This is just a question about bamboo knitting needles!
What is the advantage using bamboo needles?
I had bought a knitting magazine and there is 15 pairs of bamboo needles going for £14.99 and the shipping postage is free in the UK. I am thinking in getting them but I need to how good they are before in buying them.
Any advise on these please.
Thanks Lorraine
Bamboo is less slippery than metal so yarns that tend to be slippery, like silk and some others, work well on them. I use bamboo DPNs, but I prefer metal (Options) regular needles. Some knitters like to use wood all the time.
I just started using my bamboo needles that I bought from Amazon and they work fine for me; they’re lightweight and much less grabbier than the acrylic straights I’d been using. I was heavily dissuaded from buying them by the posters here because they were inexpensive, but I quite like my bamboo needles so far and am thinking of buying another set of bamboo circulars. I guess it’s just a matter of taste, really. I’m very glad I bought mine because the yarn I’m knitting with is awful (Red Heart soft yarn, ugh) - pills something fierce and is so hard to push off the needle; I started my current project with this yarn on my acrylics and the yarn was SO hard to push off, I was going crazy and getting ready to toss the whole yarn ball into the trash. I switched the knitting to the bamboo needles and it’s been much easier since then. (Though I will NEVER make the mistake of buying Red Heart yarn ever again).
I should mention, if you’re a beginning knitter like me and still learning, these needles are a good inexpensive learning tool IMO. If you’re very experienced or very picky about what needles you use, you may not like them.
I love bamboo needles. I won’t use any other kind. I think they are more comfortable than the metal ones and the yarn does not fall off as easily.
I love my bamboo DPNs. I wouldn’t use anything else for DPNs. I got a great deal on Amazon too. They are bending, but they still work just fine! I think it’s kind of cool how they are curving to fit me just perfectly. I don’t have to slide things too much nor worry about anything falling off. I’ve never used them for straights or circulars, but for DPNs, I wouldn’t do anything different.
Do you know if you like knitting on wood/bamboo needles? Personally, I don’t like them much, I’m a metal girl pretty much all the way. If you can borrow a couple of wood needles from someone and try them out first, that might save you some money if you discover the hard way you don’t like bamboo needles.
If you have the money to drop on needles, it’s always useful to have extra needles around, though, even if you don’t like them much. 
I love wooden/bamboo needles and they do help keep sts from slipping off. I have gone from using the cheaper/less expensive kinds like you’re considering buying to Interchangeable Harmony for this main reason:
I had over 750 sts on one of the cheap kind that I bought on Ebay and the clear cord broke off just below the needle it was attached to…fortunately I am a member of the Frog/Lost Stitch Society and knew how to salvage the stitch loss I experienced. I was HOT HOT HOT!!! BUT, I couldn’t blame anyone but myself because as a throw knitter, the needles are constantly moving and working back and forth, the cord just twisted one too many times.
Second reason: The join of the cord to the needles is okay but not all of them are secure and WILL pull off. Try glueing something that tiny to something else that tiny.
Third reason: On the smaller sized needles, the cord is just about as thick as the needle. Not good when trying to ease the sts around to knit them.
Fourth reason: I spent around $20 total for one set of the 30" lengthed circulars. That included shipping but I then had to turn around and spend another $20 for shorter or longer lengths.
After my “lost stitches” incident, I decided to buy the needle tips in the sizes I use most…3(US) to 8(US) of the Harmony Interchangeables. Then I bought each size of the cords(there are two to the package in each size) and I purchased three sizes in the “Fixed” circulars, size 16" length. I don’t have to worry if the cord will break…very durable. The cord is much smaller than any of the needle sizes…smooth knitting and feeding. The cord is secured inside a jacket that I am tightening up.
Long story shortened… I wasted money on the cheap needles and could’ve just gone ahead and bought the Harmony needleset. I dearly love the interchangeable concept as it allows me to have WIPs on the extra cords and is so versatile. Knitpicks has replaced a defective needle set for me, no questions asked when I emailed them about a snagging problem!!!
OMG! I’ve written a book…sorry but I feel very strongly about having good knitting tools.
I think it all comes down to personnel preference. I don’t care for bamboo for the same reason others love them…the stitches don’t slip off. I’m a tight knitter so I can barely knit with bamboo needles. I love metal though, because everything slides off much nicer for me.
Ugh! I know what you mean. That happened to me and with Red Heart yarn too. I was using the Susan Bates plastic needles and those stitches just would not come off. The needles were fairly pointy and my finger was getting sore! So I stopped in a swanky yarn shop in Boston and picked me up some Addi Turbo (and paid waaaay too much for them) and the rest of the project flew. Gotta love it when you get the right needle.
I like bamboo for some yarns and metal for others. I like bamboo needles for cotton.
The RH yarn will work better with metal needles than with bamboo. So that’s why it’s hard for the sts to move on them. Bamboo is better with slippery yarns, they ‘grab’ a little so the sts don’t slip around so easily.
I don’t have any metal straight needles except for a couple of pairs of Boye’s I bought when I first started learning to knit (and I don’t like using them). I wish Knit Picks would make some nickel-plated straights. Don’t know why they make the wooden harmony straights but not the nickel-plated ones. (No, I still haven’t gotten over my circulars trepidation…any day now, maybe once I finally decide to cough up the money for the KP Options).
They do make Nova straight needles, but they’re only sold in Europe; you can order from a European company, though. http://knitpro.eu/Straight.aspx?ch=NEEDLE&left=SS
As already mentioned, I like my bamboo dpn, they “grab” the yarn better. But for circs, I prefer etal.
I used metal needles exclusively until I started a project with DK weight cotton yarn. For some reason the cotton grabbed onto the metal needles. I switched to bamboo for that project. In general, I prefer metal for wool and acryllic yarns and bamboo for cottons, but that’s not set in stone.
I recommend bamboo needles, especially DPNs for beginners because they hold on to the yarn better (less losing stitches), but once you feel comfortable with them, you’ll probably prefer metal.
I have been knitting for years lost count how long.
I’ve always use metal ones and I knit loose any way and kept loosing a stitch or two, so I thought about using the bamboo ones which it will be a lot easier to work with.
Thanks guys for the your advice and I will buy these needles and tell you how I get on with them.
I like bamboo DPNs. I had knitted over half of my first sweater and moved to metal DPNs for the sleeves and was ready to throw the whole project, because I kept losing stitches off the metal DPNs. My husband found some of the cheap bamboo DPNs on Ebay and bought me a whole set. With them, it was easy to finish the sweaters without losing any more stitches.