So I really wanted some interchangeable circular needles and I completely fell in love with this Parisian Royale limited edition version from KnitPro and was fortunate enough to receive the set for Christmas.
In case anyone else is considering getting a set of interchangeables I thought I’d share some of my thoughts, though bear in mind there are lots of other brands worth looking at too that I have not tried and nor has this review been in any way endorsed by KnitPro- this is my own completely unbiased (and amateur) opinion.
Firstly, aren’t they beautiful? They come in a lovely box with the needle tips set out on top (sizes 3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 5.5mm,6mm, 7mm and 8mm) with a beautiful pouch underneath with the cables in (1x 60cm, 2x 80cm and 1x 100cm), cable pins/keys for loosening/tightening the needles to the cables and stoppers/ end caps to go on the ends of cables should you need your needles for something else.
Let’s start with the positives (though it’s mostly all positives!). The needles are beautifully light to hold and so smooth they make knitting a breeze. The points are also perfectly sharp (without being deadly) making it really easy to get into stitches. If anything I worry they will ruin me for knitting with any other needles as it’s such an easy process with these beauties.
The cables are really flexible and they also don’t get tangled into knots that when you unwind them keep pinging back on themselves. Trying to knit with a circular needle that just wants to curl up and sleep is the worst. The cables are also helpfully colour coded so you can tell just from looking what you need.
I’ve had these for a month now and I’ve used them for several different projects. I’ve done circular knitting on the 80cm for a cowl. This was really easy; the join between needle and cable is very smooth and so there was rarely any catching of the wool even though I was using mohair on 8mm.
I’ve also used the 100cm for magic loop knitting for a hat. The cable is great for working magic loop as it’s so flexible, the only problem I had was as there is a lot of twisting the needle involved (pulling one needle all the way around after each row to work across the next) I did find the needles occasionally loosened themselves from the cable which I’d then have to tighten. This wasn’t too much of a problem as I kept an eye on it, but on one occasion I did miss it and the needled and cable separated and my stitches fell off. 😦 However, I’ve since found if I tighten the needles when I first attach them to the cable using the cable pin/key they don’t loosen themselves. So even if it seems like you can get them tight enough just by hand it’s worth tightening them a little further with the pin.
Finally for those who love to do everything on their circulars if they can (personally I love having projects on circular needles if I’m going travelling as they’re more compact) I’ve also used my 7mm and 80cm cable to straight knit a scarf and that’s also been a joy (there’s no real problem with the cables loosening here as you’re not twisting the needles so much). The only thing I did notice is that the paint markings for the needle size had worn off the needle- which seemed surprising for such a relatively short amount of time using them. They do also have a metal engraving so you can still see the size and I have emailed KnitPro to ask if this is normal.
To summarise:
Pros
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Very light
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Smooth knitting motion
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Very flexible cable
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Beautiful design
Cons
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Cable and needle sometimes detach if not attached firmly
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Some markings have faded (aesthetic issue only)
Overall I am very happy with my set of needles and would certainly recommend them, but as I said be sure to do your own research as well as you might find a set more suited to your needs. If you already have your own interchangeable circular knitting needles let me know what you think of them. I’d be really interested to hear how other brands compare!
