I was going to start the Pirate from this months SK over the weekend. I got the yarn earlier in the week and didn't check if I'd got the needles or not because I thought I must have..... but I haven't!:gag:

I've got a set of Denise's, KnitPicks, several bamboo ones, but none in the size I want for the Pirate! Don't you just hate it when that happens?!

I've spotted some Addi Turbo's on ebay which are 2 pairs for £5.99 which I didnt think was too bad, so I might go for them.....

That seems to happen to me all the time. I have loads of plastic and metal needles (bought in a frenzy of ebaying as a relatively new knitter), but for the most part I can't use them (too slippy, too bendy, too clacky etc). I still don't have the full collection in bamboo though, and certainly not the less frequently used DPNs and Addis.

I swatched for some socks last week and found that they'd need two 3mm Addis - didn't have those. The Ogee skirt from IK needs 6.5 mm DPNs - didn't have those. I even had to buy a set of crochet hooks for that too (pretty plastic rainbow coloured ones though :D).

At least the expense of buying each new set is - usually - a one off. Unless I run the computer chair over them and snap them in half straight from the packet, as I've been known to do :roll: .

I need 3mm ones, I have 3.25, 3.75 and 2.75, but no 3mm!

I'm undecided, Peace Fleece or Addi's? I was looking at Lantern Moon, but can't see any in 3mm....

It's always the way :) What tends to happen to me is that I have the size of needles that the pattern says, but I need a slightly different size to get the right tension - which is then a size I haven't got!

This happens to me all the time. I am always lending mine out to people and then I start a project which inevitable needs the needles I have just lent someone, so I end up buying another pair of needles.

What is the deal with Addis? I keep hearing them mentioned, are they really good or expensive or something? I've not come across them.

:suspect:Does anyone knit with a needle that is near the size needed if they haven't got the exact one? I do, but feel guilty for doing it, and have to do it in a darkened cupboard so no one sees that I am :suspect:

I think I've got the range just about covered now. I have a Denise set and the US sizing together with the UK ones I have (most of which are in old sizes) means that I can usually hit the tension I'm aiming for. I always start off with one needle bigger than the pattern calls for and more often than not that works out. I have all my mother's needles as I knit more than she does, the tips of some of the metal ones are scraped through the grey surface down to shiny metal. I used to pick the lock on the drinks cupboard with them, stack the bottles in my pushchair (dolls dumped on the floor) and wheel the bottles around the house. Then I'd sit and pick the labels off which must have been interesting if you were ever offered a drink.

The thing I'm always looking for is 2.75mm dpns, short, metal with a decent end.

...What is the deal with Addis? I keep hearing them mentioned, are they really good or expensive or something? I've not come across them.
I use the Addi circular needles because the join where the cable meets the needle is the smoothest I've come across. Also, the cable itself is lovely and flexible, not all twisty like the plastic ones. Some knitters don't like the fact that they're a little more blunt than circulars, though I've never had a problem. I've only used the fine diameter ones so far though, so maybe the bluntness of the thicker ones might become apparent. Addi now do a range of finer-tipped circulars now too, apparently in direct response to knitters' criticisms of the bluntness. I haven't tried those yet though.

They're a little more expensive than the standard plastic ones, though for ease of knitting they're worth every penny to me. The cheaper plastic circulars I've bought in the past have turned out to be a waste of money, now I know that I'll probably never use them again.

:suspect:Does anyone knit with a needle that is near the size needed if they haven't got the exact one? I do, but feel guilty for doing it, and have to do it in a darkened cupboard so no one sees that I am :suspect:
If it's something where the gauge isn't that important, then I'll use whatever's closest as long as it's not too far out. Anything that requires swatching to ensure that the finished thing will fit, I'll go for the needle that gives the gauge with the yarn I'm using.

Well, I now have a pair of 3mm needles!

I could have got some from GK or another online place and they would have been here by about Tuesday. But I didn't. We've just been here (http://www.deespatchworkbarn.co.uk/). It might be a long way from you living in Sheffield, but as we live the other side, nearer Worksop, its only taken us about 20 mins in the car (about 17 miles). I love going to yarn shops, I just wish there were some a bit nearer!

What a shop,, Nothing like that round here!!

That shop is definitely added to the list of places to visit on the next trip up the M1. Excellent link, Jules. Added to the bookmarks :thumbsup: .

OMGoodnes!

I love that shop. I *must* visit it soon ... :(

Oh its an Aladdin's cave! Its quite a big shop, yarn at the front part, bits n pieces in the middle and quilting/patchwork stuff at the back. I don't do any of that, but it got me tempted I can tell you!