Hi,
I've been knitting only a few months and it's a very off and on thing for me because my work life gets stupid crazy
for weeks at a time.
I've recently begun to try to master a few new (for me) knitting skills, including DPNs to work decreases in the round. One problem I had was with the point protectors I was using to keep the stitches from slipping off as I juggled the work while mastering the 'octopus'. I had only 2 protectors and that was not nearly enough to keep my clutzy self out of trouble. A trip to the knit shop was not in the cards so I started looking around for something else I could use.
I found an answer and I'll probably never buy another set of needle protectors from the knit shop. The solution is extremely inexpensive by comparison. I found some of the foam "in the ear" type earplugs hubby uses in the garage and discovered I can cut a small slit in the end and they slide on most needles, up to about a US10.5, nice and snug.
These can be found in multi-packs of 20 to 50 PAIRS for less than 10 dollars. They don't leave a residue on the needle. They don't mar the surface of the bamboo. In short, it works like a dream!!
-Ginger