Needling questions
Yesterday's mail brought the latest KnitPicks catalog. Right on the front cover are a photo and headline announcing the arrival of their own interchangeable needle system, called Options. I suspect these are intended to rival Denise needles.
My own needle collection is a mishmash of different types of needles (bamboo, metal, and plastic--but mostly bamboo) in lots of sizes. I have two sets of bamboo 10.5 straight needles because while working on a scarf two years ago I realized, during my commute to work, that I had left one of my needles in my car at the train station parking lot. Not wanting to be knitless during the hour-long train ride home, I went out during my lunch hour and bought another set of those needles.
Needless--or needle-less (groan!)--to say, I can never find the needles I need when I need them. Every couple of months I reorganize my yarn stash (which results in lots of "oh, I forgot I had that!" moments and plans to use a particular yarn for something nifty...plans which are, of course, completely forgotten the next day) and put all my needles back in their cases. Grrrrr.
So for the sake of organization (not to mention the fact that there are lots of needle sizes I don't have), I've been seriously considering getting one of these interchangeable needle thingies. I was planning on getting the Denise set, but with these Options now on the market, I'm not sure. Here's what I know: Denise has resin tips and cables that lock in place a quarter-turn twist, whereas Options has metal tips and cables that lock in place with a key. I'm not the biggest fan of metal needles, though lots of knitters swear they're the fastest. I do know that I want something that has a smooth join between needle and cable (on all of my bamboo circulars, I always have to "help" the yarn over the join).
Any thoughts?
My own needle collection is a mishmash of different types of needles (bamboo, metal, and plastic--but mostly bamboo) in lots of sizes. I have two sets of bamboo 10.5 straight needles because while working on a scarf two years ago I realized, during my commute to work, that I had left one of my needles in my car at the train station parking lot. Not wanting to be knitless during the hour-long train ride home, I went out during my lunch hour and bought another set of those needles.
Needless--or needle-less (groan!)--to say, I can never find the needles I need when I need them. Every couple of months I reorganize my yarn stash (which results in lots of "oh, I forgot I had that!" moments and plans to use a particular yarn for something nifty...plans which are, of course, completely forgotten the next day) and put all my needles back in their cases. Grrrrr.
So for the sake of organization (not to mention the fact that there are lots of needle sizes I don't have), I've been seriously considering getting one of these interchangeable needle thingies. I was planning on getting the Denise set, but with these Options now on the market, I'm not sure. Here's what I know: Denise has resin tips and cables that lock in place a quarter-turn twist, whereas Options has metal tips and cables that lock in place with a key. I'm not the biggest fan of metal needles, though lots of knitters swear they're the fastest. I do know that I want something that has a smooth join between needle and cable (on all of my bamboo circulars, I always have to "help" the yarn over the join).
Any thoughts?
2 Comments:
Love, love, love my Denise needles!
After I wrote that post, I was sort of leaning toward the Denise set (I'm just not a huge fan of metal needles). But after that ringing endorsement (not just "love" but "love, love, love"!), that's the way I'm heading.
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