Knitting needles

Hello, Pat! First time I've seen you here, so howdy!

As for needles, I use aluminum myself (and the nickel-plated Addis that I love), but have used bamboo in the past. I personally didn't care for it, as I'm a speedy knitter, and bamboo really cuts down on my speed. I did find it necessary to use the bamboo for some really slick yarns, though; I just kept dropping stitches on the smooth aluminum.

My all-time favorite needles are Lantern Moon's rosewood. They're so smooth, yet have a warm touch and are lightweight. I can get a decent speed off of them, but they still grip yarns just a bit more than aluminum.

Anastasia

--who is still trucking along on the NYCO magickal shawl edging; just finished repeat number 9 of the edging's 48 repeats. *whew!*

Hi

I love my bamboo needles and have been using them since August of 2005 and now when I use my aluminum needles I find that I knit slower with them. The bambmoo are lighter and I actually tried one pair before I went out and got an entire set of them.

Darlene in Toronto

I too find that the wooden needles cut down on the knitting speed...and with some more "stranded yarns" like the baby cloud they tend to split the yarn more often so I find myself fixing the splits on the next row again and again.

Pat , by all means i would change over to Bamboe ,,,, i don`t even care if they won`t last ages ,, i love their weightlessness , their warm feel their neatness ,,, mirjam

It depends on what you're knitting and how tight your gauge is. I have found that aluminum needles are smooth and I can work quickly on them after I get started, but sometimes I want to start the work on bamboo or other wooden needles because the metal is so slippery that I easily drop them out of the stitches when there are only a few stitches to work with or I'm still in the throes of casting on.

Wooden needles are also somehow softer on my hands even though logically they are no different from metal. They are warmer in a chillly room!

=Tamar

Welcome Pat! The only bamboo needles I've used are Crystal Palace's bamboo needles. They are heavenly. BonnieBlue

Bamboo and wood are good for somethings!

First, I note that one of the bamboo needle manufacturers has recently had some problems with finish, and some of their new needles need to be polished with a bit of fine steel wool before they are smooth, go-fasts.

I use bamboo/ wood DPN for projects that I am going to carry around, because the needles are less likely to slip out.

Other good things about bamboo is that the tips can be easily reshaped as they wear, and long needles can be cut down into shorter needles. ( I like

6" DPN for socks, but 7.5" DPN were on sale!) With some tip reshapeing, bamboo will last as long as alluminium needles, because once you wear through the anodizing on AL needles, that is the end of the needle.

I varnish/wax most of my bamboo/wooden needles, and I can not tell any difference in speed between bamboo and metal needles, but then I am not really a fast knitter.

Hi Pat,

I just wanted to say welcome to the group and I have never used bamboo needles so can't give you an opinion. Now for crochet hooks I love crystalites and I think they come in knitting needles, but not sure.

Nora

Yes, crystalites do come in knitting needles. Former Hobby Lobby employee here, so I ordered them often. I have found that they often break in shipping, though, which means that they're a bit brittle. The crochet hooks never broke on their way from the warehouse, but those knitting needles did far too often.

Anyone used the sparkly ones that Joann's is selling in a tube? They're pretty, but I don't want to blow close to ten bucks on something I'd never use. I hear acrylic needles tend to build up a charge if you use wool yarns. Although that could be fun....."knit knit knit knit knit knit knit.....Hey, honey! Come here..........ZZZZTTTTT!!!"

He he he....

Anastasia

--who spent two hours last evening DROOLING over online pics of Heritage Knit's Shetland lace book. How did I not know this gorgeous thing existed????

ROTFL!!!

Higs, Katherine

It depends. I use both. (and Balene IIs as well.) They seem to work better with the slippery yarns than the aluminum or Balene needles, and I like the feel of them in my hands. I will eventually have bamboo circs in the sizes I use most, but now I've only got them in a couple of sizes. They were a little hard to use with the mohair boucle, so I switched to the Al circs, otherwise they've worked well with every yarn I've used on them.

I really like the spinning joint between the bamboo and the cord on the bamboo circs I'm knitting a Slytherin scarf on.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

LOL My van has a bad habit of doing that to me. I get out of the van and reach to shut the door and..... ZZZZZAAAAPPPP!!!! Shock right up the arm! My son stays far away from me when I'm shutting the van door. LOL

Gemini

Hi, I never thought I'd like anything but aluminum, but when I finally broke down and bought bamboo circular needles, I decided that all future needles would be bamboo. I like that they are smooth, but not so much that stitches slide off the needles easily.

Susan K