Bamboo hooks and needles for crocheting and knitting

Hi, ladies
I recently saw some bamboo knitting needles and crochet hooks while I was out shopping. From what I could tell, the knitting needles were made entirely of bamboo, while the crochet hooks only had bamboo handles—the tips were actually metal.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a specialty store, so I couldn’t ask a knowledgeable salesperson about them.
What have been your experiences with bamboo knitting needles or crochet hooks?
I’m guessing they’re not really used for sewing, are they?

Hi there, Sundown

I haven’t tried crochet hooks yet—but they’re actually already on my shopping list. When it comes to knitting, I almost exclusively use these needles now. They have the advantage of being incredibly light, and on top of that, they don’t clatter (there are men/partners/roommates/hairy creatures who don’t like that) when you’re knitting. On top of that, they’re not quite as slippery as metal needles. This is a big advantage, especially for beginners—it’s pretty frustrating when your stitches just slip off the needle. Over time, though, they do get slipperier. It’s because of skin and lotion. But all it takes is some very fine sandpaper to fix the problem. You can also use this method to fix minor damage. The clear downside is that the needles can’t be bent indefinitely. Bamboo is a pretty durable material in itself, but it does have its limits. And once that happens, the needle is truly broken.  
However, I’ve stopped buying these needles at the craft store. I buy them on eBay from China. It takes a while, but they cost only a fraction of what they cost here. Once I get away from this forum, I’ll check later to see which of my suppliers also carries crochet hooks. I’ve seen them—both regular ones (though made entirely of bamboo, with no metal tip) and those long ones for “Tunisian” (?) crochet.

 

I just checked. My “go-to seller” in China doesn’t have anything online right now. But Schmuckshop88 has the full selection online. I can’t say much about the prices for crochet hooks. So far, I’ve only bought the few I needed for my edgings. The prices for the knitting needles are great. You just have to hang the items in the basement or carport for a while when they arrive. The PU used to connect the two needles (and presumably also the extension on the “Tunisian” crochet hooks) smells pretty bad. From a professional standpoint, I can only say: typical China.
This shop seems to import goods from China on a larger scale—the prices are okay, I think, and the delivery times should be significantly better. I sometimes wait 2 to 3 weeks.

I’ll check out the tutorial later when I’m back home. Otherwise, my coworkers will raise the alarm because I’m hogging the entire bandwidth here.

Mod Edit: Links removed

Thanks a lot :)

I hope nobody complained :)

I find bamboo needles interesting, but since I only crochet, nothing clatters anyway—there’s only one hook.
If I happen to come across a bamboo hook, I’ll give it a try, but until then, I’m perfectly happy with metal hooks that have plastic handles :)

When I started knitting again a few weeks ago, I also bought a set of bamboo double-pointed needles because they were affordable and more eco-friendly. I have two problems with them:

1. The tips are quite long, and as I knit, I automatically pull the stitches tighter, so I generally knit quite tightly. With my bamboo needles, I run into the problem that I can only slide the stitches along with considerable effort because the stitches are tighter than the needle’s nominal diameter.

2. I’m currently knitting a hat on these needles and find it annoying that the yarn (pure new wool without superwash treatment) doesn’t glide smoothly over the needle. That’s why I’ve now ordered an additional set of metal double-pointed needles. I simply work faster and more smoothly with metal needles.

If I ever have very smooth yarn, I’ll give it another try. Otherwise, I’ll mostly use the needles for cables and the like.

I used to knit with bamboo—about 45 years ago. I still have a few individual needles lying around here—Petra never throws anything away; you never know when you might need them. I only have a few because the tips eventually split. That meant I could no longer slide the knitted stitches along them smoothly. But maybe the technology back then wasn’t as advanced as it is today, and that doesn’t happen with modern bamboo needles anymore. 

I only knit with bamboo needles now; I actually find the tighter stitch pattern to be an advantage, since I tend to knit quite loosely otherwise. For example, this way I don’t get such big holes in the heels of my socks when I work the short rows. And the stitches don’t slip off the needles as easily either. Everything has its pros and cons, after all.

I just can’t get the hang of bamboo needles at all. I’ve tried a few times, but I’ve broken them every time. I probably press too hard when the stitches don’t glide easily over the needles. So I’ve given up and am back to knitting with metal needles.