I use these needles for almost all of my projects, which is why I'm back to order a second set (too many UFO's on the needles--I ran out!). I started with a Boye Needlemaster, and hated it--the connections gradually came unscrewed, and the cables were stiff. The Denise connections have held fast every time for me, and I find the cables very flexible and easy to work with. I use all types of yarn, and have had no trouble sliding it on the needles and cables. I prefer plastic and wood/bamboo needles over metal, so this set works well for me. My husband finds the clicking sound of metal needles annoying, so he also likes my Denise set. The needle points aren't too sharp for me, and I'm a "pusher" (that is, I press the needle tip with my index fingertip each time I make a stitch).
I read that the people who invented the Denise set first invented the Boye Needlemaster, and the Denise set was their second attempt (they corrected the problem of the Boye connections gradually coming unscrewed as you knit). I think they got it right the second time around! I agree with the reviewer who found that the Denise needles weren't her cup of tea--it would be ideal if you could try them out before purchasing. Head over to your LYS and give them a whirl. I can't recommend them highly enough, but to each his/her own!
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Different strokes for different folks a lot of people love this set so I won't just slam it and give it one star. Personally, thought, I hated it.
I found yarn did not slide easily on the needles. I had good luck with a pure acrylic yarn but an acrylic/wool blend stuck and was misery to knit with. I found the needles to be too bendy for my liking as well I prefer the slippery and stiff aspects of metal.
I found the cables, while flexible enough, to be thick and also sticky to the yarn.
I found the needle points sharper than I like.
The smallest needles in this kit is larger then the smallest needles in other kits.
I found the case to be junky looking which is not a huge deal but it's nice when things look pretty.
Lots of people love these kits and I really wanted to love it, too, but it just wasn't for me. IMO the biggest thing this kit has going for it is the fact that it allows you to make a shorter circular than the other kits out there however that wasn't enough of a draw for me to put up with the other aspects I didn't like. Better to have a kit you like to work with and then buy a few shorter circulars on the side.
One other good thing about this kit is that no matter what you supposedly can take it on an airplane. Personally I have not had a problem taking metal needles on but supposedly if the security advisory is high, you can have trouble and it is always up to the discretion of the airport screener you happen to get. It is nice to know these won't be confiscated at the whim of the TSA, but otoh what good is it to be able to knit in flight with needles you hate to use?
I suggest finding a local yarn store that will let you try these out before you buy them there's no other way to know if you will love or hate them.
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I was skeptical about buying these needles at first. I did extensive research online about which interchangeable needle set would be best/have the fewest problems. I tried a couple of other sets with disastrous results and a lot of disappointment. I finally broke down and bought these needles because, at the very least, they seemed to be light and the joins seemed to cause the fewest problems. I am SO glad I took a chance on them because they are wonderful needles. They are very light, feel natural in my hands and the tips are pointy enough to maneuver through the toughest of novelty yarns, but not so much that I feel I will hurt myself when I push them back through the loop to lift it off (a habit I have formed in my knitting).
The cords have a nice feel to them and relax relatively quickly once you get going. They do tend to have a little kink in them from their placement in the case, but it is easily remedied by a little bending action where the kink is. Not a big deal at all. The joins are also stable and I have had no trouble with them popping off or untwisting in the two years that I have used this set. Sure, they are a bit looser now than when I got them, but this just means I don't have to fish around for a paperclip to turn them and not a single snag on any type of yarn to date.
Pros:
They can go anywhere and you will always have your different needles sizes on you if you need to change your gauge.
Switching needle sizes is a snap, literally. You just pop off one set and put on a new one and keep knitting away, no hassle and no knitting with two different needles when switching sizes.
If your project calls for increases and you need more length on your cord, just pop on an extender and snap on a new cord and off you go.
No need to buy several different lengths of the same needle, you can customize these to the length you need, a REAL money saver!
The newer sets list the needle sizes in US and metric, which is a major plus, especially if you like to knit from European patterns and don't want to have to look up needles sizes on the web (if you don't have them memorized already). Also, my husband and I recently got a set of these for my mother-in-law from England and she loves them, as well. It's really helpful for her that it lists the metric sizes since a lot of British patterns use metric sizes.
Cons:
I have to say that with the updated sets, I don't really see any cons. However, if you get an older set, it seemed that the needles were just *very* slightly smaller than most other standard sizes (i.e. these size 10.5 needles seemed to be a *bit* smaller in diameter than my bamboo size 10.5 straight needles). I found that I have to adjust my tension to correct my gauge when using these, but this may not be a problem for most knitters, I tend to knit a little on the tight side. They have seemed to correct this with the updated sets, though. I compared my needles to my mother-in-law's set (purchased March 2008) and her needles do match up better to my set of straight bamboo needles than the needles in my set do (purchased December 2005), so this really isn't an issue anymore that I can tell.
It's too easy to start new projects and I keep leaving my cords in my unfinished projects!! BUT this is easily remedied by purchasing companion sets if you have a tendency to jump around in your projects, as I do. I really love that you can use the joins to clip your cords together when stopping mid-project. I don't worry at all about my yarn slipping off the empty cords.
All in all, this is a great set and one I couldn't live without. The best is when we take road trips. These are so light and so easy to change that it isn't a hassle to knit on the road at all and they don't have the annoying problem of hitting the car doors as straight needles do. I highly recommend this set as a must-have toolkit for any knitter!
Honest reviews on Knitting Needles Set (Interchangeable) - Blue- By Denise Knitting
I have both the Boye and Denise Interchangable sets that I use for both straight and circular knitting. I have a few projects always going at the same time, so I'm always using both sets. However, I noticed I always grab the Denise first. Why? I think it's because I like the way they lock and stay together rather than the screw mechanism with Boye. No matter how tight I make them, they ALWAYS come undone. Plus, the colors come off on the Boye where the tips meet during knitting and look shabby after awhile where the Denise still look new. The Denise are also always 'warm'. Being in a cold climate the majority of the time, I hate having to warm up the metal Boye's first (just my peeve). They only things I can negatively say is that, yes, unfortunately, they do not have smaller cords and needles. So that makes knitting certain socks not an option with the Denise....(that's why I got the Boye).
Now comes the part where the Denise Needle company really impressed me. I have a kit that I got back in 2003. While they still look brand new, I had a few cords that had tips snap off over time(not sure why, I knit loose and was working with light yarn.) They have a lifetime guarantee that covers all knitting parts. So a few weeks ago I sent off my parts with a nice little note and my $1 to cover shipping. Well, within DAYS I had an entire new set of cords and an incredibly nice letter apologizing for any problems or inconvenience to me (I guess there was a manufacturing issue the year I bought them). In this day and age where companies only want your money and seriously lack customer service, this company has my loyalty and will gladly spread the positive word about them on this alone! They seem to be extremely customer oriented and it shows! With Boye, on the other hand, I had a frustrating time getting a correct needle size when the kit was sent with the wrong one (giving me a double set of #6's). So the money for the Denise kit is WELL worth it!! Happy knitting.
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I have an older version of this product at least 10 years old and it is going strong. I don't use these needles for everything, but when I'm carrying a lot of stitches (as in a sweater knit in-the-round) with a yarn that is sport weight or heavier, these are really nice. I knit on airplanes a lot, and really appreciate the face that the TSA doesn't mess with me, as well as the flexibility of this set. The current manufacturers will replace any parts of this set that fail. In the 10 years of knitting with this set, I've had a joint unlock only once, and it was when I was pulling hard on the joint.
I don't use these needles for sock weight or lace weight yarns the points are not pointy enough for me for these weights. But I like the points in the set and the plastic needles slide but are not super slippery.
