A set of shorter straight needles has been on my wish list for a while. I have assorted, vintage long ones, but they can get in the way while knitting in more confined areas...
I am also on a budget. So when I came across these on amazon the other day, I thought I give them a try. (Not an affiliated link. I am thinking of joining the affiliated program though. Every penny counts, no?)
Anyway.
I thought 12 bucks for 11 needles was worth a shot, and they come with a needle roll. So no extra work of making one (although I still might.)
Once they arrived, I checked them out a bit closer. The tips were blunt. Almost squared off. That's not going to work with the way I work. I knit a lot of lace and pointy needles are your friend.
I tried knitting with them "out of the box" and also found them a bit sticky. The yarn liked to grip onto the shaft and made it tedious to push the stitches back and forth. Now for new knitters, this might be a plus until you get a bit more used to the whole working of the sticks. Anything to help from dropping stitches is welcome in the beginning. I, however, knit for speed these days. After doing it for 40 years, I want to go fast lol.
Both of those shortcomings are an easy fix on bamboo (or any wooden) needles though.
Some of the end beads also were less than perfect. But honestly, I don't mind it all that much.
I show you how I fixed the tips and grippy-ness issues.
You need:
🟢A file. I have on on my leather man tool, but an emery board, or sandpaper will work. Make sure the sandpaper is not too rough.
🟢A bit of beeswax. I have always some on hand to condition my sewing threads anyway. You can get the beeswax hearts from me actually. Just dm me. I use organic beeswax from happy bees!
🟢And a piece of cloth.
At first file/sand the needle tip to your desired sharpness. You could run the thicker ones through a pencil sharpener if you like.
Then rub the beeswax over the tip (if you want the rest of the needle smoother, like I did, rub it over the whole thing).
Now grab the rag and polish the wax. You don't want to rub the wax off. You want it to melt. So get some friction going. The friction will generate heat and make the wax melt into all the little imperfections in the wood and make them smoother.
Presto! Needles with a custom tip for $12. Not bad!
I have also replaced broken double points this way. I had one from an old set but it was way longer than the set I was currently using, that had a casualty. So I clipped it to size with my nail clippers. Sharpened the blunted end and waxed it. È voila! New set to finish the sock.
Hope this helps a few people.
Of course I would recommend that you always buy the best tools within your price range. That said, not all of us are sitting on a pile of cash. And if you just want to try out knitting and don't know if you even like it, something cheaper might be OK. This is a way to make even the not top of the range, super pricy tools better and feel more luxurious. Bamboo is a great renewable resource. It grows faster than Birch wood (although I do have to say I have a soft spot for Birch wood needles) and is more environmentally friendly to be cut down for needles.
Until I get around to replacing everything with my hand carved needles, these will do just fine.
And remember: if you want to learn how to knit, or crochet: I teach! 😘
Happy knitting! Xo,
B.🐝