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Do you suffer from repetitive strain in your hands and wrists or the dreaded tendinitis? Cause SAME! I love knitting, but sometimes it makes my hands hurt. It probably does not help that I work in a lab so my day is filled with tiny repetitive movements, then I come home from said job and knit...several more hours of tiny repetitive movements lol.
I am honored to have been selected to review some knitpicks products and in one of my packages they graciously sent tons of extras (see IGTV video for full unboxing). one of these extras was a set of their Foursquare interchangeable knitting needles. I was so excited because I had been eyeing this set on their site (they may have some mind readers on their team... just saying).
Square needles are supposed to help with wrist and hand pain due to their more ergonomic design.
According to the knitpicks site "These square interchangeable knitting needles have smooth, flat sides that fit perfectly against your fingers and gently rounded corners offer a comfortable, secure grip, helping keep your hands limber and your stitches even for hours of comfortable knitting."
I was sent the short tip set which includes:
US Sizes: 4,5,6,7,8,9,10 (3.50mm, 3.75mm, 4.00mm, 4.50mm, 5.00mm, 5.50mm, 6.00mm)
2 Cables 16" in length
Snapped clear vinyl needle case, 4 end caps and 2 cable keys
Now on to my first impression:
These are beautiful needles and I love the color of the wood. I am someone who likes a wood needle though. Hopefully eventually they will come out with a steel option for those who prefer steel to wood.
Now one comment I saw over and over again in the reviews on their site was that the plastic case they come in smells terrible and I have to concur. HOWEVER guess what guys.....you can take the needles out of said plastic case toss it, PROBLEM SOLVED! Mind blowing discovery on my part I know.
Mine are currently being housed in a knitpicks hook case and from what I can tell they seem quite pleased in their new home.
To test out these needles I decided to make the Triforce Fade Shawl by PerfectlyKnotted.
Now I am bad and hate guage swatching and therefore started in without doing so. Do not do what I do...swatch people! To be fair I have pretty average tension and can usually get away without swathing (key word there is usually).
So by the time a got to row 100 I realized my tension was way off...like way off. Also my hands were sore AF which made me super disappointed. The next day I decided to just switch my needle from the 3.5mm to the 4mm and wow what a difference in both my tension and hand pain. I think the 3.5mm's were just too small for this project and because it was knitting so tightly it made my hands hurt. With the 4mm's the yarn is simply gliding along. SO maybe just don't be lazy like me and do a guage swatch before using these needles.
One thing I wish these needles had (and honestly all wood needles) is a pointier tip. I find the tips a bit blunt, but from personal experience this is a wood needle problem that is not specific to just this particular set.
I am now about 1/3 through my triforce shawl (just started on color two) & I cannot wait to wear it. I also have to say I am now obsessed with knitpicks muse in enthusiasm speckle and want to make everything with it haha.
Also this week I started the Felix Cardigan using these foursquare needles (6mm) and OMG I love them. I have to say I think you feel the difference in the square shape more in a larger size (6mm vs 4mm). I am chugging along on this sweater (using some very special yarn I cannot discuss yet) and know it is going to become a staple in my wardrobe.
Be sure to check out my ravelry to see my progress with these WIPS and checkout knitpicks if you are in the market for some new knitting needles!
-KGC
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