I went shopping

[LoveBugAngel]

I am so excited! I bought my first set of interchangable needles! I bought them at Michaels and they are by "Boyd" they were $99 but I used a 40% off coupon and my OSSTF discount so I ended up paying around $50 for them! I haven't used them yet because I don't know what to knit haha.

Does anyone else have boyd? Do you like them? good experiences bad experiences?

I also picked up a book on how to knit flowers and how to knit different teddy bears.

[suzeeq]

I believe the name is Boye with no D or L, but that's a good deal on them. These are the Neeedlemasters right? I've got a cord and a few tips; they're fine but the cords are pretty stiff, so it may be hard to do Magic loop with them, but otherwise I like their needles, the tips are very pointy.

[Antares]

I have this same set of interchangeable needles. The cords are a little stiff, but for regular knitting in the round and flat knitting, they work fine. Just be sure to use the key to tighten up the join, and the cable should stay in place pretty well.

These needles are slippery, which is great for some projects and not so great for others. For example, I started out using my more expensive bamboo needles on one project but then had to switch to Boye because the yarn just would not move freely. I find that my stitches are not as even when I use the Boye needles, but generally this little annoyance blocks out and the benefit of having the yarn glide across the needles far outweighs the wonky stitches.

Enjoy!

[mojo11]

I've got a set of Boye's but they're practically antiques that got passed from one person to another until they wound up with me. So they're probably not a good barometer. About all I can tell you about them is the cables (except for one) are really heavy and really stiff. the tips (at least the aluminum ones I have) are pretty slick, which is good for some things, not so much for others. Hope you get good results with them!

[sewreal]

I have the set too. I hate the cables but love the tips. I like my needle tip pointy.

[Jan in CA]

I don't like them for anything in the round, but I might use them for knitting flat. I prefer a thinner flexible cord. Give them a try though because some people do love them!

[Antares]

Sharon, there are lots of different kinds of needles out there, and they range from expensive to fairly inexpensive. Before you invest lots of money in needles you may not like (or even in a hobby you're not happy with), it might be best to just get some cheapo needles. You can find them at Michaels, Jo Anns, Hobby Lobby, or even thrift stores.

If you decide you're going to stick with knitting, then maybe you can find a local yarn store (one that specializes in high-end yarns) and see if they'll let you "test drive" some of their needles. Once you find what kind you like (straight, circulars, interchangeable circulars, wood, bamboo, metal, specific brands, etc. etc.), you can then either search for good deals online or come back here and find out where to buy them.

This topic has been covered many times on this forum, so you might also want to search for "best needles" or recommended needles" and read through those threads.

[LoveBugAngel]

I tried knitting with them for the first time yesterday and I found that the needles keep coming unscrewed, maybe I'm doing something wrong? I know there are some things in the set that I don't know what to do with maybe one is for tightening?

[GrumpyGramma]

I found this picture. Are your like these or at least similar? If you look in the middle of the pkg. the pink or purple needles are pointing at a pin with a loop at one end. That should be the key for tightening the connection between cable and needle. There should be a hole in the cable end for it to fit into. I use a piece of grippy shelf liner to grip the needle tighter and get a tighter fit.

This is for Knit Picks Options but the idea is the same. Options Cable Key tutorial

HTH

[Jan in CA]

I have Knitpicks Options which connects the same way and I never have trouble with them unscrewing as long as I use the key and a piece of grippy shelf liner..

It looks similar to this and is available everywhere.
http://www.target.com/p/basic-grip-s...5/-/A-11172319