Hi, all! I’ve been lurking for some time but finally decided to join up because I’m a VERY novice knitter and could really use some help (only learned the knit, purl, and cast on and cast off so far and have made nothing but scarves but I hope to make some progress soon!)
Anyway, my question is this: has anyone heard of/bought from this seller of bamboo needles?
I was thinking of buying from them because their prices are so cheap but I’m a little wary of buying online from sellers I don’t know anything about. And it’s complicated because even though their seller ratings are so good, they’re in China so it won’t be as easy buying or returning if I have to. And with the prices that low, I’m a little worried about the quality of their needles. But with them I can get 3 sets of needles, about 15 pairs per set, for about $45, s/h included. Yes, really. It almost sounds too good to be true. I emailed the seller and she seems nice enough and I’m really tempted. Only big concern of mine is that the needles won’t be good quality and I have to put in my payment info online (which I’ve done before but only with Amazon).
Anyone use this seller before or know anything about them? I figured if anyone would, it would be someone here. Thanks in advance.
I haven’t used that site, but I’ve been knitting for a long time, and in my experience, cheap bamboo needles aren’t very good. I’m partial to Clovers, myself.
I’ve never heard of them, but if you are worried about the seller being overseas, Amazon has excellent prices on a variety of bamboo needles. They aren’t quite as cheap, but still very reasonably priced:
i actually just placed an order for a set through their etsy store.
i’m thinking they won’t be the best quality, but i’m still learning DPN’s and just want to see which sizes i like best.
shipping is going to take a while, but i will try to remember to post what i find out.
I know about the needles at Amazon. They’re in my cart if I decide to go with them. But these look so inexpensive, I just had to ask about them first.
mountgigantic, what’s an etsy store and can you provide a link to it please? (shows you how little I know). Anything you can tell me about your experience with them will be great, thanks.
If you’re concerned about giving your financial info to a strange company, you can use Paypal, even if that company doesn’t accept PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_vdc-hub Paypal generates a one use card and charges you by whatever means you have listed with Paypal. I’ve used it numerous times with great success. Means your information is out there to one site.
I bought from them on eBay. Their prices were so good that I now have all sizes in, DPN’S Circulars, and straight needles.
I know you get what you pay for, but I haven’t had a problem with them. I’m a fairly new knitter myself and I only have a small handful of the more pricey needles. I guess if I had been knitting for years I might notice something wrong with cheap bamboo needles. But I don’t.
I did just order from KnitPicks and got their interchangeable set and I must say I do like the cable on their set. It’s much more pliable then the cheap bamboo needles I have.
I use my cheap bamboo needles all the time and if needed I would order more.
Don’t know if this helps. I may be the odd man out here.:out:
I just got got some Knitpicks for the first time and I really like them. They are very nice. I have a bunch of Addis, but I’ve collected those over the years and they are fairly expensive. If they’d had the Knitpicks interchangables when I first started, I’d have definitely gone with those.
This looks like a great place for me to order needles for my Kids Knit group at school ! I have ordered many inexpensive bamboo needles from various places over the last few years and often need to use a fine grain sand paper then a good rubbing with wax paper so they are nice and smooth. That said …
If I were going to spend 50.00 on needles for myself … I would get go with knit picks - straight or interchangeable. I have never needed 3 sets of needles in the same size at the same time for my personal knitting … cuz if I do, that means I either need to frog or finish !!!
I just found their etsy store and the close up pictures of the needles make them look fine to me - plus, all their feedback is positive. And I agree with you that it’s not necessary to have top of the line needles when you’re still learning. Would I like to get those Addi needles I keep hearing so much about? Sure. But no way in heck can I afford them, at least not right now. These seem a good alternative for “training” needles.
Besides, I could be wrong, but I don’t think inexpensive always means cheap quality. Maybe they’re so inexpensive because they’re manufactured in China and have easy access to bamboo and don’t have to pay to export it? I don’t know. shrug
Okay, I was just reading the thread about comparing interchangeable sets and see all the profound love for Knit Picks needles and I’ll admit you’ve got me curious. But I also read at some other knitting forum somewhere that the problem with KP is that they’re difficult to interchange and that their metal finish tends to wear off. Thoughts on this? Anyone had these problems with their sets?
Wish I’d thought to bookmark that forum but I didn’t. Some of them were saying that the finish on their needle tips was or did wear off and they were having problems changing the tips to put with a different cable length, etc. On the upside however, those who were having problems with the needles got them replaced quickly by the seller, no questions asked.
Maybe it was just a probability fluke - out of all the needles made, once in a while one of them has to come out bad.
And most people tend to complain about problems, but you don’t always hear about good experiences unless the question is specifically asked. Early on, there was a problem with the needles coming out of the joining piece, but they were replaced and later sets didn’t have that problem. Almost everyone I’ve heard of is very satisfied with them. I think they’d be a better deal than the bamboo sets you’re proposing to buy.
I have Addi needles too and I have had to take one set back because the wood was snagging my good yarn. No biggy, the LYS did replace them for me. I also snapped one of my Takumi DPN’S and my Brittany DPN’S which are suppose to be better needles are developing a bow in one of the needles.
I think our Cheaper needles vs better needles is just like everything else in our lives. It’s all in what one can afford in their lives at the moment. I’d love to have the best in everything I own, but sometimes it’s not always financially feasible . Even on something that seems like a no brainier to one person but a cost cutting need to another ,counting pennies means ,'Yes I can do this at this moment ’ The more you learn to knit the more you’ll fall in love with knitting and then pampering yourself with better needles will be your treat to yourself.
My LYS gave me a tip on using the cheaper needles, if they do snag , very gently with the finest sandpaper you can find, sand them and then use wax and lightly rub it in and buff until smooth.
One instructor mentioned using the wax that one gets from the dentist that is use with braces. I got some from my dentist and used it on my cheaper needles , works great!
I still say just because they are so cheap doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them and if you treat them like you paid a lot for them they should work.
This would be a super great deal if your a brownie troop leader too. Or , just trying to teach to a group of wannabe knitters.
Even though I’ve never been able to get knitting to stick in my head until this year, I’ve always known the knit and purl stitches, and I once showed someone in the office how to knit stockinette and garter stitch using two pencils and some packing string. :mrgreen:
I did a fair amount of research before buying the KP, and I don’t think I ever saw mention of the nickle finish wearing off. Not that it didn’t happen, I’ve just never seen one mention of it…
I once showed someone in the office how to knit stockinette and garter stitch using two pencils and some packing string. :mrgreen:
That’s how I taught myself in high school. I sharpened a couple of the wooden sticks from my brother’s Tinkertoys and used them with my mom’s packing string.