For the past 6 or 7 years, I’ve mostly knit socks and since my preferred method is using double point needles, I’ve not had a great desire for a set of interchangeable needles. If you’re not a knitter, it’s hard to imagine how much frustrating it can be when trying to knit with circular needles. There are the standard tip sizes . . 2.75 mm on up to 10 mm . That’s 13 needle sizes that are pretty common. Then some patterns call for 16″ cables, some call for 24″ cables, some call for 32″ cables, some call for 40″ cables and some call for longer. Try knitting something on a 32″ able when the pattern called for a 16″ cable. You have stitches that are stretched way too far apart. Try cramming stitches on a 24″ cable when the pattern calls for a 40″ cable! And if you keep up with things the way I keep up with things, try finding the right size needle — that has the right tip with the right cable and .. that is how I ended up with so many circular needles. Some cables are stiffer and some are looser so finding the perfect circular needle isn’t as easy as one might think.
Knit Picks Harmony
I have KnitPicks Harmony Interchangeables and, while I don’t dislike them, I don’t love them. It seems like with each size, one of the needles isn’t a perfect join and if I’m knitting tightly, which I have a tendency to do, the yarn snags. A couple of the tips aren’t real smooth on the end and that sometimes causes a snag. I find that I’m using those only when I don’t have the right size fixed circular needle.
I want a set that I love . . a set that I can use every time I need a circular needle — right in one little package. I was leaning towards the Addi Click Lace set but they’re rarely in stock at The Loopy Ewe. I continued to do research, since this is something I really want to love and had decided that the ChiaoGoo Twist Lace set was what I wanted. Reading ratings and reviews on these needles is a bit like asking for opinions about longarm quilting machines. Everyone loves the one they own and think it’s the best. I sometimes think that folks are defending and debating their decision, whether to buy a certain longarm or a certain brand of interchangeable needles, and not the actually “perfectness” of the item itself.
I would probably have bought either the Addi or the ChiaoGoo set . . whichever I happened to see first at The Loopy Ewe.
Monday night when I clicked to see the new updates at The Loopy Ewe . . there, right before my eyes was the ChiaoGoo interchangeable set – the Twist Red Lace Complete Set that I had decided I wanted. They are a bit more than I normally spend on things like that so I had planned on asking for them for my birthday or, maybe just buying them for myself for my birthday or better yet . . Vince has a birthday in March . . I could get them for him! But since they were right there, I snagged myself a pair. I put them in my cart and went to do some more shopping but something told me I’d better check out with those and then come back and finish my shopping. I think I must’ve gotten the last set because when I went back to finish my shopping, the ChiaoGoo Twist Red Lace Complete Sets were gone!
If you click on the Twist Rec Lace Complete Set link, you’ll see what all is included in the set.
ChiaoGoo case
It comes with a really nice zipper case. Inside are all the needles and cables.
Inside ChiaoGoo case
The red things are the cables to which the various needle tips attach.
ChiaoGoo Goodies
Inside the little outside zipper pouch are the following:
- Stitch markers
- End caps – these are for use when I’m knitting something . . say I’m using my size 4 mm tips on my 24″ cables and for some reason I stop that project and then my next project needs 4 mm tips on 32″ cables. I can unscrew the tips from the 24″ cables and then screw the end caps onto the ends of my cables and that keeps the stitches from all slipping off. Then I can screw the 4 mm tips onto the 32″ cables and begin a new project.
- Needle gauge – even though the the tips have a size stamped on each needle, it’s nice to have a gauge to check the size, if I need it.
I’m real happy with the needle set . . just the way it looks. I think by the end of this weekend, I will have cast on a new project and then I can report on whether or not I truly love these needles as much as I hoped I would.
I also use the end caps to hold the sleeves of a sweater, for example, while I knit the body with the tips.
Holy Christopher Columbus! My crochet hooks cost $4.99 for the whole dang set. Well, that was with my discount at JoAnn’s.
Too funny – I was just going to ask you if you had a set of interchangeables you liked. I was doing the search for the correct length last night among all my single circular needles. There is a set at the LQS (also knitting shop) that I want to check out in person and see what the cords are like.
Nice! I’ve been debating a set of interchangables since I am still building my needle collection. I look forward to hearing what you think of them!
I’ve had the KP Harmony interchangerbles for a number of years now. I like them very much, but I haven’t had the problems that some folks have experienced. I love the sharpness, and I haven’t had any irregularities or hangups at the joins. Since you are my enabler, I too do socks, and the interchangerbles don’t go that small, so I have some KP, some Addi and have just bought some ChiaoGoo Red lace for my socks, I like the Chia quite a bit and may get a few more…just because.
Wow, that is a nice set of needles! Great that they include the US 2 and 3′s and the extra sets of cables and stitch markers etc. I have some of the fixed Chiao Goo’s lace tips and I love them, I do own a set of Addi lace interchangeables and I really like them–but they only include one set of each cable size and the smallest interchangeable starts at US size 4, so I have had to buy extra cables and smaller circulars too. Good to see your set comes with some bells and whistles!
Hope you love them , happy knitting.
The price looks high, but after buying single needles of all sizes, I think you did great! Give a review about them later, may have to get some for myself and daughters. Hmm how to justify 4 sets
Interesting. I was going to buy the Harmony set. Maybe I won’t now.
Please rate this set when you can. The price isn’t that bad when you divide the price by the number of cables and then again by the number of tip sizes. It came out to about $4 per needle if I were to buy each combination at the store. If this works for you, this would become a sale for me.
I can’t wait to hear how you like them. I looked at them too but had just bought a set of Hiya interchangeables. One of the tips keeps wanting to unscrew while I’m knitting – not real happy with that so I’m looking to upgrade.
I’ve had interchangibles for years, and I’ve learned the main thing to be sure to do is use the key and rubber disk to be sure of a tight join. I have a couple extra sets that were given to me by someone who said they come apart too easily. I’ve never had it happen unless I failed to properly tighten the join.
A couple weeks ago while checking out a new to me yarn shop I looked at this set but bought a set of circulars to sample first. All I’ve done is cast on but I am already much happier with the behavior of the cables… much nicer than others I’ve tried. I’ve been holding on to some Christmas money – but I just might be parting with it soon.
Ooo. That is a nice set. I have the Knit Picks Harmony set and I really like them, except sometimes the tip comes loose from the cable. I’ve learned to check every now and then to avoid disaster. I also have a needle gauge because sometimes I just don’t trust my old eyes when trying to read the numbers on the side. ;D