Now I ask you, who would imagine that square needles would be the next greatest thing in [tag]knitting[/tag]? I’m old school and still use my [tag]Susan Bates[/tag] and [tag]Berna[/tag]t needles that are 30 years old. Though I will admit I did buy a new turbo 40†circular needle to do the [tag]Magic Loop[/tag] sock thing – more in another posting, LOL.
Quite by accident I found [tag]Kollage Yarns[/tag] advertising [tag]square needles[/tag]. The Kollage website writes that they are easier on the hands and enable you to knit faster with more uniform stitches. Well, I wanted to put them to the test so I went in search of a pair at my LYS. My LYS only had needles sized 9 and up, darn I wanted an 8 to do a dishcloth. Oh well, 9 it is!
Yes, they really are easier on your hands!Round needles are hard to hold especially if you have arthritis, carpal tunnel, or stiffness in your hands and fingers like I do.I was able to easily knit with these needles and did not have square stitches!
Another bonus – when you cast on, your stitches lay nice and straight on the “flat†side of the needle and don’t get twisted, sister! Makes it easier to do that first row.
I want to do a whole project with these needles to see if square needles change the look of a pattern, but that will need to wait for a bit. Need to find a store that sells smaller sizes and finish some of my other projects.
I have used the square needles on multiple projects now. They really do improve teh consistency of teh guage and are erally very nice to use. I find that I am able to knit llonger without my hands starting to ach. If you are still looking, http://www.yarmbazaar.com seems to always have the full selection of sizes in stock.
Sorry, spelled that wrong. It is http://www.yarnbazaar.com
I have not used them I think they look great probably easier on the hands to knit with I need to get some
Louise