Knitting Needle Set

Hi, ladies,

I’m thinking about treating myself to a knitting needle set for my upcoming birthday—you know, those interchangeable needle tips with cables.

Do you have any experience with these? Do the connections and transitions work well? Do they hold up?

Which brand do you recommend? Wood or metal? Or even plastic? 

Well, for me, there’s nothing better than these needle kits—I love them. They’re flexible, and you can use cables of any length; and if one is ever too short, you can just extend it with these adapters. All in all, a great thing.

I like those, too...
I prefer wood. One thing I’ve noticed... I have these “colorful” needle tips, and sometimes it’s hard to see the yarn on them... I often knit with multi-strand yarn, gradient yarn cakes, and hand-wound yarn, so it can sometimes be “tricky” to knit all the strands together. And when you have large projects on the needles, it’s sometimes helpful if the cable can rotate—these have a swivel cable. Some people in “our” knitting café don’t like working with these needles… I’ve never had a needle tip break, and if you check every now and then to make sure the needles are still secure, it works very well. 
You also have the option to adjust the cable as your knitting project grows—which is really handy for shawls—or if you’re knitting cuffs, you can just swap out the needles instead of having to switch to a completely different circular needle.... 
However, it’s often hard to find smaller needle sizes; you have to look for size 3, and you can’t get any smaller than that.... I bought my size 3 needles in Portugal last year 😀
People here say they break too quickly, but mine is in constant use and still intact 🙈👍
I have a lot from KnitPro, and one from ChiaoGoo for lace work—the cable rotates with it—but I think they’re expensive....
Best regards, Stephanie

Dear Anja,

I think the concept of interchangeable tips with cables of different lengths is brilliant. That way, you have the right circular needle for (almost) any project. I have the Knit Pro set with wooden needles. The joins are fine and last quite a long time if you tighten them properly with the included pin. Just to be safe, you should check and retighten them every now and then.

Now here’s the catch: the thinnest needle (size 3.5) broke on me once while I was knitting a baby blanket. Pretty annoying... I did get a replacement set, but ever since then, I’ve been nervous that it’ll happen again when I’m working on heavy projects with thin needles.

And then it really is a problem to find thinner needles for them—or to knit with them, as Stephanie already mentioned. Since I knit a lot of double knitting projects, I often use thinner needles. I did find the 3.0 interchangeable needle tips from Knit Pro, but the join between the needle and the cable is really rough. That annoyed me so much that I’ve since switched back to Addi circular needles in various lengths for the thinner sizes.

By the way, I’ve never even needed the thicker needles (4.5 and up) from my set...

If you knit projects in a wide variety of sizes and needle sizes, the sets are great, but only up to 3.5—anything smaller than that isn’t ideal in my opinion, or isn’t even available.

Best regards, Sonja

I have KnitPro Symfonie, Nova Cubics, and Karbonz. Trendz somewhere too. 
They’re all actually okay. 
I just ordered a set of Smartstix for Christmas; I’m curious to see what they’re like. 

I prefer knitting with my Hiya-Hiyas Sharp Long Tips. They’re real lethal weapons. Ultra-sharp—if they ever go into your eye, that’s it... ^^

Warm regards 
Michaela 

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! Very interesting.

@Michaela: I’m also eyeing the SmartSticks. Please be sure to let me know what they’re like once you get them. The set with the bag? 

I treated myself to the gift set from Lykke a few years ago. They look beautiful and are great to knit with. With the thicker needles and thicker yarn, the transition from the cable to the needles is fantastic. The fact that you can extend the cables is also very helpful at times.

With thinner needles and finer yarn, it sometimes gets stuck for me and I have to nudge it along, which I don’t really like. In those cases, I just switch to my regular knitting needles.

With thin bamboo and wooden needles, I’ve also had them break on me quite often—or snap at the joint where the wood meets the metal—but that’s my own fault and definitely isn’t the needles’ fault.

I’m happy with my set, but unfortunately needles are often missing because I have so many unfinished projects lying around. 

I also have the interchangeable needle tips and cables from Knitpro.

As for the thinner needle tips: sitting on them or leaning on them is a bad idea—unfortunately, I’ve done that. The tips end up breaking.

Other than that, I wouldn’t want to be without them.

I also had a set of needles; I thought they were great—long, warm wooden needles (bamboo) that felt really good in my hand... but one of the needles broke on me; the connector was very stiff, it didn’t slide easily, and I always had to give it a little extra pull... I’ve gone back to “regular” needles—they come in extra-long lengths, too...... 

I have 58 knitting needles here worth about €400. I’m running out of space to store them, and the ones I need are usually tied up in UFOs. Most are from Addi; I recently picked up two Zing needles, but they don’t glide as well and they prick my fingers. Actually, I find the metal handles from Prym (with the dark blue cable) to be the best, though the cable isn’t as good as Addi’s.

  I’m just wondering if the high price is worth it. Many years ago, I bought a set of interchangeable needles at the Tchibo outlet—I think it was around 25 €—and it’s not bad. But even with those, all the needles are always “out and about.”

It was just a thought—to treat myself to something....

Well, I actually received a set like that as a gift a few years ago, and as many here have already noted, it’s generally very convenient. But on the one hand, it’s true that most sets start at size 3.5, and my set, for example, goes up to size 10—which I’ve never actually used. It has a locking mechanism that you insert and then twist to secure it. And very often, that doesn’t hold very well. It’s happened to me a few times that the locking mechanism came loose and I lost all my stitches! Most of the time, I just go back to using regular needles.
I recently saw that there are also screw-on connectors available; I’d definitely check those out if I were to buy something like this again.

For me, it’s the opposite—I don’t need needles smaller than 4 mm.

I just discovered that KnitPro offers a trial cable set. It includes metal, wood, and plastic needles. That way, I can try them all out. 

I feel the same way as Sonja (a-mano) and Lismenliesl. I got this KnitPro set for my birthday and would never want it again.

The main reason is that the connectors keep coming loose, and sometimes the keys to secure them don’t even fit into the holes. I’ve also had a needle break already.

Plus, I don’t need all the needle sizes that come with the set. Now I’ve gone back to buying individual needles. They always hold up, and in the end, they’re even cheaper.

Oh, I’m so glad the price has kept me from buying one so far. Reading this, I think I’ll stick with the needles I already have. I once bought a single bamboo circular needle because I didn’t have that size—I can’t even remember the brand now, whether it was Knit Pro, Addi, or something else—but anyway, it broke pretty quickly.

I also bought a KnitPro set a few years ago. But I went back to “regular” circular needles after just a short time because it annoyed me soooo much. The connection between the cable and the needle came loose, and I could have screamed. Then I tried to figure out what went wrong, but that didn’t help either!! After more attempts—checking almost every round or row to see if the cable was still attached—it just got annoying. Now I buy good, regular circular needles that don’t prick my fingers, the yarn glides smoothly, and everything’s fine again.

Yeah, I felt exactly the same way as Petra. Suddenly I had my knitting project with loose stitches in my hand and had to figure out how to get the circular needle back together. And I also had to tighten the stitches after every round. That really annoyed me.

I prefer to knit with wooden or bamboo circular needles. They work great and I’ve never had any problems. But I only buy the good ones.

Ta-daaa.... I can finally give them a try ♡

Have fun with them!

A lot of people say the needles come loose from the cable. That doesn’t happen to me anymore since I always tighten them securely with the little needle that comes with them. But be careful to hold the needle by the wood, not the metal thread, when tightening it.

Did you buy 3 different systems?

This is a sample set with 4 mm metal (Nova), 5 mm wood (Symfonie), and 6 mm plastic (Trendz).
  The plastic needles piqued my curiosity the most. They knit surprisingly well! According to reviews, the downside with those—and with the wooden ones—is that they tend to break.

In any case, this screw-on system isn’t compatible with my cheap set from Tchibo. Too bad. That would have opened up a lot of possibilities for me...

I hope Michaela will report back soon on how her Stix set is holding up. 

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

So far, I’ve only broken needles up to size 3.5, and once I also damaged a cable at the joint.

But the last needle I broke was a size 2.5, made of bamboo. I bought it brand-new with a really long cord for my baby blanket. At first, I knitted with a metal needle, but it always bent. I thought, “I’ll try wood then” — mine must have been worn out since it was my grandma’s. I didn’t even get one round done before it broke. 

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Well, now I’m no closer to a decision, because I really like all three types of needles. But I can’t exactly buy three sets of needles. What a bummer! Then I thought about buying individual cables and the occasional needle, as needed. But compared to a set, that’s ridiculously expensive.
Argh! 

...but then you really only have what you need...
I have some needle sizes in duplicate, either as short needles or just the regular ones... It always depends on what you want to knit.
For me, it’s the smaller needle sizes that I use often, including the English “in-between sizes”—they’re not available here as a set. And I only buy the cables as needed. Personally, a set like that was always too expensive for me because I couldn’t use most of the needles in it....
Best regards, Stephanie

Hmm… maybe I’ll just go with individual ones after all… Thanks for the input, Stephanie ♡

Hi there... Have you bought any yet???
I'm currently knitting two shawls in parallel, one on a KnitPro needle plus cable and the other on one from ChiaoGoo.  The difference is that with the first one, the cable is firmly attached to the metal connector that screws onto the needle tips, and I have to check every few rows whether the cable is coming loose. With the other one, the cable can rotate, and it hasn't even loosened once....
Maybe the “rigid” cable is the reason why some of them “unscrew” themselves.... 
Best, Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

I just watched a video about the Chiaogoo set and learned that you actually need different cable thicknesses for different needle sizes. That just makes it even more complicated! Plus, they’re ridiculously expensive. I’d really have to hold them in my hands and knit with them to be convinced that the price is worth it.

I’m currently on the lookout for a KnitPro acrylic set—I’ve noticed that the price fluctuates a lot, by as much as 25 €! Now, of course, I’m waiting until the price drops low enough that I can snag a bargain. hehe

I think these flexible cables are also available from other manufacturers; I only have a few of the “expensive” ones myself. Actually, I only use them for lace shawls—long, thin cables with a 3.25 mm needle and a fine tip—just for very fine yarns starting at 600 m/100g and finer.... 
But the design of these flexible cables is great—nothing twists, which is something I used to have happen often when I had larger projects on my needles....
Best, Stephanie....
Who was just too “stingy” to order a second pair of needles 🙈😂🙈

I’ve already tried out various sets with cables, and for once, I find the most expensive ones to be the best
(Chioagoo—I discovered them in a small yarn shop in Vienna), because the needle tips don’t come loose from the cable, which happens at varying rates with the others and is really annoying! What I find missing in the sets are the in-between sizes and the thin needles; while I usually don’t need sizes above 6 at all, I do like to knit with sizes 2 through 4, including 2.25, 2.75, 3.25, and 3.75. 

I always thought needles only came in 0.5-unit increments... 🤔

Do quarter-unit increments really make a difference?

Yes, they do make a difference. I also have some from KnitPro in sizes 2.75, 2.25, and 3.25. I was surprised by the gauge myself. But I think those are only available in the smaller needle sizes.

I also prefer knitting with sizes between 2 and 4.

These intermediate sizes are based on the English needle sizes—I guess it has something to do with converting inches to centimeters. Anyway, I have them because I’ve often knitted lace, and the “best” books on that come from England… so to get the right gauge, I just needed the 1/4 sizes…
And it really does make a difference whether you knit with a 3.25 or a 3.5.
Best regards, Stephanie

Wow!
Especially that you all enjoy knitting with such small needles so much. That’s pure hard work!!! I like needle sizes 4 and up, preferably 5–7. 

...I don’t actually have yarn that thick that I’d need such large needles 🙈
I’m currently looking for a size 1.5 for gloves—with a size 2, the cuff turns out too big. But since I’m knitting them using the magic loop method, I need a circular needle....  

1.5! *Gasp*
I’m currently knitting with 10 mm needles 💪

Size 10... 😲 Those are practically drumsticks... I have a size 8 needle for felted knitting, and it felt so “heavy” in my hand that I only knit with it when the cat needs a new sleeping den again...
It’s amazing how different people’s preferences are when it comes to knitting. ... 

Hihi, drumsticks :-)
Size 10 is too thick for me, too.

Well, thank goodness everyone has different preferences! 

I mostly knit with sizes 3.5 and 4.

When I was knitting my blanket with size 2.5, I kept bending my aluminum knitting needle. I thought it was material fatigue, since it was my grandma’s. I then bought a bamboo circular needle, since there aren’t any separate tips for my cables in size 2.5. After a short while, I broke that one and went back to the aluminum needle. I’d always bend it back straight after a few rounds.

When using a set of double-pointed needles or knitting socks, I’ve never had them break like that. 

My needle is also really bent right now—maybe the shawl I’m knitting is too “heavy” for the tips.... In any case, I don’t dare to
bend it back into shape. Since I only have a few more rows left, and if it breaks, I’ll have to take another break from knitting and order a new one. Here at our local yarn shop, they don’t have a great selection when it comes to yarn and knitting needles 🤔. There’s just that one, or you have to drive a good 25–30 km. 
Nothing’s ever broken for me.... I’m managing with the shawl—I’ve got 470 stitches on it right now, and that number’s still going up—using a 400m/100g yarn, so it’s relatively heavy, at least for these needles 😉

470 sts!!! I’d already be fed up with that. A row takes an hour... 

@Anja: The journey is the destination...... The longer the row / round takes, the more time/fun you have knitting :-) 

I’m currently knitting a pattern that uses the reverse approach: casting on a lot of stitches and then decreasing toward the finish. That appeals to me more. You can see the end better that way. :-)

I’m knitting my lace-cable triangular shawl with 2.5 mm needles and already find that quite fine.

Um.... I’m supposed to do about 30 more rows now, and in 5 rows I’m supposed to increase to 900 stitches.... The end is in sight. I’m so excited to see what the shawl will look like once it’s finally bound off. I’m a little nervous about that part, though; I’m supposed to do an i-cord bind off... that takes forever with so many stitches....

2.5 for a shawl is really fine; what yarn weight are you knitting with? 
I only use 2.5 or smaller for gloves. I only knit shawls on a 3 or on my favorite needle, 3.25 😊

What kind of decrease is that, this i-cord bind off? Could you explain it?

Steffi, this yarn can be worked with 2 mm to 4 mm needles.
I tend to knit loosely.

Okay, thanks—I no longer need an answer to my question about the i-cord bind-off; I just watched a video on YouTube!