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I've joined the back bottom squares of the Ragna. It looks pretty good, and I'm about 20 rows above the join right now. The pattern is shaping up nicely. Problem is, iKnit London didn't have any 5mm addis in the right length (or, really any length) for the last couple of weeks, so I was working on a needle that was much too short for the length of the jumper back.
Last night, they finally had more needles in, so I looked. The only had 5.5mm addis, but they had something new in that looked interesting: Square Circular Needles, from Kollage Yarns. They did have a long circular in 5mm available, so I bought it. For £9.25 (ouch!).
Well, I hate them. The square shafts and tips are OK, in fact they feel pretty good to knit with. What I hate about them is the cable. If you'd ever said to me, "Harper, one day you will find a circular needle with a cable that's too flexible," I would have laughed at you. There's no such thing!
Oh, but there is. Knitting flat, with 160 stitches on the needle, you learn right quick that the "KKable" (which won't kink, kurl, or knot, according to the packaging— I should have known to follow my usual 'don't buy anything that misspells words, accidently or on purpose' rule...) is way too flexible. It's like knitting on jelly. The problem occurs when you have a number of stitches large enough that they need to sit on the cable— as you would with any piece large enough to put on a 40"/101cm cable needle. They sit on the cable just fine. They knit off the needle just fine. But when you've completed a stitch and you push the left needle back into the work, the cable is so flexible and the join so floppy that only the needle actually goes through the stitches: the cable just does its flexible thing. So there I was, on the Tube, taking 15 minutes to knit a ws row that should have taken 5 minutes, because I had to fiddle with pulling this needle by the cable (and it's so flexible and rubbery that it's hard to pull!) and by any other means necessary just to get through one row!
Needless to say, when I got home, I transferred the project back onto the too-short addis, and I'll be taking these back for an exchange. Probably they'd be OK to magic loop a simple pair of socks on; in fact, they might be great for that, and if I'd bought them for that purpose you might be seeing another kind of review entirely. That said, although the 'square' feel is interesting, my smooth-as-butter nickel-plated brass addi turbos felt soooo good! Despite the advertising, my vote is going to be for the addis, every time, I think. I don't know why I even experiment with other needles: I've sworn by addis for something like 20 years now. It's always a mistake for me to buy anything else, and most of the time I only buy something else when I'm in a bind, like I thought I was last night. What I have discovered is I'd rather knit on a slightly wrong pair of addis than an ostensibly perfect set of Kollage Squares.
And the price? What's up with paying £9.25 for a single circular needle? I know addis are expensive in the US due to trade things, but here in the kinda-sorta EU, I can get a pair of addis usually for under £4. And they're better. They're just plain better. Accept no substitutes. :-/
I have another class to teach at ikl tonight. Since they don't give refunds, only exchanges, I will probably treat myself to some sock wool that costs about £9.25. Hm...
Last night, they finally had more needles in, so I looked. The only had 5.5mm addis, but they had something new in that looked interesting: Square Circular Needles, from Kollage Yarns. They did have a long circular in 5mm available, so I bought it. For £9.25 (ouch!).
Well, I hate them. The square shafts and tips are OK, in fact they feel pretty good to knit with. What I hate about them is the cable. If you'd ever said to me, "Harper, one day you will find a circular needle with a cable that's too flexible," I would have laughed at you. There's no such thing!
Oh, but there is. Knitting flat, with 160 stitches on the needle, you learn right quick that the "KKable" (which won't kink, kurl, or knot, according to the packaging— I should have known to follow my usual 'don't buy anything that misspells words, accidently or on purpose' rule...) is way too flexible. It's like knitting on jelly. The problem occurs when you have a number of stitches large enough that they need to sit on the cable— as you would with any piece large enough to put on a 40"/101cm cable needle. They sit on the cable just fine. They knit off the needle just fine. But when you've completed a stitch and you push the left needle back into the work, the cable is so flexible and the join so floppy that only the needle actually goes through the stitches: the cable just does its flexible thing. So there I was, on the Tube, taking 15 minutes to knit a ws row that should have taken 5 minutes, because I had to fiddle with pulling this needle by the cable (and it's so flexible and rubbery that it's hard to pull!) and by any other means necessary just to get through one row!
Needless to say, when I got home, I transferred the project back onto the too-short addis, and I'll be taking these back for an exchange. Probably they'd be OK to magic loop a simple pair of socks on; in fact, they might be great for that, and if I'd bought them for that purpose you might be seeing another kind of review entirely. That said, although the 'square' feel is interesting, my smooth-as-butter nickel-plated brass addi turbos felt soooo good! Despite the advertising, my vote is going to be for the addis, every time, I think. I don't know why I even experiment with other needles: I've sworn by addis for something like 20 years now. It's always a mistake for me to buy anything else, and most of the time I only buy something else when I'm in a bind, like I thought I was last night. What I have discovered is I'd rather knit on a slightly wrong pair of addis than an ostensibly perfect set of Kollage Squares.
And the price? What's up with paying £9.25 for a single circular needle? I know addis are expensive in the US due to trade things, but here in the kinda-sorta EU, I can get a pair of addis usually for under £4. And they're better. They're just plain better. Accept no substitutes. :-/
I have another class to teach at ikl tonight. Since they don't give refunds, only exchanges, I will probably treat myself to some sock wool that costs about £9.25. Hm...
