These are double-pointed needles. They are size US 2-1/2 (3 mm). They are pretty small, pretty sharp, and pretty slippery. I only have a couple of small sets of dpns, purchased a long time ago. Back in the day when I learned to make socks, I first learned from a book and that book said you had to use dpns, so I bought some and used them. I didn't like them very much. Shortly thereafter I took a class on how to make socks with two circular needles and I liked that much better. The needles didn't poke me, they didn't fall out, they weren't as awkward to hold, and I didn't get the little ladders between the needles. Once I started with the circulars, I didn't look back and learned to easily convert any pattern written for dpns to circulars. This included finishing hats and doing mittens. I may have even said on occasion that I didn't use dpns and didn't know why anyone else would. That's me; never judgmental or anything! However, when I