ON-t: been awhile for a POLL!

(knowing full well that one person will question the purpose, there is no MOTIVE, just a Pol for FUN, it usually wakes the group up!)

So: regarding knitting needles, do you prefer:

metal plastic bone rosewood bamboo birch

??? Have fun! Noreen

Reply to
YarnWright
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I want the LIGHTEST needles possible thus bamboe, plastic and aluminium are my favorites !!!! mirjam

Reply to
mirjam

I prefer aluminum for everything -- very light, very quick, and very slippery! I also vastly prefer straight needles, and only use circulars when in a car or airplane, where seeing ends of straight needles bobbing around is a distraction for the driver or pilot.

Reply to
Mary

As a child I used bone, graduated to plastic but they break too easily (especially if you sit on them -OUCH!!) so now use metal.

I'd always used straight until Mirjam suggested using circulars. When I tried them I found that instead of supporting the weight of the knitting on the needles (and consequently my wrists), the weight rests neatly on my lap. A "positive" after those wrist operations last year. I use circulars now for most things. :-)

I haven't tried bone or bamboo as the price here is prohibitive.

You too!

Reply to
Bernadette

Bernadette i am glad my suggestion worked for you ,, I use circulars all the time ... mirjam

Reply to
mirjam

It works wonderfully well Mirjam, thank you for the idea. At first it felt very odd and I coudn't decide whether to have the actual knitting nearest to my body with the needles further away or to put the knitted fabric closer to the edge of my knees and have the needle parts nearer to me. Rob used to laugh his head off at times. He said he expected to come into the room and find me with my left leg twisted around my right ear at times because of the contortions I used to go through in the beginning! :-D

It took a few times until I found that if I just shook the knitting before I sat down it would fall naturally into the best place and position. No problem from that time onward.

Reply to
Bernadette

I'll use whatever comes along, but I think I prefer metal needles most of the time. I do have some plastic ones I like very much. Wooden ones are good for slippery yarns but they break too easily.

I just heard (read) that the HiyaHiya needle company has come out with hollow steel needles that are lightweight! I may have to buy some new needles.

=Tamar

Reply to
Richard Eney

YarnWright spun a FINE 'yarn':

+(knowing full well that one person will question the purpose, there is no MOTIVE, just a +Pol for FUN, it usually wakes the group up!) + +So: regarding knitting needles, do you prefer: + +metal +plastic +bone +rosewood +bamboo +birch + +??? +Have fun! +Noreen

*my* choice is first of all, circulars-circulars-circulars, I don't even own straight needles anymore except my DPN's, and I adore rosewoods first, birch second, bamboo third, and some plastic/mylars that I still have. JM2C, Noreen

Reply to
YarnWright

MOTIVE, just a

Let's see. I seem to have some of all of those type needles, except Rosewood, as I do not buy items made from exotic woods. My choice of needles is project-specific. I prefer teflon-coated metal needles for cottons and bamboo for double points, as the non-working yarn doesn't tend to slip off the pionts as easily as it does on metal. I do prefer circulars over straight needles, however. I don't have to select my seating based on whether my needles will be smacking the chair arms with circs. :-)

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

It depends on the yarn I'm using and whether I'm knitting or crocheting. For knitting cotton, I prefer my plastic coated Lion Brand needles, since they make it harder to drop sts. For other yarns and knitting metal, bamboo, and birch work better for me.

For crocheting, since I don't have to worry about dropped sts, metal, plastic (expensive plastic coated and really cheap molded luxite I had to file smooth), bone, bamboo, and birch all work equally as well for me, though my bone hooks aren't that durable if the yarn is a stiff vegetable type fiber.

I have not yet gotten any rosewood or other exotic woods in either needles or hooks, though I've made and enjoy using handmade red oak hooks and needles. After seeing the exotic woods in the Wood Worker's Source, I'm thinking yellow heart, purple heart, and cherry would make really pretty hooks and needles.

Leah

Reply to
Leah

MOTIVE, just a

No special preference, but a problem with bamboo is that they break too easily. For a lot of stitches, I prefer circulars.

Higs, Katherine

Reply to
Katherine

"YarnWright" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@newsgate.x-privat.org:

for sizes less than US 0 only

ew. although i have a set of plastic circs that i sharpened in a pencil sharpener. most plastic needles feel weird & are too blunt.

don't have any. do they smell as bad as bone beads?

one set. they're ok. pretty anyway.

several sets. hate them. especially the circulars.

Brittanys. my favorites :)

lee

Reply to
enigma

For large and straight items I use circular needles, have done since the

1950s. I do like using my Denise needles.

For small circular items and if I'm knitting in period I use five bone needles - but only because Spouse makes and sells them. They're surprisingly popular! A swedish customer has to keep buying more - and bone sewing needles - because her dog eats them :-)

When I made a very lacy shawl for a daughter in law with Kidsilk Haze last year I used bamboo needles as advised but wasn't impressed.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

snipped-for-privacy@newsgate.x-privat.org:

I agree about the Brittanys. I do love those. I've never broken a bamboo from knitting, but I did when I accidentally sat on a little size 2 that I carelessly left on my bed. :-)

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

Oh, I have some lovely sewing needles that are made of reindeer antler that my sister brought me from Finland. They're like flat tapestry needles and have a big eye. I often use them for sewing in yarn ends on bulky-weight yarns. Love em!

lisa

Reply to
karlisa

Oh, I have some lovely sewing needles that are made of reindeer antler that my sister brought me from Finland. They're like flat tapestry needles and have a big eye. I often use them for sewing in yarn ends on bulky-weight yarns. Love em!

lisa

The bone and (red deer) antler sewing needles he makes are like conventional needles but a bit thicker. The nahlbindning needles have a large eye but are round and I always use one for sewing in - and as a cable needle.

They're lovely, they become more and more polished with each use :-)

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

karlisa wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@25g2000hsx.googlegro ups.com:

five year guarantee. contact them & they will replace it. i've had a couple straight needles replaced, one the cat chewed the point & one my SO sat on accidentally (a 12" size

  1. of course it snapped). i haven't broken any of my Brittany double points yet (& i even have the elusive 5" 0s). i've got a size 2 with a slight curve (one out of 3 sets), but it's barely perceptable.

so, i have 3 or 4 sets of Crystal Palace circs... i can't get the stupid cables to uncurl & they drive me crazy. i've soaked in boiling water. i've held in steam. i've tied weights to one end & hung them. how on earth do people use these things with tight coils in the middle? lee

Reply to
enigma

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