I’m so glad to have found this forum! Already, the instructional videos here have been of tremendous help in getting me started.
A brief intro: I’m Judy in Oklahoma City, age 57, married, empty-nester, work fulltime, and have more hobbies than I can begin to have time for. I piece quilts, machine quilt, hand embroider, and love to read. I used to do a lot of crochet also but haven’t in a number of years. So it only makes sense that I just have to add one more hobby and MUST learn to knit, right?!?!?
I’ll try to keep my newbie questions to a minimum until I’ve read and can’t find my answer. For starters, where do you buy your bamboo needles? I tried many years ago to learn to knit so dug out my needles from long ago and found them to be way too long, 14", to handle while learning. When the urgent desire for knitting hit this weekend, I ran to Hancock’s Fabrics. All they had were Lion Brand dpns so I bought a couple sets. I simply put point protectors on one end to keep my work from sliding off. But now I feel like they’re too slick, especially when trying to learn a simple knit cast-off. (I’m using Red Heart worsted that I happened to have on hand.) As far as I know, there is only one LYS in Oklahoma City, and of course this urge to knit has to strike now that we’re in the midst of a huge snowstorm and I can’t get there! Hopefully by Saturday, I’ll have time to visit there and the streets will be clear enough to do it! The only good thing about the “Blizzard of 2011” is that there’s no way I can make it to work! I brought home some reports to work on in anticipation of a snow day but could be easily persuaded to ignore them in favor of knitting in spite of my struggles!
Thanks for any advice about needles you can offer!
According to Google maps Oklahoma City has several Joanns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby…those kind of stores should have Clover brand bamboo needles. Those are good ones.
Thanks, Jan! I did get time to hit Michael’s yesterday on my lunch hour but, other than some very pricey Rosewood needles, only found Susan Bates plastic needles. Hopefully I can get to Hobby Lobby and Joann’s fairly soon. I just didn’t have any idea of they might have bamboo needles Now I look forward to checking them out! Thanks!
Hi there! I’m from Tulsa, OK, and we are also experiencing the the Blizzard of '11. I know that I have seen the clover bamboo needles in the Hobby Lobby’s here. Also, you might want to try out some circular needles. They are GREAT for people who have bad wrists and such, because the cable holds most of the weight of your work. The great thing about them is that you can either use that for circular knitting or for something that you’re just knitting flat.
Feel free to ask as many questions as need be. There’s no such thing as a “stupid question” here.
Welcome to knitting and welcome to kh!!!
You’re welcome! My Michaels and Joann both have the Clover bamboo needles. Guess they are not all the same as I thought they were. :lol:
Good luck finding them! And if all else fails you can buy them online.
Edit- I didn’t mention the circulars, but many if not most of us use circulars exclusively for flat and circular knitting. One reason I didn’t mention it was because I have one pair of the Clover circulars and the cable is a pain IMO. If you do get some you’ll find that it curls so you’ll need to dip it in hot water hold it for a minute then stretch it out so it’s straight and then try knitting with it. There are circulars that don’t do that so when you’re ready for them let us know.
YEah, what they said about Circs… I can’t knit with straight ones anymore, they’re too awkward. HL has some Susan Bates and Boye needles as well as Clovers and they all will probably need the hot water dip before using. Circs didn’t used to be that way, you could use them right out of the package and they’d straighten out with the weight of the knitting, but they must have changed the type of plastic they use for the cord.
Thanks all for the input on circular needles vs. straight. I’ll definitely be checking into circs as soon as I can get out and about. The straights do seem awfully awkward but I put that down to my inexperience.
Crazykntter83 in Tulsa, I sure hope you’re able to stay in, safe and warm! We’ve had brief periods today of the power going out but fortunately it’s come back on! Although it has limited my access to the helpful videos here, at least we’re able to keep more or less warm!
That’s good! We’ve been able to keep nice and warm here. Thankfully, there hasn’t been any power outages, and we have the fire to keep us nice and toasty.
Consider ordering your circular needles (or, the shortie 10" straights, whichever you prefer) from www.Knitpicks.com and let the mailman or UPS driver worry about the snowy roads!
Knitpicks have a great wood needle called Harmony. They aren’t too heavy. They aren’t too slippery. They aren’t expensive. You save money by purchasing them in a ‘set’…but they are also very inexpensive piece by piece.
IMHO, you’ll be more satisfied with Harmony needles (either circulars or straights) than you’ll ever be with Clover Bamboo. Their performance is simply wonderful. You can order online, or just call them. They’re a very friendly bunch!
Thanks, Artlady! I happened on the Harmony needles while poking around Knitpicks website yesterday. It’s good to have a recommendation before ordering sight-unseen.
I can tell you that I absolutely love my knitpicks options. I have been wanting to try out the harmonies since I love the options so much. Either way, they are extrmely good quality needles. If you go with the circulars, you will find that the cable is far more flexable than other circulars. But this is just my little opinion.
I keep looking at the Knitpicks website and see the term “Options” used on all three of their needles, Harmony, Nickel plated, and Acrylics. So, if you don’t mind, which do you mean when you say “Options” needles?
When I say options, I mean the nickel plated needles. They’re good for when you want a really slick surface to knit with, and they have excellent points. Nice and sharp.
I also recommend the Knit Picks Options needle. I ordered the Try It pack of all three types, One pair of Harmony needles, One pair of the Zephyer needles and the Nickle plated needles for circular knitting in the try it pack you get 3 sets of needles and 2 different length cords. As I get paid again , I will be ordering some more tips of the Harmony and Nickle plated one. The Zephyers tend to have the very tip of the needle breaks when I use them
Thanks so much for the clarification, everyone! I would love to jump in with both feet and order the complete set of Harmony Interchangeables but…I’ve shown a nasty habit of shelling out $$$ when first starting with a new hobby and later finding those impulsive purchases really don’t meet my needs. So, for the time being, the Harmony set is on my Wish List, and I’ll start by first trying some bamboo needles. Many thanks again for all the great input!
Actually, OPTIONS is the ‘type’ of interchangeable circular.
However, KP OPTIONS are now available in 3 materials: NP, HARMONY, ZEPHYR.
Here is their ADVERTISEMENT banner here at KH:
Because NP (nickel plated) was the very first OPTIONS available, a lot of people use
the term OPTIONS when they really mean OPTIONS NP, nickel plated.
I’ve got full sets of NP and Harmony. Well worth the investment.
I have 3 sizes in the Zephyr acrylic, however I didn’t invest in more. They perform much like the Harmony’s do but they are much more affordable for someone entering the world of interchangeables. I recommend Zephyr’s to anyone needing to spend as little cash as possible.
But if cash is not a problem…my first recommendation would be the Harmony’s. They knit fast, warm, and not too slippery. I’m a fast knitter, usually preferring Addi Turbos/Clicks and Signature (circular) Needles…but I can get a lot of speed out of the Harmony’s just fine. They are nice when I need a needle that isn’t a sharp as the Signature Stilettos, and not as round as the Addi Turbo/Clicks.
I use Harmony’s more than I thought I would! It is a great needle! I’m still amazed at the affordable price of all 3 (NP, Harmony, Zephyr) of the KnitPicks Options interchangeables!
