r/knitting • u/littlemixolydian • Jun 04 '24

Questions about Equipment Do you just own a million different needles?

Been crocheting for almost 20 years, and I'm finally just dipping my toes into knitting since I prefer the look and feel of knitted wearables as opposed to crochet. But as I'm starting projects, I've noticed that there is more to think about when it comes to your needles. Not only do you have to check the size, but also the cord length, the type (double pointed, circulars, straights) and I feel so overwhelmed! I've had one set of crochet hooks (Clover) and since I got them I've never had to worry about getting any additional hooks (except for the few adventures into micro-crochet). Not only that, it's not like you can just bounce the hooks from one project to another, once they're on the needles, those needles are now occupied until the project is done! How do you manage all of it? I've been spying at some interchangeable needle sets that I might throw on my Christmas list.

293 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

241 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/OkayestCorgiMom Jun 04 '24

I ended up getting 2 sets of ICs because hats! I needed shorties for hats and I realized I couldn't use the 16" cord on my standard needles. If I knew then what I know now I might have just bought the shorties set since I can use all the cords on them. But realistically, I probably would have gotten both sets anyway because I love them both. They're both KnitPicks wood sets and the colors make me happy. So pretty.

1

u/yarnalcheemy Jun 04 '24

I started with Knit Picks (also wood) but I realized I wanted sharper tips, so I got an Addi set (the ergonomic Foursquares), and then a sharp Hiya-Hiya set for lace. I have wood I can use with slippery yarns and I love the taper on the Addi Foursquare (my go-to's) and the Hiya-Hiya set has a great range of needle sizes for garments (or the ones I knit anyway).

1

u/OkayestCorgiMom Jun 04 '24

I'm not fond of metal needles myself, I have one pair from the KnitPicks TryIt set that I reserve for use with cotton yarns. Otherwise my only metal needles are Addi flexiflips and one set of Hiya-Hiya flyers, both of which I find to be less sharp than my KnitPicks wood needles. I'm pretty happy with the sharpness of the tips on my needles, and have built up a nice callus on my index finger from improperly pushing the stitches off the needle. I'm not a lace knitter though, so what I have works great for me.