I love everything about this set, the cables is so thin and flexible, it has no memory you can take it out of the package spun into a circle and it instantly goes straight. The needles are super light and beautiful to work with. It has a lifeline hole which is amazing to thread a piece of yarn or floss in during your row so you don't loose any of your work......I have many sets I have the Boye Interchangeable set, I have a full set of fixed Addi circulars, the Hiya Hiya Regular Interchangeable set and the Hiya Hiya Sharp Interchageable set. The only reason I gave this product a 4 star is because they could make this product absolutely perfect by adding the swivel to the cable so that you work doesn't twist up as your working, the Hiya Hiya set does have that.
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After reading various reviews and trying out a pair of fixed ChaiGoo's Red Lace circulars, I purchased this set with following understanding: 1) The cables on the Twist's are a little thicker than on their fixed circulars, so they may not handle equally. 2) The ChaiGoo Spin and Twist cables are interchangeable. The Spin cables have a more traditional nylon cable, but they swivel. 3) The cables can be purchased separately, so you can purchase whichever one works better for you.
About the needles themselves. I personally like the feel of stainless over the nickel plated alternatives. In addition to the overall feel they give, I actually like the slight whooshing sound they make as I knit.
To swivel or not: I knit tight. Because by their very nature swiveling joints cannot be perfectly smooth. I have used several swiveling circulars and they all have a little resistance when sliding my work back on the needle, but it has never been significant.
Overall, I highly recommend this set. I supplemented mine with a set of Dyakcraft Heavy Metal interchangeable needles. They are solid stainless steel from sizes 0 through 3.
UPDATE: After using these needles and the Heavy Metal needles I mentioned above, I have several comments:
The joins on these needles are excellent. They are not quite as smooth as the Heavy Metals, but they do stay tightened better if you use the included keys.
Although the ChaiGoo's are great needles, they may not be the best for general knitting. Although many people like this type of needle for every knitting task, the stiletto shaped tips are actually designed for lace knitting. For routing knitting (and purling) stiletto tips may either slow your knitting or make your gauge irregular. Here is why: The stiletto tip by it's nature is longer than a less sharp tip. Proper gauge requires a newly knitted stitch to lie on the body of the needle when tensioning. That means you must push a stiletto-tipped needle further, get the stitch past the tip. For most beginning knitters, this is not an issue, for advanced knitters, it will probably slow your knitting down. Alternatively, you might find yourself knitting fast, but because the newly knitted stitch does not clear the tip, it ends up smaller than the gauge of the needle.
The Twists, being hollow, are very light, much lighter than the solid Heavy Metals. That's good, because their light weight offsets the braided metal cables on the Twists which are relatively heavy.
With circular needles, the cable can hinder or help your knitting. As mentioned before, some individuals prefer cables that swivel, others don't. Personally, I prefer a compliant cable with little memory (tendency to curl), because they make the absence or presence of a swivel irrelevant. In this regard, the Twists are excellent, but not perfect. The shortest large cable actually has the tendency to stay straight rather than curl. With short row back and forth knitting, this actually creates a spring effect that tends to pull one of the needles out of the work. This forces me to grip the needle tighter, thus offsetting the advantage of it's light weight. This is not an issue with the small cables or as much of an issue with the longer large cables. Overall, I prefer the cables on the Twist to those on the Heavy Metal which do have a tendency to curl. I have not worked with the Spin cables, but I suspect they would be very similar to those on the Heavy Metals.
TIP: You may want to buy a short large Spin cable to use in place of the short large Twist cable.
TIP #2: The larger cables are thicker than those on ChaiGoo red lace fixed circulars. Because of this, the small set may actually be a better option than the complete set.
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I love the sharpness of ChiaoGoo Lace circulars, but an added bonus that I didn't know about is the grabbiness (for lack of a better word). The needles are less slick than nickle plated, so it makes working with slippery yarn much easier. What's really nice is that even though they're not slick, they don't drag a lot either they seem to have struck just the right balance and have a nice feel. I only wish the join was the same as the Addi Clicks. If you use the "key", which is really just a T-pin, they stay tightened, but there's always the possibility that they will unscrew as you use them.
Honest reviews on ChiaoGoo Twist Red Lace Interchangeable Stainless Steel Knitting
Wonderful to use! Perfect feel for all sorts of yarn. Remember to tighten to needle-cable connection with the pin that comes with the kit or they will come undone. It is somewhat difficult to find additional cables and other parts. I finally found a shop that carried the extras, ordered several cables, end pieces, connectors and pins. Have yet to see them...
They are worth the wait!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ChiaoGoo Twist Red Lace Interchangeable Stainless Steel Knitting
I have knitted for 55 years and these are really the best needles ever. Not too slippery , the cables are super. The set is so complete.
