Knitting Needle - Needle Sizes and Conversions

Needle Sizes and Conversions

In the UK, knitting needle 'numbers' are the Standard Wire Gauge designation of the wire from which metal needles are made. The origin of the numbering system is uncertain but it is thought that needle numbers are based on the number of increasingly fine dies that the wire has to be drawn through. In the UK, then, thinner needles thus have a larger number, whereas in the US the opposite applies.

Metric size (mm) U.S. size UK / Canadian size Japanese size
2.0 0 14
2.1 0
2.25 1 13
2.4 1
2.5
2.7 2
2.75 2 12
3.0 11 3
3.25 3 10
3.3 4
3.5 4
3.6 5
3.75 5 9
3.9 6
4.0 6 8
4.2 7
4.5 7 7 8
4.8 9
5.0 8 6
5.1 10
5.4 11
5.5 9 5
5.7 12
6.0 10 4 13
6.3 14
6.5 10 ½ 3
6.6 15
7.0 2 7 mm
7.5 1
8.0 11 0 8 mm
9.0 13 00 9 mm
10.0 15 000 10 mm
12.0 17
16.0 19
19.0 35
25.0 50

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