Purchasing knitting needles..

[khyu777]

i'm quite a beginner, I've knit a little scarf before but that's all

i want to begin knitting again, and i'm wondering whether i should get an interchangeable set or just buy needles as i knit..

i think i'm gonna be knitting a lot, and for a long time

i'm planning to knit scarves mainly, but sweaters and hats also

so would it be better to purchase a whole set, or just buy needles as i need them?

[Plantgoddess+]

If you're sure you will continue knitting then I would spring for the interchangeables. I haven't used my old collection of needles hardly at all since most of what I make uses either my interchangeables or my sock dpn set.
If you're not sure that knitting is for you long term then just get what you need for now. You can always add an interchangeable set later.

[globaltraveler]

What she said.

I will say that I'm quite certain, after starting knitting on New Year's Eve, that I'm going to keep knitting. I really love it! Also, I'm traveling, so I need not to be carrying five jillion sets of needles with me. So I bought interchangeables (the KnitPick/KnitPro Options -- both wood and metal, I'm afraid), because I'm going to be doing a lot of different kinds of knitting. I want to do lace, and I love mohair, and I want to use a lot of different weights of yarn -- basically I want to do everything! (In the short time I've been knitting, I've worked projects with 15 mm, 6 mm, 2.5 mm and 7 mm needles!)

If I was only going to work in a few basic gauges, I'd probably just get Addi circulars and some DPNs as I needed them and in the sizes I needed them.

Since the project I'm working up to soon calls for, let's see, five different sized circular needles with a variety of lengths, the interchangeables are coming in handy already!

[khyu777]

So,, i'm probably gonna get the interchangeable set..
I've researched a TON about interchangeable sets..
and i finally got down to Denise interchangeable and KnitPick Options.

now, what im wondering is which one i should get..
Denise has wider range of needles and cable lengths
KnitPick Options is metal (i dont think i want harmony...) and faster..

is cable length more important than how fast you'll knit?
and if i can buy dpns to knit mittens, etc. and not use magic loop, would knitpick options be better?

THANKS A LOT!

[losnana]

There is a great thread on this forum comparing the two, maybe done by Amy. I just can't find it right now I have the Options and have never tried the Denises. I love the Options and haven't used anything else since I bought them. The cable is extemely flexible. There are many threads here about the various kinds. These are just a few of them.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/sh...hlight=Options
http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/sh...hlight=Options
http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/sh...hlight=Options
http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/sh...hlight=Options

[khyu777]

im going for Options! Denise just dont seem to win me over Options.. Options are so attractive :]

[globaltraveler]

Have you tried knitting with either of them? That's really the most important, getting one that feels good under your hands. Because the Addi's were my favs and everyone said the Options NI were most like Addi's, it sold me...and it's true, they're very similar, I think.

That said, I was just talking with my SIL this morning, who has the Denise set. She said now that she's owned them a while, she wishes that she had the Options instead, but can't justify buying them when she has the Denise. She knits lovely things with them anyway.

So if you can, try them out and see if you like one over the other. If you like metal over plastics or resin or whatever the Denises are made out of, then I'd get the Options -- which is what I did. For me, because I really prefer metal over anything else, it was fairly easy once I found out they were close to Addi's.