Thursday, June 7, 2007
Needle help
I'd like to cast on and start Tomato with some discontinued yarn from my stash, but I don't have the right needles to get gauge. I'm considering purchasing a set of interchangeable circulars, so that this never happens again. Can I get some recommendations / feedback on the differnt brands?
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9 comments:
I love my Options needle set from Knitpicks! They are super slippery and have wonderfully pointed tips!
I like the Options, too...the cables are thin and flexible, the tips are sharp, and they are nice and slippery. I haven't tried any of the other sets. You might want to go over to knittinghelp.com and check out the sticky thread on interchangeable sets in the forum. It is in the "general knitting" category.
Casting my vote... Knit Picks Options all the way!
I love my Options needle set. I also have the Denise interchangeable set and love it as well.
The pros and cons of each
Options
Pros
Super Slippery
Pointy tips
Great Case
Extra smooth joins between needle and cord
Cords do not hold the shape they are stored in (no twisty kinks in the cord)
Cons
Cannot join various cords together to get different sizes
Does not have a cord size smaller than 24 inches
as they are metal and very pointy I am afraid to take mine on an airplane. I love them too much to have some overzealous security guard confiscate them.
Denise interchangeables
Pros
Can join cords together to get different lengths
has smaller cord lengths
as they are plastic, I have never had a problem taking them to use on an airplane
Cons
The cords do hold they shape that they are stored in and can be stubborn about straightening out
The plastic tips can be a little flexible and can make it difficult to pick up stitch for collars, sleeves, etc.
The plastic tips have a bit of grab and can slow down your knitting.
The joins between the needle and cord are not as smooth as Options and can snag at the stitches as they pass over.
I hope this is useful and not information overload. My advice would be if you travel alot by plane or work with exceptionally slippery yarns, the Denise needles might be the best option. If neither of those things are an issue, the Options are much quicker to knit with and more attractive.
Wow, jsins great summary! I have the Denise set as well, and I really like it. But the Knit Picks Options sound great too!
I am also casting my vote for the Options needles. :) They're practically all I use now!
I tend to stay away from metal needles for the sake of my hands, so I love the Denise interchangeables, and actually have mutiple sets since I suffer from starter-itis.
I haven't had to make use of it, but I understand from several people that their customer service is amazing if you have any needle issues.
I prefer wooden needles so I bought 2 different sets of bamboo interchangeables.
One is from Plymouth. It comes in a very small compact case. The needle sizes are the same as the Denise. They use a screw on system which can come loose. I've just gotten used to checking as I knit past each one. It has a really long (40 inch?) cable but I've found that you can't knit anything heavy as it will pull out the cable.
The other set is from Webs. Again, the same needle range as the Denise. This set comes with the end caps like the Denise so you could use them like flexible long needles. They seem to be compatible with the Plymouth ones. I haven't used them as much as they come in a bulkier package than the Plymouth but they seem to have the same pros & cons.
I really do love them. Slippery needles don't work for me as I lose too many stitches & I love the feel of wood/bamboo.
I've seen the Plymouth bamboo interchangeables-- they seem pretty nice. A friend bought a set so I want to borrow them for a weekend and see what they're like.
I got some Denises and while I liked them at first, I got kind of disenchanted after a while. When I started knitting with them, I never had a problem with them suddenly disengaging from the cords in the middle of my projects, but now this is happening all the time. This also happens a lot when I join two cords together. So, after spending a lot of time carefully picking up live stitches on long pieces of fabric, I stopped using them and went back to buying single needles. I'm sure I am using the connectors correctly, so I can only guess that the "hold" on the connectors breaks down after a short time.
If I was going to buy another interchangable set, I would go for the Options.
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