Zen Knitting

Well, it’s all about your preferences. It also depends on the type of material (wool, cotton, silk, etc), the weight of your yarn, and if you’re using straight/circs or DPNs. Your tension (if you knit tight or loose) can have an effect too.

For just beginning though, you’d be fine with any of them. I personally use metal or bamboo because they’re the cheapest ones to find in my area.

Having used hooks and needles of a number of materials, I prefer metal (non-aluminum) and wood, although I have some borosilicate glass needles I love, depending on the yarn I am working with. Metal needles hold up well and work well, for experienced knitters and crocheters, for nearly all yarns, but some yarns, notably cotton and other plant fibers, silk, llama and alpaca, are very slippery to work with and are easier to control on wood or bamboo needles, since these materials have rougher surface that holds on to the yarn more firmly. I don’t use aluminum needles, since I have found over time that these needles aggravate the arthritis in my hands, although other metal needles do not. I find plastic needles in combination with acrylic yarn squeak and it drives me crazy.

As for best, the suggestion that you try out various needle materials is well given. Many companies make fairly inexpensively priced needles in aluminum, plastic and bamboo. Buy or borrow a pair of straights, or circulars and practice on them to see if you are comfortable with them. Hit yard sales to get them even cheaper or thrift shops for some just to try, or borrow some from another knitter. Look at the yarn you generally plan to use. If it is acrylic or wool, you’ll likely find metal needles to your preference, but other yarns may lead you to other types of needles.

You also need to understand needle tips. Did you know there are several types of needle tips that also affect the comfort of the needle in what you are trying to knit? There are blunt tips (large rounded points), pointed tips ( not so large, but still rounded points), and sharp points (very pointy tips). For general knitting, or working with several strands or bulky yarns, blunt or pointed tips work well–usually the larger the diameter of the needle, the less sharp the tip, but for lace or cable knitting, very sharp needles are preferred to pick up the tiny yarns used in lace or to easily move through the twists in cables.

BTW, spending money for quality needles isn’t an extravagance, if you love knitting, having good tools can often make a difference.