I don't fuck with plastic needles

Raise your hand if you have purchased needles based on their look... 

Now raise your hand if you purchased needles while at the shop and you had no clue if you had that size in your stash already but you figured you might as well just buy it because why the hell not? 

Now raise your hand if you bought needles because you had some sort of coupon (this was before you discovered local shops) at Joanns...now raise your hand if that coupon didn't work because of the fine print? (because fuck your wallet right?) 

Needles are everything for knitters, without them we really can't do much (unless you are making one of those jumbo blankets that Pinterest makes us believe that we can make using just our arms. Spoiler alert they are expensive af to make and good luck cleaning them). There are so many brands out there and there are so many materials! If you've ever picked up Vogue knitting you will see bamboo, plastic, stainless steal etc. in local shops you may even find the driftwood needles by LYKE. It all just depends on where you look.

But I usually separate them into two camps - metal and wood. Is it PC? no. Will some people get mad? perhaps. Does it matter....not unless you want more info regarding specific needles. If that's the case use the google machine to find the answers. 

10 years ago I started knitting with straight aluminum needles. And yes I definitely did not know what gauge was at the time so I was almost always using the wrong size. But that's okay, I was just a baby and didn't know better. And for all of the new knitters, THAT IS OKAY, we have to start somewhere. 

Now with these needles I found that they were pretty slick as a beginner and I had a tough time establishing "good" tension. I didn't know that it was called "tension" at the time but I do remember that I had all these crazy holes in my scarves and I had excess yarn drooping here and there (wish I had kept my work to show you all!). As a beginner it was also awkward for me to hold the 14" needles (FYI they make 9" ones that are easier to use), had I known that cables existed I may have had better luck. 

When I tried bamboo needles it wasn't because I knew that they could help provide more stability for a beginner. It was because they looked cool, and I thought that the price difference obviously meant they were more superior (isn't that how it always works? Looking at you Apple). With the bamboo needles I was able to improve my technique. My tension got better, I stopped having holes in my scarves AND I stopped  generating new stitches out of no where! But then the problems began....I became a tight knitter and shit got real. 

The tighter my fiber became, the harder I had to try to slip the needles off and the more energy I had to use to do that, the likelier I was to get a splinter. Now before you say, "you got a splinter because you had cheap needles!" I will say to you, "nuhuh." 

Now I'm not sure how I stumbled upon stainless steel needles but my first pair were hiya hiya, and let me tell you they were incredible. Unfortunately my first pair were the sharp Hiya Hiya needles so in a way these fuckers poked me more often then the bamboo. But the trade off was that I could knit as tight as I wanted to without worrying about the dull needles, splinters, or grippy needles (is that a word, doesn't seem right). 

I do want to mention that I don't fuck with plastic needles. They have too much grip and they are not fun for me. I have not tried driftwood needles, so if you have I would love to hear what you think about them. :) 

Thanks for reading my rant.