What’s the Point of Your Needle – The Ergonomics of Knitting Needles – Carson Demers
By the end of the class, you’ll have a new understanding of how needle design influences your knitting and comfort. You’ll gain the knowledge and confidence to choose the best needle for each project—making your knitting more comfortable, efficient, and enjoyable.
Duration: 6 hours (one hour for lunch) | Capacity: 25
Location: Level 1 – Summerside Room
A knitting needle is not just a needle. The needle you choose can have a major impact on how comfortable, efficient, and enjoyable your knitting experience is. Yet many of us simply reach for whatever needle size the pattern recommends—or whichever needle happens to be available—without considering how the needle’s design interacts with the yarn and stitch pattern.
Modern knitting needles come in a wide range of materials, tip shapes, shaft finishes, cable styles, and flexibility, all of which influence how stitches form and move on the needle. When the needle and yarn are well matched, knitting can feel smooth, effortless, and rhythmic. When they aren’t, you may find yourself struggling with tight stitches, hand fatigue, slower progress, or even eye strain and physical discomfort.
In this hands-on class, you’ll explore how different needle features affect your knitting through guided experimentation with a variety of needles, yarns, and stitch patterns. By trying different combinations, you’ll experience firsthand how dramatically the right needle can improve comfort, stitch control, and knitting efficiency.
Participants will learn how to:
- Identify key needle features such as tip shape, material, surface finish, and flexibility
- Understand how different needles interact with yarn types and stitch patterns
- Recognize when a needle choice may be contributing to fatigue or frustration
- Select needles that support better ergonomics, smoother knitting, and greater enjoyment
Carson Demers
Carson is life-long knitter and a physical therapist with 30-years of experience in musculoskeletal rehabilitation and ergonomics. He literally wrote the book on ergonomics for knitters and fiber enthusiasts, Knitting Comfortably: The Ergonomics of Handknitting. Carson continues to teach knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers and other …
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