Let's chat about needles.

What kind of needles do you use?

Do you find that you are obsessive and once you find a set you like, you buy all your needles in that kind and just knit with those?  Or do you switch from bamboo to metal to plastic without worrying about the effect that it might (or might not) have on your gauge?

I'm curious.

I recently decided I had to switch my needles.  I had been using Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables and I loved them, I still don't have a bad word to speak about them, for what you pay, they are fabulous.  Even though I decided to switch to something different, I still love the needles - but it's the construction that was an issue.  Within about a month, I had 3 different needles sort of pop apart, like the glue holding the needle into the metal casing just came undone.  If you call customer service, they will absolutely replace them when this happens, but I had gotten to a point where this was starting to be annoying.

So I turned to Ravelry to see what else was out there.

I knew I wanted wood, metal seems to tire my hands, so that was off the table.  I found Dyak Darn Pretties and after reading OODLES of things online, I decided to spend some of my stash selling money to buy these.  They are a bit pricey, but they are handcarved, made by a small business, and made in america, so for all that, I was willing to spend a bit more, and besides the reviews won me over, hands down.

Apparently, I discovered the Darn Pretties at about the same time as the rest of the knitting world because some time over the late summer/early fall the company got so many orders that it extended the delivery time significantly.  I ordered mine labor day weekend and was initially given a 10-12 week lead time.  In late October, yet another one of my Knit Picks needles broke and I had to make a decision (if I wanted to keep knitting on that project), wait for the Darn Pretties, order a new needle from Knit Picks, or try the Knitter's Pride needles that Webs had recently come out with.

I contacted Dyak Craft and was told that there was a delay on my needles, so I decided to try one of the Knitter's Pride needles - and since the issue I'd been having had been with interchangeables (although granted, not at all with the part that was interchangeable) I decided to try fixed in the size I most commonly use, 24".

This is all a very long way of giving you my comparison of the Knit Picks Harmony vs the Knitter's Pride Dreamz.

Honestly, either of them are a good bargain for the money, even given the above issues I'd had in the past with Knit Picks needles I have found their customer service and replacement policy to be top-notch.

I think the Dreamz cord is a teensy-tiny bit more flexible than the Knit Picks cord, but I doubt you would notice that anywhere other than trying to do magic loop in a tight space, so to speak.

As far as I can tell the points are the same amount of pointiness and they feel the same in the hand.  The Dreamz needles felt a little sticky at first, but it wore off after the first few rounds.

(Knit Picks on the top, Dreamz on the bottom)

It may be as simple as which type of colors you prefer - do you like multicolor needles, or do you want every size to be a different color so you can tell them apart?  

Or, if you can wait a bit, and you have a bit of extra cash from Christmas, maybe you want to try the Darn Pretties.  I'll be sure to let you know what I think about them once I have them in my hot little hands!

Comments

[Timiae]

I have the KP Harmony interchangeables and love them. I haven't had any real issues with breaking or coming apart, but have had one cable that has slipped out of the metal part just enough to catch the yarn when knitting and had one cable that had bad threading. I do with that they were color-coded or had the size written on then somewhere. For dpns, I mostly have bamboo purchased from KP, but also have a few sets of their Harmony and 2 sets of the metal... I really want to get entirely wood or bamboo, but I seem to find other things to spend extra money on :/ I'm interested to see how the Darn Pretties work for you... I've heard such good things!

[Jocelyn]

Very interesting. I think I've been lucky with the KP Harmony needles - I've never had them do what you're describing (although I did just flat-out break a tip once, but I don't know whether that was me or them). I really like their dpns, although I also have Signature dpns that I love, and I have Celtic Swan dpns that I love. I adore my Signature circs, too, and am slowly collecting one in each of the sizes I use most - I may someday end up with two in some of my most frequently used sizes (fours, I'm looking at you), although I have plenty of Addis in size four, and I really like those, too.

Hmmm... It looks like I'm a bit of a needle slut, doesn't it?