knitting

When I first started knitting again, I invested in one of those Denise Needle Kits that comes with the tips, cables, and accessories. I figured I’d never have to buy a set of needles again, because they came in every size from 1 through 15. While I did like them at first, I don’t use them any more, and here’s why.

First, the cables are hard to really get tight into the tips. Even if you use the little “key” that comes with the kits to tighten the tip into the cable, they can come loose, and always at the worst possible moment. Imagine casting on 200 stitches, knitting a few rows, and having the needle come apart and lose a bunch of stitches. It’s a total pain.

These kits make it nearly impossible to do lace or yarn over work, too. The cables just don’t meet the tips with a smooth, seamless joint, so your yarn is always catching on the joint and hanging up, making it almost impossible for lacework. If you want to knit lace, stick with a standard circular needle with a smooth cable join.

Finally, as the tips get bigger the needles really don’t get that longer, so if you’re knitting a big, bulky piece, not only do you run the risk of the needles coming apart from the cables and losing stitches, you only have a few stitches on the tips to actually knit, and that can be cumbersome.

Frankly, I find knitting on standard circular needles much better than using one of these needle kits. I just keep needles in a variety of sizes and cable lengths, and use them for just about all of my knitting. I especially love the Harmony Wood Needles from Knit Picks, because they are exceptionally light, pointy, and slick, which makes them wonderful for lace and other small projects like socks. In fact, I love them so much, I’ll look for projects in the sizes I have, just so I don’t have to use other needles. What do you think about the interchangeable needle kits?

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