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Sabrina Fair
Seriously Hooked
United Kingdom
639 Posts |
 Posted - 06/01/2005 : 06:31:06 AM
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I tend to use 2.25mm and I carry my work everywhere. Consequently they bend and get bent back a lot. Also I like to keep using needles warts and all until they get impratical. For this reason the tips wear and sometimes the coating rubs off but I don't mind this.
Also years ago I inherited my grnadmothers needles and her were similar. She had arthritis though which caused some un-even pressure and gave her an excuse for the ends to be worn.
So must you have perfect needles or do you savour the old friend?
Sabrina
Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sabrina_fair1/album?.dir=/7ab3 |
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probablyjane
Permanent Resident
United Kingdom
1227 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2005 : 06:47:44 AM
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Hi Sabrina
I have my mother and grandmother's needles as well as ones I have come across in charity shops etc. Although I have invested in a few circulars and wooden needles recently I could never part with my old friends - they represent the connection between me and the people who taught me in the first place. I made a gansey a couple of years ago and completely wrecked several pairs in the process so I know exactly what you mean. I thought that originally ganseys were made on long steel double pointed needles - have you ever tried steel needles?
Jane
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/janelithgow/album |
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Sabrina Fair
Seriously Hooked
United Kingdom
639 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 01:15:54 AM
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Jane, mostly I use 'aero' aloy because they are the only 2.25mm I can get at the moment. Even for them I have to send to British Columbia.
Sabrina
Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sabrina_fair1/album?.dir=/7ab3 |
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Valk_scot
Permanent Resident
United Kingdom
1281 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 02:05:01 AM
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Bent needles are a PIB. I chuck them out. I like my knitting to flow as smoothly as possible. Waste of my time to use damaged tools. I don`t mind worn ends as long as they don`t catch.
I do keep some pretty coloured anodised ones that I learned to knit on in the sixties though. They are scratchy at the ends so I knew I would never use them again. I made them into a rainbow coloured wind chime for the window in my workspace.
Val.
[img]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/26/26_9_21.gif[/img] |
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Jane
SustaYning Member
USA
4293 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 03:15:48 AM
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My little Brittany DP's (in the very smallest sizes) have developed a slight bend from all the use they've gotten, but it doesn't affect them at all, and I've grown to love the "bent twig" look. With any other needle, nicks and scratches must be taken care of, or else I can't use them -- I want nothing to come between me and smooth knitting! I keep a nail file in my tool kit (it has 4 different textures) and deal with problems right away.
Jane
"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things." Denis Diderot
My album: Jane's Pages
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truly violet
Permanent Resident
6397 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 03:25:36 AM
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when I saw the title of this post of course my first thought was
why pennsylvania of course
hahahah
ok my bamboo's do bend but I don't care
so do my hands....
vi
none of this will matter in 100 years.......except I will finally be at my goal weight...vi
http://notashyviolet.blogspot.com/
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Sabrina Fair
Seriously Hooked
United Kingdom
639 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 05:43:17 AM
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Well done truely violet, just had to go and re-check the titile of the post. Being a Brit the alternatiuve use didn't occur.
Sabrina
Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sabrina_fair1/album?.dir=/7ab3 |
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LilyBeth
Gabber Extraordinaire
378 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 06:56:20 AM
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My wooden and bamboo needles tend to have little kitten bite marks on their ends. My cat is obsessed with my knitting. Two size five Brittany birch needles are a particular favorite. He digs them out of my bag and carries them around the house. I had to move them to a cat-proof location.
So far it's not a problem, but I could see that it could be since the bite marks rough up the needle. If I were working with something that needed to slip very smoothly off the needle, I'd be in trouble. I've considered trying to smooth them a little with fine-grain sandpaper if the need arises. |
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RachelKnitter
Permanent Resident
USA
2995 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 07:13:56 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jcc28
My little Brittany DP's (in the very smallest sizes) have developed a slight bend from all the use they've gotten, but it doesn't affect them at all, and I've grown to love the "bent twig" look.
I use these for cabling, so the bend is actually sort of a plus--they hold the stitches better!
Nature is a haunted house--but Art--is a house that tries to be haunted.
Emily Dickinson |
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Tuppence
Chatty Knitter
USA
140 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 1:13:59 PM
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I still have a lot of metal needles from my high-school knitting days in the 60's. I also have a lot of newer ones, but sometimes the old ones work better for one reason or another.
One pair of 14-inch #6 straights I'm rather proud of - they were originally a deep red color, and the capped-off ends are still that color. The color gradually gets lighter towards the points, which are bare metal. Those needles have some serious miles on them  . And yes, I still use them occasionally. (I'm one of those wierdos who likes straight needles.  )
I also have a set of 2mm Birch DPNs that are getting seriously bent, which is annoying but I still use them. I'm sure that one of these days one of them will snap in two and I'll have to retire them.
I guess I'm just frugal (sounds better than "cheap", doesn't it?  ).
- Marie |
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blwinteler
Permanent Resident
USA
3145 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 1:17:35 PM
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Oh Vi! You and I are thinking the same way! I was thinking "well, they have been to Nevada and California and that is it so far."
I mostly use cheap metal needles. My size 3s got pretty damaged when they got under the recliner somehow, but otherwise they are in good condition.
Take care!
Brandy
My finished projects
Seen on a church marquee: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.
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truly violet
Permanent Resident
6397 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 1:36:33 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Sabrina Fair
Well done truely violet, just had to go and re-check the titile of the post. Being a Brit the alternatiuve use didn't occur.
Sabrina
Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sabrina_fair1/album?.dir=/7ab3
at your service.......and always happy to be a smart ass
vi
who really can be a nice person..... when she is sleeping
none of this will matter in 100 years.......except I will finally be at my goal weight...vi
http://notashyviolet.blogspot.com/
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SR5Rfan
Permanent Resident
USA
1232 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 6:21:30 PM
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Vi - my first thought was "They all stay in California" .... guess we're a lot alike, just on opposite ends of the country! Guess I haven't used my needles enough for them to get warped or worn .... although I worry about leaving them in the car on hot days. Guess I'll have to knit more!
Beth
"I never met a piece of chocolate I didn't like." |
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SerMom
Permanent Resident
Canada
6412 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2005 : 8:40:33 PM
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I've actually managed to bend a couple of sets of Addis, but they're still perfectly usable, as far as I'm concerned.
I haven't been knitting long enough to have really old needles, nor did anyone in my family knit and pass stuff on.
Barbara
Remember, we're self-selecting!
My photos:
My blog:
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Momma78239
Permanent Resident
USA
4859 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2005 : 7:35:53 PM
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I love my bamboos and woodies, but they do develop a bit of a warp over time. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Actually, I think it makes them conform to my hands better. But then I like a rather springy needle (which is why I use the woodies and bambies).
-Wendy
Did you know God was a knitter?
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/Momma78239/StripyFixationribbedsocks.jpg[/IMG]
Oh, no, I'm blogging now! Click to see it! |
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mom4GJ
Chatty Knitter
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2005 : 2:20:28 PM
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I'm so glad to hear that other people's bamboo needles get a bend to them. I noticed that my dpn -- size 2 -- have become kind of bent. I wondered if they had been that way when I bought them, and I had been totally oblivious, or if I had bent them.
Kim in WV
http://mom4gj.blogspot.com
By laughing, you do not use up your laughter, but increase your store of it. (Life Expectancy, Dean Koontz) |
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