I’ve had the Options Sunstruck Wood Interchangeable Needle Set by KnitPicks for long enough to review them.  Here’s the set in all it’s beautiful glory:

I got a couple of extras, like extra cables, ID tags, and cable joins.

I will confess I was a little worried at getting the whole set without trying any of their needles out beforehand, but I’d heard/read good things about them, so I was mostly confident.  The set was expensive, but I saved 19% buy buying all the components together instead of buying them separately over time, so to me it was worth it.

what the set contains:

This set of laminated birch needles contains needle sizes 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, and 11.  There are two metric sizes between 10.5 and 11 that are not included (7mm and 7.5mm).  They have the 7mm tips sold separately but do not offer 7.5.  The set also includes two each of the 24″ cables and the 32″ cables, a vinyl needle case, a vinyl cable case, 8 end caps, and 2 cable keys.

the review:

So smooth and beautiful!

I love this set.  Now I’ve never had an interchangeable needle set before, but I can confidently say that I wouldn’t even bother trying other brands out because these are just perfect.  The cables are very flexible and [so far] do not kink up while knitting like my old ChiaoGoo fixed circulars sometimes did.  The joins from cable to needle are smooth and don’t snag yarn.  The wood is silky soft and smooth, but since it is wood it has a nice grip to it.  I like wooden needles because they are lighter than aluminum/nickel so they don’t weigh your work down, they stay nice and warm in your hands, and they have that good grip on the yarn so you never have to worry about your stitches sliding off (even with double points).  The tips of these needles are way pointier than the ChiaoGoo needles, as you can see here:

ChiaoGoo on the left, KnitPicks on the right.

Getting into stitches to do complicated twists and cable work is so much easier with these pointy tips!  The difference is amazing!  Also, I think that since these KnitPicks needles are made of laminated birch, they will be stronger than the ChiaoGoo bamboo needles (which would sometimes chip at the points during tight sections and cause an awful lot of problems).  Also, the caps are really handy — it will be great to be able to keep my projects safe, secure, and on the cable while I use the needles for something else!  That’s one reason I wanted the interchangeable set instead of fixed ones.  The cable keys may seem unnecessary, but they help make sure the cables are screwed into the tips nice and tightly for use.  The cases are OK — they’re just regular clear vinyl, but they get the job done.  Maybe someday I’ll spring for a beautiful cloth needle roll or something, but for now this is just fine.

availability of Sunstruck needles:

Since the Sunstruck needles are relatively new, they don’t have any double point sets like the Harmony needles do.  Hopefully they’ll make some soon, because while I’m sure the Harmony quality is the same as the Sunstruck, I really would prefer my needles to not be multicolored so that I can see what I’m doing better.  I think a set of Sunstruck double points would definitely be in my future if they make them (and if they don’t, I might end up getting the Harmony ones anyway because I love the sharp points).

that’s it!

So that’s my review!  If you’re in the market for a set I’d highly recommend this one.  It may be a little expensive for poor grad students like me or others on a budget but I think the quality is worth the price and more.  I love them, and I think they will last a very long time!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you pop in again soon!