Its already been established that I am the world' pickiest knitter. I am just never satisfied with my knitting needles. having tried a fair few (Addi Clicks, KnitPro Symphonies, Chiaogoo Reds) - there is always something that irritates me - the join, the length, the strength, etc. The latter needles were aiming to be the best ever - sharp, smooth joins, nice grip, but I began to realise that I always felt like I was fighting them. The cable (which is designed to never kink), combined with the 5" tips, always felt like they were pulling in opposite directions and I had to wrestle them back together. Just so much work, especially when I was using shorter cables or working at a finer gauge.
It took me awhile to figure out the problem and then a bit longer to decide what to do about it. I really love those Chiaogoo reds, but they so often made me want to impale something - especially when I was knitting the Puerperium, so a quick sale was negotiated with a friend and a replacement was found in the form of KnitPro Karbonz.
These are carbon fibre needles with a steel tip. They have the same basic set up as the Symphonie- size and needle shape are about the same and the cables are very similar - maybe a bit stiffer, but its really hard to tell. They are truly lovely needles. They seem unsnappable (though, I haven't tried that hard), the joins seem smooth and I was able to magic loop with them - something I simply couldn't have done with the Chiaogoos. All in, I am just so pleased with them - a real joy to work with, even as my adult-sized superchunky weight cardigan gets heavier.
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The jumper I am working on is Aidez, worked seamlessly. My pattern notes go into the details of what I have done to make it seamless in the 44" size. Also, every single one of my latest knitting projects is a shade of blue. Obviously, this must be my new favourite colour!