Please don't laugh at me...a question about circular needles

[pritchettzoo]

Okay--so I bought the Boyd kit so I wouldn't have to buy every circular needle known to man. But now I'm trying to knit a hat and it calls for 16" needles. The kit doesn't come with 16" needles and it doesn't look like I can order them. The cords are 12", 14" and 20" (I think)--how do I measure 16"? Are the needles included?

Sigh. Math is hard. And knitting is expensive!

Thank you (even if you laughed),
Anna

[nyllek]

I am pretty sure you can just use the 14" cable and you should be just fine. I know they make a 16" because I have one but my guess is you'll be fine without it.

[twouglyducks]

I'd use the 12" cable. Then you have to add about 8" of needle so it's still about 20" or so, but it should work. That's what I'm using for the body of my wonderpants.

[mamapez]

If you want to try the magic loop method, you can just connect two cables together and then connect the needles to either end for one really long circular needle. It is kind of a pain to move the stitches around all the joins, but it is doable. I did the tart hat with this method and the boye needle/cable/cable/needle circular.

[BethyM99]

For circs, you measure from tip to tip, including neede and cable. The shortest possible circ length with the Boye kit is 20". That said, I've used it exclusively for soaker knitting and had no problem. If you are doing an adult/young child hat, you should be ok. If you are doing an infant or toddler, you'll want to consider magic loop. There are links in the technique link folder.

Let us know how you like the Boye set!! Oh, and a tip, save yourself some frustration by using the included tools to tighten the needles. Trust me!