effect a 1-stitch cable: work the second stitch, then the first stitch, producing a twist without needing an extra needle.

Answer: Crochet hook

Crochet uses a single needle, usually called a crochet hook because of the hook on its working end which helps you pull the yarn around as you work. The simplest thing you can do with a crochet hook and a length of yarn is to make a chain. Starting by slip-knotting a loop near the end of the yarn, place that loop on the crochet hook. Wrap the yarn around the needle (between the loop and the hook end) then slide the hook back through the loop, pulling the yarn you wrapped along with it. That is a chain stitch. Crochet projects often start by creating a chain of some length.

This may then be fastened onto its starting point (using a slip stitch) to create a loop around which the work continues, or it may be treated as the first row of your work, depending on how it is to be shaped.

Answer: Crochet hook

Abbreviated as yrh (UK) or yo (US), this simply means to wrap the yarn around the hook. It is a basic part of every crochet stitch, as it is the mechanism whereby you form a new stitch. You usually have a loop on your crochet hook, then insert the hook somewhere to attach the new stitch to the body of the work. Of course, when you are chaining you just wrap and pull!

Answer: Crochet hook

This is shorthand for double crochet, an instruction whose meaning varies from place to place. In the United Kingdom (and other places that use their terminology) it involves inserting the hook through both loops of the V-shaped stitch you see on the top row of the work, wrapping the yarn around the hook then pulling the yarn through the loop so there are two stitches on the hook; wrap the yarn again, and pull through both stitches, leaving a single new stitch on your hook. As you work along the row, you get a new row of stitches.

However, in North America the instruction to perform a single crochet is the same as what UK terminology calls a double crochet. When using a crochet pattern, it is important to determine which nomenclature they are using, or your work will not come out as expected! A North American double crochet is described in the next section.

Answer: Crochet hook

There are generally considered to be six basic crochet stitches: chain, slip stitch, single/double crochet, half double/half treble crochet, double/treble crochet, triple/double treble crochet. The double-barrelled names for most of them reflect the US/UK names for the same stitch. If you see the instruction treble you have a UK pattern. This stitch has an extra step compared to the single/double crochet: first wrap the yarn around the hook before picking up a loop from the working row. This means that, as you wrap and pull through, you need to do it an extra time, producing a taller stitch.

The half double/half treble stitch starts with an extra yarn wrap like the double/treble stitch, but at the first stage you pull through two loops instead of one, so it produces a stitch intermediate in size between the single/double and the double/treble stitches. A triple/double treble stitch involves two wraps before you start, and produces the largest stitch of them all.

Answer: Crochet hook

This abbreviation stands for 'through the back of the loop only', which can be used as a modification of any of the basic stitches. Looking at the top row of your work, you will see that it looks like a row of Vs. The side of the V on the far side from you is the back of the loop. Instead of pulling the yarn through the entire loop, you insert the hook so that it only pulls through the back of the loop.

This modification of your stitch produces ridges from the unworked half of the stitch, which can be used to create a variety of textural patterns in your work. You can also work through the front loop only, which produces a ridge in the opposite direction and a slightly different visual result. The two techniques can be combined for further variety.

Answer: Embroidery needle

Embroidery uses a pointed needle with an eye through which the thread (generically - it can be made of cotton or synthetic, it could be metallic, it might be yarn, but it comes in long stringy pieces which fit through the eye of the chosen needle) is passed. The needle is then pushed through the material which is being embroidered so that the thread ends up forming the desired pattern.

While some consider cross stitch to be a form of needlework separate from embroidery (because it is often worked on a special fabric with evenly-spaced holes that make it easy to produce regular stitches), it can be worked on any material. It used to be traditional for a girl to work a sampler demonstrating her skill at various embroidery stitches, and cross stitch was often featured significantly. As the name suggests, it is formed by two stitches which cross each other, forming what looks like the letter X.

Answer: Embroidery needle

The straight stitch is the basic stitch of needlework: the needle is passed up through the material then down again a small distance away. To produce a running stitch, repeat to form a series of stitches, whose visible length and separation is up to you. Because they are usually small stitches, they can be used to make curves as well as straight lines. Running stitch is often worked in a highly-contrasting colour (or metallic thread), so as to provide dramatic contrast despite the simplicity of the actual stitch.

Running stitches are separate from each other, although they can be placed quite close. If you desire to make a solid line, it is likely that a back stitch will be more effective. In this stitch, you start by pushing the needle up through the material, but then take it back down after moving away from the direction in which the line is to progress. Bring it up again the same distance ahead of the original spot, then down at the original spot. This is often described as 'two steps forward, one step back' to remind embroiderers of the basic procedure. It gives a solid line, without the gaps of a running stitch.

Answer: Embroidery needle

Satin stitch is used to fill spaces. The space may first be outlined using running stitch or outline stitch (or whatever you like) to provide a neat defining edge to the area, then the space filled with a series of straight stitches worked closely together. I have seen some instructions that say it is better to fill first then add an outline if and only if you think it is needed to tidy up the edges; others say always start with the outline, so you know exactly where you want your satin stitches to start and end. Each embroiderer will have their own preference - I outline first because I find it easier to then set up even stitches.

If you are filling a rectangle, for example (boring but easy to describe), you could pull the needle up through the top left corner, then down through the bottom left corner, then up again just to the right of the original spot on the top side. Over and over, until you reach the right end of the rectangle. To get a nice effect, you need to be careful not to pull the thread too tightly and pucker the material, but also not to leave it too loose and create loose threads. This can be challenging over large areas, so it is usual to break them up into smaller pieces worked individually.

Answer: Embroidery needle

Bargello, which is traditionally worked with wool using canvas as the fabric, is made with all stitches running in the same direction, usually vertically. (However, there is a modern technique called four-way bargello which divides the work up into four regions, and works the same pattern in each, but with two running horizontally and two vertically.) The stitches may be all the same length, or they may vary. If they are all the same length, the design is created by having them start at different heights - which can create a zigzag pattern known as flame stitch, or may be more curved if the height increments are smaller.

Bargello designs are geometrical, and usually use bright colours to provide striking effects. The name comes from the Bargello Museum in Florence, where early examples of the technique can be seen used on the seats of chairs.

Answer: Embroidery needle

Crewel work is embroidery done using wool (or a synthetic yarn) as opposed to the finer threads usually associated with the silk or cotton needlework that is simply called embroidery. It is not worked on a fabric whose threads are counted to space the stitches, but freehand on plain-woven fabric. The wool used has a long staple, so that it can be readily twisted. The needle is usually on the large side, with a large eye to fit the wool through, and a sharp point (unlike the needles used for counted-thread work, where the needle is pushed through openings in the fabric).

The stitches in crewel work are the same as those used in traditional silk or cotton embroidery, but the thicker wool gives the final product more texture. Because it is freehand, it is important to keep the material at a constant tension while it is worked. This is usually accomplished by the use of an embroidery hoop - which is actually two hoops that fit together, with a portion of the fabric held between them, and tightened to keep the fabric from slipping. These come in a variety of sizes - including large upright standing ones used for working on large and heavy projects such as drapes or bedspreads.