Time for a review and another giveaway, I think*. Let’s talk about knitting needles.
KnitPro (that’s Knitter’s Pride in North America) are busy expanding their range even further. They sent me samples of two of the new products to review: small (2.25mm) short-length fixed circular Symfonies for socks or sleeves, and this splendid set of Royale interchangeable circulars:-
But let’s begin with the Symfonies. Many of you will have knitted (or crocheted) with Symfonie needles or hooks at some point, or at least have seen them with their subtly multi-coloured wood. They’re attractive, affordable, and versatile (lots of sizes, medium-grippy). Fixed circulars are nowt new for them, but they’ve just introduced some shorter length (25cm/10″) small needles for knitting socks and sleeves. Sizes go right down to 2mm (US size 0). Here’s the 2.25mm (US size 1) beauty, fresh out of its packaging:-
I have to say, though, that I was nervous. I’ve owned 3mm Symfonies before, and most of them have sadly gone to the great needle caddy in the sky because they snap rather easily. Or perhaps I’m just an exceptionally violent knitter. May they rest in peace. (For the small stuff, I use Karbonz these days.) So when these even smaller needles dropped through the letter box, I approached them with a certain terror trepidation. BUT you don’t get to be a knit blogger without fearlessly wrestling the tigers that others wouldn’t dare approach, so in the name of science, I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and picked up the needles (very carefully). And I knitted some socks. And the needles survived. They survived the knitting, they survived the marauding twinnage, and they survived being carried around in my handbag. Being tiny, they were perfect for knitting on the Underground when I popped down to London:-
And they DIDN’T SNAP. They’re shorter than regular Symfonies, and y’know I think this is an advantage in the not-snapping department.
They were a joy to knit with. You’ll know the feeling if you’ve used Symfonies before. Made from hardened laminated birch, they’re a lot smoother than – say – those cheap bamboo needles at the back of your cupboard, but not as slippy or as cold/hard as metal needles. Their medium-grippiness makes them fine for pretty much any yarn. They’re nice and sharp, too, which helps in fast and accurate stitchery. The joins from needle to cable are smooth, so even though you might feel the tiniest jagging and snagging as your yarn crosses the boundary between the cable and the metal base of the needle, it’s not enough to be a problem.
It’s always difficult to review needles and hooks because personal preference is such a huge part of the equation. But unless you have a total aversion to circulars, I’m willing to bet half a skein of merino that you’d like knitting with these. Mini circulars for socks are an increasing ‘thing’ these days, much to the joy of anyone who dislikes the knitting ninja of DPNs, so these are bound to do well, and with good reason. Just be careful not to sit on them, OK?
So let’s talk about the Royales. They’re rather beautiful, don’t you think?
Like Symfonies, they’re made from hardened laminated birch so feel warm to the touch and medium-grippy, but unlike Symfonies, the tips are metal. This set of interchangeables comprises four pairs of needles (3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm, and 4.5mm), with three different cables – each length a different zingy colour – and packs of cable connectors and cable stoppers. Look!
Even the case is pretty:-
Royales – whether straights or circulars – are colour-coded by size for easy identification (and prettiness!) I do like the combination of sharp metal point and warm wood needle. The metal points are the same sharpness as those on the Karbonz needles, great for fast-and-furious accurate knitting.
Oh, and you know that annoying experience when the size marking wears off your needles after you’ve used them a couple of times? Well KnitPro has wisely addressed that by etching the size into the metal as well as printing it on the wood:-
…AND as you can see from this photo, the join between metal and wood is pretty smooth.
The only downside is that unlike the Karbonz, these needles have a teeny tiny little hole on one side of the metal tip. (See the first photo in this blog post, near the bottom of the pink needle.) And even though it’s little more than nought-point-nothing mm across, I somehow managed to jar the tip of the other needle on it almost every flippin’ stitch. This is a very minor gripe, because it’s just a momentary sensation and the hole isn’t large enough to cause a significant problem, but it did interrupt the smoothness of the stitch motion very slightly. (Jeez, I’m nit-picky today. At this rate I’ll be criticizing these beasts at a molecular level.)
You’ll like these needles if you like the warmth and colour and grippiness of wood, but want the speed and precision of sharp metal tips. The colours are pretty and muted. Royales are available as straights, circulars, and DPNs so there should be something in the range to suit your knitting.
Shall we have a giveaway? Yes?!
OK, who’d like to win a set of Royale interchangeable needles worth £40, just like the one pictured in this post? You would? Well here’s your chance.
To win a set just like THIS:-
…all you have to do is leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
For an additional entry, ‘like’ TheTwistedYarn’s Facebook page RIGHT HERE and comment under the post there for this blog post with some way of reaching you (e.g. Ravelry username).
Giveaway is open… ready… steady… NOW!!!! …and the final whistle will sound at 12.00 midday (GMT) on Sunday 18th September 2016.
Competition is open worldwide!
When the contest closes, I will use random.org to generate the number of the winning entry, and will contact the winner for their address so that KnitPro can send out the prize.
GOOD LUCK!
*Usual disclaimer: I didn’t pay for these needles, so my fickle little head has clearly been turned by a freebie. But just for the record, pretty much every knitting needle I own is KnitPro, so I’m happy to say that I love their products even when I’m paying for them.
Oh man, I would love to own a set of interchangables then I could stop borrowing my friends!
I would love to try the needles with the metal tips.
Great giveaway….I would love to use these –
kifknits on ravelry
Lovely needles?
So lovely, I would love to work with these.
Sorry, I forgot…Elizabeth379 on Ravelry.
I would love to win a set of the needles.
They look and sound awesome. I would love to try to knit with them. Thank you for an awesome giveaway.
sisterrobinson at Ravelry
These look so nice! Knitters Pride is my favorite brand of needles!
I’m vernalequinox on Ravelry.
Moby Knit – I vote that you should win the needles for having the best name! Thanks for giving me a big LOL this morning.
I would love to win this wonderful set-thanks!
Ooooohhh pretty! Thanks for the opportunity to be in the draw to win this set!
Love those needles;-)
I would love to try the metal tips! czsknits on ravelry
?
Ravelry: sylinreallife
They sound fantastic!
doijdd@gmail.com
the needles look great. I would love to try. Just found your blog and will be returning. thanks for the wonderful give away
What a lovely set of needles. I can never have too many. Somehow I always seem to need tha size that’s already in use! Thanks for the giveaway!
The needles look fab. Just the thing to spur me on, thanks, Lisa.
I like the symphony needles but same as you I have snapped some of them and was sad because I like them very much. These new needles sound great and I would love to use them, your report is very convincing 🙂
I’ve never met a KnitPicks that I haven’t liked!!!!
Yes, I would love to win these needles
I love knitter’s pride wooden needles. I haven’t tried interchangeables yet, but I’d like to. Thanks for the giveaway.
Those are gorgeous!
Thank you for hosting this and your reviews are always helpful.
Thank you for doing the giveaway. I would love to win.
Would love to win. A fab prize
I I would really love to win this set. It looks beautiful
Rav I’d is purple
I have been looking at these for a while–would be even better to win this set!
Thanks for the opportunity!
Grammie on Ravelry
Those look really nice – I didn’t know they were making metal tipped wood needles!
Marlitharn on Ravelry
would be wonderful to win a set of needles. those look wonderful
I’ve been starting to think about moving to interchangeables, so this would be a good way of achieving that!
Thanks for hosting the giveaway.
Great review, thanks for sharing your honest comments with us. I like the speed of a metal tip, but sometimes the overall needle is just too slippery.,
dianelaces on Ravelry
My daughter is a brilliant knitter, even though she is fairly new to the craft. I would love to win these needles for her. We both love your blog, Twisted!
Catessa
I’ve never used interchangeables and would be thrilled if I got to try these out. I agree that they’re very pretty.
carolsumie on Ravelry
Interesting, would love to try a wooden needle with a metal tip – I am a loose knitter, so maybe these would help me without slowing down while using wood. Thanks for the giveaway! BeckyU on Rav
OOOOH! I’d just love to own a pair of these needles. Just think of the bliss of knitting with those with some yummy yarn. Swooning just thinking about it.
As a crocheter who just started knitting, these would be great as I do not have any interchangeable yet.
nyctale on ravelry.
I would love to randomly win these needles. Learned to knit when I was quite young – my first experience of circular needles was (and this will give my age away) kntting a lopi jumper when they were the height of fashion which was a fantastic achievement for me. Last few years have been about learning to crochet and know I’m back to knitting the spindrift shawl which I’ve seen some bloggers mention. My terrible throwing technique is making this more difficult than it should be.
Love these pretty needles! Thanks for the chance to win!
They look fantastic and if they are as easy to use I would live them.
Beautiful, happy hands,happy beart
I would like to enter!! Beautiful needles and thank you for the opportunity!! ~craftylauren97 on ravelry
Awesome giveaway! Thanks for the chance to try these!!
Sunbonnetsusan on Ravelry
Oh please be me!!?
Want – want – want – like – like – like – pretty needles make the world go round cfoxbetts@gmail.com
I must admit I do have a tendency to us the good old bamboo needles but these look awesome ?
I would love to try these needles. Thank you for the opportunity of a chance to win them
What a great freebie, just in time for knitting winter socks
This week would absolutely get me in the right frame of mind to challenge myself to learn how to knit socks… Fingers crossed!
Yes please, you can never have too many needles!
Perfect combination – wooden needle with a metal tip. Like the size etched on them, too. Ravelry: backstagebear