Oh how I love My Knit Picks

Let me count the ways...

the infinite ways I can configure my needles, that is.

Let's be honest, knitting needles are not the most exciting part of knitting, but they can pretty much make or break your experience. Some needles are too slippery for certain yarns, and you'll find yourself constantly dropping stitches. Some needles are too dark, and you can't see darker yarns you may be knitting with. That's why I like to have a needle for every occasion.

Enter Knit Picks Interchangeable Knitting Needles

It sounds complicated, but this really is the most efficient way to manage your needles. Knit Picks offer a few different options. For someone who is beginning, I would recommend getting a standard set which includes Needle Sizes US 4-11, which will cover most projects from DK through to Bulky yarn.

There are a few ways you can configure these needles. Most of the time, I have them configured as circular needles - even when I'm knitting something flat. I simply flip the work and knit back and forth. You can configure these knitting needles as single point needles simply by attaching the needle tip to one end, and the included end cap to the other, and voilà you have two single point flexible needles.

Other Things to Do with Your Interchangeable Knitting Needles

I'm a pretty monogamous knitter, and owning only one set of interchangeable needles helps to keep me disciplined and prevents me from starting a million projects that I never finish. But on the rare occasion that I do need to use my needle tips elsewhere, I can simply remove them, replace them with the end caps and store my project safely on the cable.

Knit Picks even have these adorable little tags to string onto the cable so that when you come back to finish your knitting, you have a reminder of what needle size to use.

If you would like to extend the length of your knitting needle cable you can also buy a set of cable connectors to double or triple the length of your circular needles. I recently added this piece of kit to my collection because I was knitting a sweater and my cable wasn't long enough for me to be able to try my sweater on without potentially ripping it off the needles in the struggle to get it over my shoulders.

There are Even Specialized Interchangeable Needles for Large & Small Knitters

If you love working with super bulky and jumbo yarns, Knit Picks has recently come out with a bulky edition of their interchangeable needles, this is a great supplemental set to fully expand to larger gauges.

Likewise, they have also created an interchangeable knitting needle set for small diameter knitting, which is available in the size range US 4-10 with special short tips and cables for small diameter projects such as socks, baby knits, wrist warmers, mittens, and the tops of hats.

Let's Talk About Carpal Tunnel and Wrist Fatigue

If you knit as much as I do you may find that you can only knit for so long before your wrist gives out, or you may suffer from carpal tunnel pain. I personally have arthritis, and although it's not painful, my knuckles are swollen to the point that it can be difficult to hold a traditional round needle. So I use Knitpicks Foursquare Knitting Needles, the square shape decreases contact stress by giving my fingers a flat surface to rest on while knitting, and although it may not seem like much, it makes a big difference in how easy they are to hold and how long I can knit.

These needles are available in a set of US 4-11, but if you want to knit with more chunky yarns, you can also purchase larger tips individually. Likewise, these knitting needles come in short tips, specifically for small diameter knitting. Plus, there's even a foursquare cable needle, because you gotta have all your knitting needles match.

Now, these Foursquare Knitting Needles are quite dark, which can make it difficult to see when knitting with dark yarn, for my dark knitting projects I still want the square needle, so I use Knitter's Pride Nova Cubics. These are metal needles, so it's very easy for me to see what I'm doing, and I still get all the benefits of a square needle. But here's the best part - they are fully compatible with Knit Picks Interchangeable Knitting Needles. You can swap around the tips, end caps, and cable connectors. It couldn't be easier!

Lastly the Color

Do I need to say much about the color of Knit Picks Needles? I think we can all agree they are gorgeous, but essentially let's break it down.

Majestic Beautiful dark purple and teal- available in round and square needles, as well as regular length and short tips.	Caspian One of Knit Picks' older colorways, it's a luscious blue green which comes in round shape only, in regular or short tips.
Sunstruck Knit Picks' traditional blonde birch wood- it's a light color making it great for working with dark yarns, only available in round regular length.	Nickel Plated Another traditional style, available as round regular length needles but also available as a fixed circular needle (sorry no shorties).
Radiant A newer colorway a vibrant gold orange and purple available as a short set.	Mosaic Knit Picks' newest Colorway which includes Caspian, Radiant & Majestic- because it's hard to decide on just one, only available as round needle, regular length.

For the full range of Knit Picks Interchangeable Knitting Needles Click Here