Senior centers might be interested. The adult classes offered by your local school district might be in knitting. I have also taught needlework to teen moms in the program at our continuation high school. You can also dontate them to your local charity thrift shop. The proceeds from selling them can go to a good cause.

Unfortunately you've asked a question I love to answer. And answer and answer and answer:-). I have a huge collection of knitting needles, straights, double pointed and circular in every single size, from super-skinny for lace, all the way to jumbo. I always used Aero for years, a British and Canadian make. But this was before the surge in yarns, and now I find that different needle materials really do make a difference. (I began knitting in the days when it was lace weight, sport weight, worsted weight, aran weight and lopi style. Eyelash, roving, bamboo, etc. wasn't even a wink in a wool company's eye.) I do still really like my Aeros for a great deal of my knitting. But I also have some wood ones I really like-- usually ebony, rosewood and some exotic ones from www.winterroseneedles.com. My only complaint about that site is that the sizes are incredibly limited. But they are beautiful and she ships VERY fast. I'm not so fond of bamboo-- just don't get the fuss about it. But the other woods are very enjoyable to work with. I've gotten a couple of glass needles from www.glasspens.com. They are beautiful, although there were some marks in mine. I don't know if that's just the way handmade glass come out, or if there really are defects. I didn't love them at first, but once I got the hang of them, I do now. They work really well! I also have bone needles from Lacis. I LOVE working with bone. It just works so well. But if you're a vegetarian, that won't go over so well with you. I also have been working with cassein, needles made from milk protein. You can get them from www.countrylanefiberarts.homestead.com. They are a bit flexible and if you have sweaty hands they will produce an unpleasant smell! Also, pets seem to like to chew on these (the milk product?) As for aluminium-- they do clatter a bit. Plastic-- I steer clear from it, but interestingly, the Susan Bates Candy Cane collection works very well for me, where as their other plastic doesn't-- www.coatsandclark.com, go to Products, go to Accessories, go to Knitting, go to Needles, go to Gift Sets. So what does this all mean to you? Here's really what it comes down to: The smoother the material of the needles, the slippier they are to knit with. For smoother yarns, you may want a bit of a rougher needle, such as bamboo. For something such as Lion Brand's Microspun, you need needles with a bit of a "catch", or every other stitch will be sliding off the needle. But if you're using say a more "raw" wool, lopi for instance, the smoother the needle the better. It also has to do with your knitting style-- do you throw or knit continental, how tight your guage is-- the tighter the guage the smoother the needle should be and visa versa, and do you like the needles to feel warm or cool in your hands. Also how comfortable you are with a heavier or lighter needle? And if heaviness bothers you, I wouldn't even try straight needles-- instead, use a circular and just turn the fabric over when you get to the end, just as if they were 2 separate straights and not connected by the cord. Oh yes-- some of the cords on circulars are attrocious. Unfortunately, the more expensive needles tend to have much better cords. If you go on the Joann site-- www.joann.com-- they have reviews of most of their products and you can read what other people's experiences have been. And one last thing-- I have just ordered some Harmony Wood needles from knitpicks-- they just looked too pretty not to try. Gosh-- hope this hasn't made it worse with all this information!:-)

Sue, I have used the 12" circulars for socks. You don't need a special pattern. Use the one you like the best. It really stretches the cuff area until you get a few rounds knitted, then it's fine. It takes some getting used to to hold the short needles comfortably. I do find that my hands and fingers cramp more using the 12" than they do with the 40". I had to use another needle to do the heel when I used the 12", as I was uncomfortable in that small of an area with just one 12", then I went back to the 12". I do almost all my socks the magic loop method. I find that using one needle instead of 4-5 double points goes faster because I'm not changing needles as often, and I don't drop and loose needles that way. I am ALWAYS dropping my double points and loosing them down in my chair or the seat of the car! Oh, and I wear anywhere from an 8 1/2 to a 10 1/2 size shoe, American sizes. Besides being a very fluffy person, so my calves are larger. I usually cast on 68 or 72 sts. If I cast on 72 sts, I decrease at the ankle back down to 68 sts to finish my socks. Tami

I just found this site. It's wonderful. I've just started back knitting after a 20 yrs. I'm looking for the baby pop-corn stitch blanket. I loved it and can not find it. Thanks for the help. Sandie02