BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Knitting Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needles

My husband (then boyfriend) bought me a set of Boye interchangeable circular needles when we were still in college--a big investment at the time. And I've been using them ever since (*cough* 20+ years). I love them, and have certainly gotten my money's worth out of them. I've been thinking of replacing them, either with the Denise needles or with Knitpick's wooden needles, only because it's getting increasingly difficult for me to buy replacement parts (the dog has chewed up a few of the cords, for example). But I love always having my needles in this one, tidy case. And I've also done the occasional pattern where I screw one size needle on one end, and a different one on the other, for a cool effect.

Anyway, I think interchangeable circulars are a terrific investment. I never knit with straights because these are so darn handy.

Hope that helps!

Becky

I'm definitely putting some on my list to buy. The feedback here has been great and helped me decide.

They have a set of Denise Brand interchangeables at Patternworks. Marge, thanks for that weblink in another post. The set includes needle sizes from 5 to 15 and cable sizes from 5" to 19". They also carry the accessory kits with larger needles and cable lengths.

However, these are plastic needles. The only plastic ones I have used are my "honking" big 35's and 50's, which everyone laughed at, but loved the stuff they made. My husband joked he could make me some larger with wooden dowels from the hardware store.

The set is very affordable, but has anyone ever used these? With them being plastic, I'm concerned with the joining mechanism wearing out with use. This brand was mentioned in an earlier post. So hopefully someone has some experience with them and can share the scoop. If they are not going to last, I'm not going to put them on my Christmas Wish List.

By looking around in the Ravelry forums the Denise needles are loved for being nice and slick and hated for being too sticky. I think the best bet would be to find someone you know or a local yarn shop and sit down and try them. People do seem to use the Denise brand when they are working on bigger projects and stay away from them for lace.

In my experience, not having used Denise needles, I think plastic needles are sticky and the yarn grabs on, so plastic aren't my favorite. I like nickeplated needles (Inox) and when I have really slippery yarn I use Clover bamboo needles. Neither of which is interchangeable.

Hope this helps.

Edited to add this link to a blog where she compares them.

Last edited by Marge_Knitting; 10/07/08 06:23 PM.

I have 2 full sets of the KnitPicks interchangeable in the nickel plus extra nickel and wood tips in the more popular sizes. I use one for everyday and have one in my to-go bag. I have been using them since they came out several years ago. They are absolutely marvelous, pointed tips, and fast. The cables are extremely flexible, much better than either the Denise or Boye set.

They have a key for tightening tips to cable. They may occassionally work their way loose, but I seldom have had that happen. Usually if they are coming loose, the yarn begins to catch a bit and you can separate the stitches and tighten right up again. It takes seconds. At the beginning, some of the cables came loose from the joins; KnitPicks immediately sends out new ones if this happens. I have not had it happen on the newer set.

I have several sizes of the wood tips for very slick yarns but much prefer the metal. It is nice to be able to pick up extra tips and cables individually to cover the ones you use most.

I have interchangeable sets of from Boye (metal), from Denise (plastic), and Plymouth (bamboo). I only use the KnitPicks ones; the others are have been sitting here for about 2 years now and will soon get sold, traded, or given away.

I wouldn't be afraid to try them. If you don't want to buy the full set, buy one set of tips and one size of cable, about a $10 investment. If you choose a size you use a lot, then you just have a bonus when you get the full set. Otherwise, there are lots of people on Ravelry who also want to try them out and you could re-sell or gift them to someone.

The reason KnitPicks does not do 16" cables in their set (they do full, fixed 16" circulars in the same nickel as the set) is that the tips are just long enough that the cable to make it 16" is too short to use. I think other manufacturers find the same thing, because I don't think there is a 16" cable in any of my sets.

I hope you will give them a try. I think you will find you do enjoy them!

Thank you so much for the great review I think I will add these to my Christmas list!

I'm really eager to get my hands on a Boye set. Here in Sweden there's nowhere to buy it.
I've seen some on Ebay but is there anywhere they are sold used?

I haven't looked, but you could try Craig's List. Do they have a Craig's List in Sweden? I hadn't even thought of getting a used set to try them out. That would be really cost effective. Thanks for that great idea.

We have a Yahoo group in our area called Freecycle, where you can offer or ask for things for free. I've received quite a bit of yarn from fellow Freecyclers. I think I'll post a request and see if anyone in the area has a Denise set of the plastic interchangeables they're not using. I don't think there are any yarn shops within 75-100 miles. But I need to check in Jacksonville, FL and see if there is one. If anyone knows of one there or maybe in the Daytona Area, please post the info. We'll be in Daytona later this month.

Never heard of Craig's List, but thank's for the tip.

The interchangeables have just recently come to Sweden, but they're not a success here. So they are a lot more expensive here so far.

I thought I'd try worldwide, as I have a PayPal account and can pay through that.

The other place to try is www.ravelry.com You sign up for free, get on a waitlist (it is only a couple of days), they send an invitation to join. Once on there is a forum there that allows you to trade with others. It would be a great place to start.

The other list is Craigslist,BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!