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Signature Needles – The New Kids on the Block

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To test these, I ordered a size 5, stilletto tip, with the bell cap, 7″. As a straight needle user I do like them.

I like the length which may be why the ends don’t seem so unbalanced to me. If they were longer, I might feel the heaviness of them but I really don’t notice it using them. I used it on a slubby cotton 2 ply baby sweater that I split easily with other needles but not using these, as I thought I would due to the pointy tips, surprise to me!

I didn’t notice any change in gauge between these needles and the wooden ones I used on the front piece.
The yarn slides very nicely across the metal needle, no dull drag and not too slippery. I might even get more from time to time as they don’t get splinters like my bamboo and even some of my wooden ones do.

“Hand-crafted, hand-polished and the perfect fit for any knitter’s hand, a Signature Needle is at first a luxury — and then a necessity. No other needle makes a more perfect, uniform stitch, which is why it’s the true hobbyist’s choice.”

On their website, http://www.signatureneedlearts.com/products/ you actually “build” your own needles. Choosing a size, length, tip and cap options.

The company was born out of a “why don’t they make needles with tips that don’t split yarn” statement. “We had many people involved in the design and manufacturing process here at Bothe Associates Inc. Machinists who were non-knitters became experts at crafting needles perfect for avid knitters and they rose to the challenge with a great, reliable product made here in America. In addition, we met with focus groups of knitters who had lots of great ideas to give us a push in the right direction – and so Signature Needle Arts was born.”

Comments

  1. They sound great, all round. I would like to get some longer ones, though, like the 14″. If you have since tried them, do you find them heavy? I have a few sets of my grandmas (definitely not signature!) and they are weighty devils.

    Thanks!

Have you read?

Learn a Flower Bobble Technique to Knit a Fun Shawl

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier. 

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project. 

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible. 

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge. 

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects. 

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy. 

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project. 

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Xandy Peters]