These are the standard knitting needle that we all used to learn to knit, and probably the most widely used.

They're available in many materials: plastic, casein, wood (including rosewood and birch), aluminium, steel and bamboo, and they also come in a variety of different lengths.

Metal needles aren't used as widely now that a greater variety of materials is available; some knitters believe they can lead to wrist strain and arthritis and prefer to use the more flexible needles.

Circular needles were probably developed with one thing in mind: circular knitting, or knitting in the round.

But they are embraced by knitters for straight knitting for a variety of reasons including knitting when space is an issue and they are ideal for knitting when travelling.

Many knitters believe they lead to less wrist strain that using regular straight needles because there is less weight on the wrists.

Circulars are also a great advantage where a large number of stitches are needed and they won't fit comfortably on straight needles.

You may find that your tension is slightly different when using circular needles so you'll need to knit a tension square using circular needles if that's what you intend to use for your intended project.