Like so many knitters, I am curious about the latest gadgets. My stash is large. I feel guilty acquiring new yarn. (In spite of this, whatever yarn I want for my next project never seems to be a yarn already in the stash.) But, I do want to support friendly local yarn shops. When I was in Ligonier, Pennsylvania last year, Kathy Zimmerman had Prym double-pointed needles in her shop. I had seen these at TNNA in the summer of 2018. Actually, I had seen the straights, but had not seen the double-points. When Kathy had some, I bought a set.
It turns out the
Prym
double-points are rather nice. I'm not typically a fan of plastic, but these
are okay. They are not as slick as metal, but they are smooth. They have the
correct amount of friction. They are also lighter and warmer than metal. They
have a little give, which can prevent hand fatigue. And they have a triangular
cross-section. As a fan of the sadly discontinued Kollage square needles, the
unusual cross-section is a selling point for me.
What is really useful is the tips.
The challenge with double-pointed needles is the ends are open. Stitches have a way of falling off the cliff. The Prym needles have tips shaped like the top of a bowling pin. The tips are blunt, preventing splitting yarn. At the same time the tip shape makes it possible to execute maneuvers, such as decreases. And the needles come in a 20cm/8 inch length. With the good long length, the bulb tip, and the slight amount of friction, stitches tend to stay on the needles where they belong.
I haven't tried the Prym circular needles yet.
While I am a fan of magic loop, there are times when a double-pointed needle is easier. If I am working center-out from a point, I prefer to start on double points. If I am working modules, those are also usually easier on double points. Small knitting can be easier on double-points. Mistake fixing is usually easier on double points. Thus, I decided to invest in a set of Prym 20cm ergonomic double-pointed needles.
I started by calling
Kathy's Kreations. She had several sizes in stock, but not all of them. She happily took a
phone order and the needles arrived in under a week. Fortunately, when I went
up to South Carolina last weekend,
Yarn & Y'all
had most of the rest of what I needed. That made the trip worthwhile!
Sizes are metric: 2.5mm, 3.0mm, 3.5mm, 4.0mm, 4.5mm, 5.0mm, 6.0mm, 7.0mm,
8.0mm. I'm already swatching a pair of socks on the 2.5mm.
Prym is based in Germany, so I guess these thoughtful needles are the result of German engineering? The metric sizing means the 7.0mm size is US 10.75 equivalent. I ended up ordering that one off the Internet. There are several products on Prym's English-language but European website that I have not seen. For example, apparently they make a color-coded set of the four smallest-sized double-points. This looks like the perfect gift for sock and mitten knitters. And they have black "carbon technology" double-points in 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm, 3.5mm, and 4.0mm sizes.
Now I'll need to acquire a needle roll to keep them all safe and sound!
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