Review of Denise Needles vs Boye

Ok, so I have both now and since this question seems to come up quite a bit, I thought I’d do a “formal” review. I think the way I compared them worked well…I am working on a sleeve and used to small diameter knitting on two circulars method (both US8). This way, I k2p2 for 30 with Boye then in the same round k2ps for 30 with the Denise. Here are my findings however, it is only my humble opinion :slight_smile: and not meant to do anything but give information! Please jump in if you find any of the points to be different with your knitting.

  1. The needles are shaped a little differently at the tip. Hopefully you can see that in the close up photo. Didn’t notice a difference in knitting.

  2. The join…this is where I think the main issue may be. You’ll notice on the picture that the join on the Boye is a screw in, curved, smaller diameter and inflexible metal, where the Denise is a smooth resin same diameter join with a “click” system join. I found the join on the Boye to be annoying in a couple of ways…
    a) as I knit :XX: , the join unscrewed. You can see it in the close up picture. Every couple of rows I had to screw it back in. It wasn’t enough to lose the join completly, but I think it could eventually fall out while knitting if you don’t tighten. This would be much harder to do on regular circular knitting, but ok if you are using them for straight. I have never had a problem with the join on the Denise yet, but I know KellyK is experiencing one right now and has a call in to the company.
    b) I don’t like the curve of the join in comparision to the straight join of the Denise. I found my stitches were harder to get over that join and they didn’t come up as smoothly as the Denise.
    c) The Boye join makes it feel like a longer needle. Again, I really didn’t like that, but it could be a plus for some.

  3. The Denise is designed a bit more like the addi turbos (which people seem to love) in that the join is smoother.

  4. As far as the metal vs resin, I didn’t feel a discernable difference here. The stitches flowed equally well over either needle once the stitches were past the join.

  5. I can’t pinpoint why, but it seems like the Boye made me “fatigue” more. I’m not really sure exactly how to explain it. For some reason the Denise were more comfortable for me.

  6. The cords on the Boye are a lot less flexible than the ones on the Denise.

Hope this helps. I know there are lots of people who love both of these sets. :thumbsup: Denise’s are ususally cheaper, so that could be a deciding factor unless you get a really great deal on the Boye.

PS The knitting on two circulars is pretty fun. I like that you don’t have to worry about the stitches falling off a dpn and Amy’s video, as usual, explains it perfectly.

That’s strange that you’re having unscrewing issues with the Boye set. I’ve used mine on two different projects so far and while I didn’t follow the directions to use the little rod to tighten them up – instead of just screwing them in (which is all I did) – I haven’t had any unscrewing issues.

Did you use the little rod?

Wow, thanks Kemp. Really good job. You can see the difference so well. (I take it that’s the Denise on top that’s blue) This is very helpful.

Hmmm…I did not use the rod. I will do that now and see if it helps. Still working on the sleeve :slight_smile:

:thumbsup: Thanks so much for the detailed review. I’ve decided on the Denise set, and I just ordered them! :happydance:

If anyone is interested in ordering, I called the number from the knitdenise site, and they referred me to other online sellers because they are back logged: http://www.numei.com/deniseneedles.htm – you’ll notice that this site offers free standard shipping, also. They also mentioned yarnmarket.com, but I didn’t check their price out.

Happy Mothers Day to me! mental note: tell DH and DS thanks for the early gift!! :lol:

Holly

I tried tightening the boye’s with the little wrench thingie that comes with it. One end stayed put, the other one, same issue…so it must be about the tightness. I don’t have weak hands though, so I can’t believe it wouldn’t stay via hand tightening. I think it could be an issue for someone with arthritis.

Happy mother’s day Holly…hope you enjoy the Denise’s!