Comments on: I’m sick of knitting.

By: Cheryl S.

Cheryl S. — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:35:58 +0000

I am -SO- glad you posted about this. I was going to buy a few of the needle tips to try them out, since I like having a grabbier needle when I work with slippery yarns, and the people I know who’ve tried the Zephyr/Spectra needles have liked them. But I also have Reynaud’s.

I found out about the vibration white finger because I was having a particularly bad time with the Reynaud’s symptoms while knitting a shawl on a some 3.25mm needles (KnitPicks nickel-plated). I suspected that the knitting was causing the problem, so I researched it and found out about the connection. Since I finished that particular shawl 2 years ago, I’ve really not had any problems with the Reynaud’s, even though I’ve done a ton of knitting since then, with needles that are larger and smaller. But I don’t think I’ve knit anything except some ribbing with 3.25’s since, and I wonder if it was something about that specific size, or the combination of the size needle and the weight of the shawl on the circular cable.

At any rate, I won’t bother trying the acrylic ones now, since I don’t want to risk the same problem that you had. I’ll stick with the wooden ones when I need something grabbier than metal. I really like the wooden tips, but I find it hard to knit dark laceweight yarn with them because of all of the colors in the wood — I wish they were plain-colored, so I could see the yarn better.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:34:23 +0000

Wow, what an interesting post. First time stumbling upon your blog. I’ll be back.

By: Cecily

Cecily — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:52:51 +0000

Hi:
Wow I would never have thought of the needles. Great you tried the wooden ones. I don’t like knitting with plastic needles, they do grab to much. Glad you figured it out. I couldn’t imagine not being able to knit. That would be like not being able to breathe.
Happy Knitting!

By: Donna

Donna — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:54:00 +0000

How interesting. This probably (hopefully) doesn’t have any relevance to you, but I have diabetes and when I have low blood sugars i get this in my hands too. Doesn’t matter what needles I’m using at the time.

By: BinaryGoddess

BinaryGoddess — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:44:54 +0000

I have a set of those tips in the smaller size and I hate the way they vibrate when I knit with them. I don’t literally get sick, but they grate on my nerves with a vengeance! I hope knitting with the wooden needles clears up the problem for you, it would be a shame to lose another cute knitter

By: Liz

Liz — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:21:46 +0000

Wow! Who would have thunk it??? I’m glad you don’t have to quit knitting as that would be a tragedy. I used to be a long distance runner and I had an similar condition in my feet. They would go numb while I was running. I would have to take off my shoe and walk during races for about 20 yards to get the feeling back. It still happens sometimes while on the treadmill or elliptical trainer. That is so weird about the acrylic needles, and I never would have thought about vibrations or grabbiness….just the price. I’m glad I didn’t just rush out and get some when they came out!

By: Gilly

Gilly — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:29:39 +0000

I’m glad you’re not sick of knitting in the sense that you’re not going to do it anymore because i love your blog and I especially love your photos of what you’ve made. Beex Geeks rule