I finally did it. I bought myself a set of interchangeable circular needles. YAY!

After what seemed like hours of scouring the internet doing needle research, I finally settled on the Options Interchangeable Harmony Wood Circular Knitting Needle Set from Knit Picks. Technically, my set is the Knit Pro Symfonie Wood set (same company, same product, but they use  different branding outside of North America), but I figured that most of you would be more familiar with the first name. If I’m being completely honest, I would have preferred a Takumi bamboo set by Clover – I’ve been knitting with Clover’s bamboo needles since I cam to Japan, and, on a less relevant note,  I have a bunch of students named Takumi –  but they were almost double the price and the Knit Picks set seemed to be pretty popular online. I had also given a friend Knit Picks needles for her birthday two years ago, and she was still really happy with them. All things considered, I was sold!

The set I ordered from a Rakuten store came with eight needle sizes (Japanese sizes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11) and four cables (60cm, 80,com, 100cm, and 120cm). Because I occasionally knit hats, I also bought a 40cm cable along with my set. I’ve only started to check the gauge for my yellow cardigan project, but I’m really happy with them so far!  I’m not a huge fan of their colour scheme, but these laminated birch needles knit really nicely. They seem to be a perfect weight, there’s a good amount of grip, the ends are the perfectly pointy, and the joins are super smooth – what more could you ask for? My only complaint is that the case they came with leaves a lot to be desired (it’s made of clear vinyl and pretty big), but that can be fixed with a simple etsy purchase. In the meantime, however, I’m pretty much set for whatever project might come my way!

One last thing about this set – I’ve read a lot about the needle size numbers wearing off over time, so I’d recommend putting a coat of clear nail polish over the numbers to preserve them. I did this last night with mine, and it doesn’t interfere with the finish at all. Just a heads up!