Knitting is the hobby that I spend the most time on these days. It's kind of funny to me because I spend a lot of time knitting, but don't wear a lot of knits because Southern California weather rarely permits bundling up in big woolly items.
About 8 months ago, I got myself a "part-time job" (so to speak) as a sample knitter for
Plymouth Yarns. I am sent yarn and a pattern, I get to knit them up, send them back, and the items I make end up being worn by models to use as references for the patterns that the yarn company makes available. It's been a very rewarding experience and, if nothing else, I get to try all kinds of yarns. The fact I get paid isn't a bad thing either - especially with an unemployed husband in a down economy.
The one problem that I tend to have is keeping my knitting needles organized, or receiving a sample knitting pattern (where gauge is really important) and not having/being able to find the needles that I need. To solve this problem, I decided that I wanted to buy a set of needles that would encompass all the sizes most regularly needed. I looked into interchangeable needle sets, like the
Boye,
KnitPicks,
Denise and so on - although funds have been a little tight given aforementioned unemployed husband. Then I remembered
eknittingneedles.com where I could buy a set of bamboo circular needles in all the sizes necessary for the bargain price of $25 (incl. free shipping). I figured it was worth emptying a little out of my PayPal account to buy them and I finally had a chance to use them last night.
So, in review:
-The eknittingneedles.com website is very easy to navigate. They have single point, double point, and circular knitting needles. They also carry regular crochet hooks, tunisian hooks, crohooks (double-ended), and dangle hooks (crochet hook with attached tubing). The ordering is secure and does support PayPal. Registry with the site is optional, but I opted to do so purely for order tracking purposes.
- The bamboo on the needles is nice and smooth. Each needle has the metric size (mm) printed on them so they're easy to identify. I was getting a little squeaking from the needles as I was using them, although I suspect it's actually the yarn I was using (some nice Red Heart acrylic for a ferret hammock I'm making!)
- The cables are soft and flexible. They seem a little bit like thin medical tubing, but I found the cables to be very easy to bend and move around. Most importantly for me, I didn't find them stiff like some other circular needles that I've used in the past. I also found the joins between the needle and the cables to be seamless with no snagging issues.
- The price quite frankly can't be beat for this set. 15 pairs of needles for $25 puts them at $1.66/ea. There are other eBay sellers that have competitive pricing but I really liked the ease of ordering and the free shipping straight off the site. The shipping was quick (I received shipping confirmation 2 days after I placed the order) and they were kind enough to give me 4 extra needles by accident - that's 19 circular needles total!
- I don't know much about the customer service but I did hear from a member of
Ravelry that they were missing a needle size when they had placed their order, and ended up with a
full set to replace it. If that's true, then the customer service totally rocks.
So, if you're looking for an inexpensive way to get a decent set of needles, I definitely suggest checking out the site.
