Interchangeable days

First off, let me apologize for such a long absence. We celebrated my fiance’s birthday this weekend in what can only be described as a bonanza of family activities—several of which I spent last week planning. My mastery of automated reservation services aside, it meant that I didn’t have a great deal of time to devote to personal projects. A flimsy excuse, perhaps, but sometimes weeks are just like that.

Now, sitting here in my tidier, more festive apartment, I find that I finally have time to get around to a blog post that has been percolating in the back of my head for a few weeks. In a show of very uncharacteristic foresight, I managed to snap pictures for this post more than a week ago. (Of course, I assumed that these pictures would be utilized the next day.) Without further ado, then, I present:

The First EVER Twitchknits Review!

*Disclaimer*: This review represents my own personal opinions. I am in no way affiliated with the company that produces this product, nor have I contacted them about creating this review. As a consumer, I know that I appreciate being able to read my peers’ reviews of the products they use; I’m simply trying to contribute to my community.

Please remember that just as every knitter’s gauge is personal, every knitter’s experiences and opinions are subjective as well. This review reflects only my opinion; your experience with this product may vary.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff.

After a period of intense rumination and internet scouring, I finally purchased a set of interchangeable needles. I had been searching for a set that met my criteria (bamboo, 16’’ cords included, good value) with the intention of saving over the fall—when I saw these on Amazon, I pounced, much to the chagrin of my savings plan.

^ That's my excited face, apparently. Not to be confused with my "somebody let me have too much sugar" or "nope I'm not crazy from lack of sleep" faces.

I find it easier to organize my thoughts if I provide myself some sort of structure, so I’m going to write this in order of what I noticed about the set, and then give an overall impression. Please feel free to skip to the end at any time, as I may start a’ramblin’!

Case:

The case is no more than I expected it to be—unlike some of the fancier sets the Takumi Clover set comes in a very basic, black vinyl case. It smelled a little of plastic at first, but now that it’s aired out for a week or two, the fumes have dissipated. The layout of the case is intuitive—well organized, with snug bands for the needles and a deep pocket for the cables. Because the bands are snug, I’m a little concerned about scratching the bamboo tips as I remove them from the case; however this may just be regular Twitch paranoia.

Cables:

Admittedly, the cables (along with the price point) are what sold me on this set. I’m a creature of habit, and 16” cables are my weapon of choice—they’re essential for hats and are great for scarves. I was so disappointed to find that most interchangeable sets don’t include them. (After reading a few interesting google responses, I think that this has to do with the length of most interchangeable needle tips; they are usually too long to be used for shorter circulars.)

The cables are easily my favorite part of the set. They come in their own separate pouch, complete with a diagram for telling the needles apart based on which pocket they’re in.

They are flexible, but don’t fall completely slack. In the past, I’ve had trouble with the regular clover circulars bending back on themselves and or remaining crimped in a certain position after storage. So far neither of these issues has arisen with my interchangeable—it’s fantastic. The only negative thing I can say is that the cables squeak and creak sometimes as I’m using them. However this is extremely faint.

Alright, as I'm being my usual verbose self, I've decided to leave this blog as *bumBUMbum*

To Be Continued...

Return tomorrow for an action packed* review of the sets joins and needle tips, as well as my overall recommendation!

I know, it's exciting right?! I'm totally not doing this as an easy way to get two blog posts this week...I would never do that....this is all about streamlining the content.....yeah......

*Much like recent action movies, the action-packed-ness of tomorrow's blog post may be grossly exaggerated.