Needles - The Good and the Bad

I'm no expert on needles. I also don't have much experience with good needles; Addi Turbos, Colonial Rosewood, etc, until recently.

Four years ago when we opened the store, I was happy using the vintage metal needles loving customers dropped off at the store. Then, I made the mistake of trying out a pair of Addi Naturas while using Colinette Giotto, a silky ribbon yarn. Wow! The needles made all the difference in the world.

The metal needles I had been using kept splitting the yarn. The stitches slid off the needles if I so much as sneezed. The Addi's held on to the yarn until I moved the stitches off. The bamboo cradled the delicate yarn, slipping off the ribbon instead of piercing it. The long, soft cable held the bulky project in my lap, instead of having all of the weight on my forearms. I was hooked!

Then, last week when I was starting the sleeves of the Feather and Fan Baby Sweater from the One Skein Wonders book, I just couldn't face using double points, as directed by the pattern. So I took a pair of 12" Turbos off the wall and had a most enjoyable experience knitting those little baby sleeves. It took a few minutes of knitting for my hands to relax. They didn't know what the heck I was trying to do.

Some time ago, a couple of gals from Delaware came into the store and asked about 8" needles. Could there be such a thing? At the time, it seemed unnecessary, but now I can see their usefulness. I may never use double points again. As a matter of fact, I may take up sock knitting just to use the 12 inchers again.

The right needles can make a project. They can save your arms and hands from hours of pain, keep the stitches from dropping, protect your expensive yarn from damage. Does everyone know this? It's my duty to pass this information on!