Yes, they arrived and they are beautiful!
I bought these the day they started offering them (Dec. 19th if memory serves) and then had to wait more than a month for them to come as they were ridiculously backordered! I wasn’t that happy about that but the folks at Signature Needle Arts have been amazing at keeping in touch as well as giving me a discount for the next time I order – and as soon as they have the circs available again, you can bet I’ll be using that discount. 😀
As you can see (or maybe not?) I got the Stiletto point 40″ circ. US7 5″ needles, which just so happened to be the *perfect* size for my Swing jacket that I was working on! Is that fate or what? So I quickly switched needles and started working with them:
First thing I noticed? How much longer I can knit without my hands hurting! And this is no exaggeration… it’s like night and day compared to other circulars I’ve used (Addis, HiyaHiya and Knitpicks Harmony). The ribbing wasn’t bothering me *at all* anymore… and that’s quite a feat considering how slow I was knitting it up before. Add that to the fact that these have the perfect amount of pointiness (yes I’m aware that’s not a word) to make knitting that much easier. Oh and did I mention that it also has a perfect amount of grip and slide? It’s like they sat down and tried to think of the perfect surface to knit with and made that into needles! Oh wait, that probably IS what they did! In either case, I LOVE them and can’t wait for my US6 to come (should be sometime next week) so I can use those for another project… just in time for the Ravelympics! I mean, just look at how much I got done on my jacket:
And that’s not even close to what I have done now! I’m completely done up to the sleeves and am working on the right sleeve right now (50% done there)… pretty soon I can join the sleeves to the body and can face the yoke and all that fun math that I did last night – hopefully with no mistakes! These are literally flying off the needles now and I have only the Signature circs to thank for it.
Now, before you all go hurry and try to get some, they do have one snagging point (pun intended) and that is that the stitches will sometimes get stuck right after the join. I believe this is probably less true in smaller needle sizes as (it appears to me) the cable to needle section isn’t gradual enough and this will at times cause your stitches to get stuck in what I call a high-traffic area. A good tug on them will get them moving swiftly again, but I can see how having to do this would be annoying for people. Especially with how much these needles cost!
However, and I feel this must be said, I personally find them worth it if only because I can knit for a really long time and don’t feel any pain in my hands! I’m not old by any stretch of the imagination (well, maybe if you’re 5 and everyone over 10 seems ancient to you!) but I can definitely feel my hands hurting after doing ribbing for too long of a time. Since the jacket is *all* rib, I had to rest my hands very often, which was another reason why it was going so slow for me. With the Signature circs, though, I haven’t once (not once) had to stop to rest my hands… I only stopped if I needed to eat, sleep, work or go to the bathroom… and that’s worth $40 to me any day. 😉
And before I run off to bed, just wanted to share a picture of Hitchcock’s new bed!
Hitchcock is a burrower. If you don’t have a dog that burrows, then I’m not sure if you can understand the extent of the burrowing that used to go on in our bed and the blankets on the couch and even pillows, if that’s all he can find. Hitch just *loves* getting underneath something and digging and snorting and getting all wrapped up in it before maybe falling asleep. Or maybe starting over. In either case, it’s one of his all-time favorite activities.
Knowing this, we got him this bed so he can burrow in his own dog bed (instead of destroying our couch blankets). And it has worked… well, mostly as he still insists on burrowing into the couch blankets. But there *is* a definite decrease in the burrowing activity on our couch as a lot of it is concentrated on this new bed! Kubrick is definitely not a burrower, but he still likes to go in the bed now and then. It’s too bad that Hitch always manages to kick him out of it. I think Kubrick feels a little slighted, don’t you?
Amazing that with your new needles your hands don’t hurt but with others they do. What do you think sets them apart in that way? Anything that makes ribbing more tolerable is a good buy indeed!
Hitch looks so cute in his new bed! Maybe Kubrick needs one too?
I think it’s probably the weight distribution of the needles and the material of it too. I couldn’t say in particular what does it, but it really helped me! 🙂
Oh and Kubrick doesn’t need another bed! We already have three in a two bedroom apartment – the burrowing bed makes four!
LOVE the needles! That’s good to know about the join though. If I try Signature, I may opt for a pair of DPN’s. I’m glad the sweater is going smoothly now though! You will be done in no time! Hitchcock looks so happy and snuggly! What a perfect bed for him.
I love the pictures of the dogs! They are just beautiful! I’ve never heard of a dog burrowing, is it a trait of the breed?
Dogs do burrow, but it’s specific from dog to dog. It’s not breed related as Kubrick is the same breed and doesn’t do it. It’s like some people like to snuggle in blankets to sleep and others don’t… same goes with dogs. 🙂
Hi Caca’!
Your dogs are the cutest! Johnnie is a burrower, too! Sometimes I can’t even sit on the couch with my bathrobe on because he tries to bury himself in that, too! 🙂 But because his jaws can be very strong, too he can’t have a bed like that or he’d spread the stuffing all over the house! – I’ve read it’s breed related: his chewy toys have to be the same ones you’d give a boxer or another big breed like that! Weird, huh?
Beijao!
Pretty, pretty needles. And the fact that they let you knit longer? Perfect!
Pointiness has to be a word – it fills a need so perfectly! The needles are beautiful, too.
Hitchcock is friggin’ adorable in his little bed! My four year old just wandered by and let loose with a long and heartfelt, “Aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!”
Love the needles! I must get some soon! And I always love your puppies.
They look beautiful needles. I find that circulars are so great for comfort. Your dog is so lovely !
Your review of the early SNA circulars is thoughtful and accurate, and your photos are beautiful! I added a link to this entry in a post in the Ravelry Signature Needle Lovers group. I purchased five sets of the original circs, and am planning to purchase more, but am hoping that they’ll improve the join.