Knitting

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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?

Knit Little Fish to Use Your Yarn Scraps

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out. 

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs. 

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make. 

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color. 

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash. 

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail). 

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs. 

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]