So what was I waiting for? Well...knitting needles. I know, very exciting, very riveting. I've been doing a LOT of knitting over the past few months. And I've noticed that using straight needles for a long time kind of bothers me. So I pulled out my old set of interchangeable needles. They're OK, but the cords are kind of thick and stiff and get kinked up, and I spend more time trying to convince them to behave than I'd like. So I started looking for a new set. Holy cow, for a good set they are pricey!
My mother twisted my arm a little bit to buy them as it was a few days after Christmas and it didn't feel right to be spending so much money. Then I got a random email from my credit card company and I remembered that I've been accumulating points! And I could use them on Amazon! The decision was then easily made. I didn't realize they'd be coming from Germany, hence the month long wait. Do you know what that's like? I have become so spoiled by Amazon Prime shipping that this was a tough wait.
Anyhoodle, plop through the mail slot they did and oh my word was it worth the angst. I went for the Addi Click Turbo interchangeables. I think I had the box open before I had my coat off after work. I always thought aluminum needles were slick enough, but these are indescribable. I guess the closest comparison I can come up with is...remember in Christmas Vacation when Clark applied the non-caloric cooking spray to his sled and went for a fun ride until he ended up in a Walmart parking lot? They're slick like that. And very lightweight. You wouldn't think you'd notice on something small like a knitting needles, but you really can tell the difference.
They come in every size from US 4 through 15. And the cords? I feel funny using the word supple here, but that's what they are. No kinking, smooth and strong. Now I know why people rave about these things.
Instead of screwing together they have this twist and push mechanism that locks them in place.
I thought I was being smart and ordered a sixteen-inch cord to go with it, but there's a reason long-tip sets don't come with short cords...
It's because you can't knit smaller tubes with them. Not comfortably anyway. I tried, trust me, but it seemed like too much pressure on the ends that was going to make something snap. Wiggle room was not something I had considered....however, the lengths the kit does come with are perfect for magic loop knitting, so that's good. However, I dislike magic loop knitting because of all that back and forth and pulling through and all that. So I am ashamed to say (no, I did not return the needles as I am in love with them) that I went looking to see if there was a set of 16-inch needles I could buy. I could have purchased the same brand in short-tips, but I just didn't want to spend that money again. I did, however, come across a much cheaper option (for which I had just enough points remaining so these were kinda free, too).
These are the Knitter's Pride Dreamz 16-inch interchangeable needles. They are made of a tough, smooth wood and each size is a different color (the green needles are currently indisposed :) This kind does screw together, but they stay together. My old set would frequently unscrew, no matter how much of a talking-to I gave them about staying put. The cord is almost exactly the same size--
---but the tips are so much shorter--
I would never have thought that something like that would make a difference, but it really does. I've got an infinity scarf going that is almost halfway done, and it just flies along these things. There's no pulling or anything due to the cord and needle lengths.
Sooo....extravagant? Yes. Necessary? Not really. Nice to have? Absolutely. In all honesty, if I didn't have credit card points I could use for these they would have most likely ended up on a birthday wish list. But now I feel like I have needles for every single thing I could possibly think of making. I have DPNs, short circs, and regular circs. There is definitely an ergonomic difference from using straight needles and I can knit for a much longer time before I feel any fatigue (and that's usually my fingers asking for a stretch break) instead of my shoulders screaming.
Believe it or not they're forecasting more snow. When I left work on Friday it was 5 to 10 inches. Now there is potential for up to an inch of snow. Wowee. I better get the snow tires on the car and have the chains at the ready. The funny thing is they were so dang sure this was a snow-maker on Friday, and now they're all "Whoops...hehe...sorry."
My yarn order also came, so I'll have that to share as well. It's been a while since I made a blanket, so I'm looking forward to getting this one going. Have a good Monday, dearies!
Oh Bethany I bought a set of Addi clicks last year and love them! If only I knew about how great these were years ago I would have saved myself the time and trouble and money from buying another brand of interchangeable needles that would come unscrewed and lose my stitches or they would snag on the joins. Addis are the best knitting needles I have ever used hands down. I even bought some fixed Addis in smaller sizes for knitting socks. For knitting in the round I like to use 2 circular needles. I don't like the Magic Loop method and while I can use dpn's, I like not having to worry about stitches falling off the dpn's. The drawback is that you need to have 2 circular needles in the same size, but after buying knitting needles for years searching for good ones, I do have pretty much 2 sets of nearly all the sizes. That 16" cord that you bought for the addis can still be used to add length to any of the cords in the set, so it won't go to waste when you need a longer cord. Happy knitting!
ReplyDeleteMy mother in law bought me a set of interchangeable needles a few years ago... but I almost never use them. One, because I don't even knit that much, and two, because the horrid things unscrew themselves every few minutes.
ReplyDeleteThese sound amazing! If I ever really get into knitting, I'll know what to look for. =) And pretty awesome that you had enough points saved up to get what you wanted!