Review: Chiaogoo TWIST interchangeable needles (and their accessories!)

This is my review for Chiaogoo TWIST interchangeable needles, and the accessories I've used.

There's a word (välineurheilija) in Finnish that translates to "a person who thinks that the most important thing in a hobby is having fancy and expensive equipment". It's kind of a negative word, but I jokingly call myself one. I enjoy equipment that work and make that hobby enjoyable and, in a way, effortless. I do spend time on figuring out the best option for me (an important distinction!), often even before I've started the hobby! I don't settle for something I'm not completely happy with. And when it comes to e.g. sports, there's a bit of self-motivation involved in it as well, because I know that if I gear up beforehand, it will be easier to start. It's just how my personality works. 

Knitting is just one hobby where I get more enjoyment when I have good, working tools that fit my needs. What works for me might not work for you. For me it's about the details. You can knit with any needles, but it's the little things in design that make it annoying or enjoyable. 

For a while I used KnitPro/Drops wooden (laminated birch) interchangeables. They feel nice, in that they're not cold to the touch. But then I got tired of the poor quality of KnitPro and the comparable producs. Breakage (glued parts not holding), poor threading, yarn snagging on the surface, etc; fortunately I've since forgotten details of the issues I had with those needles, both interchangeable and fixed. And also just the fact that the wooden needles felt really clumsy and it was sometimes awkward to do even a simple k2tog decrease was a prompt to try something different.  

So I did my research and somehow decided to try Chiaogoo's interchangeable needles. I don't remember exactly why I chose Chiaogoo, especially since they weren't really available locally, or even nationally, but the fact that TWIST cables were advertised to have no memory was a very appealing factor. And I'm glad I did! There are only minor complaints I have about them, that it's ridiculous to even mention them, but that part will come later in this post, too. 

I started with just a couple of the small sizes (small sizes start from 2.75 mm and go up to 5.0 mm) with the 4" tips. I didn't want to (nor could I afford to) commit to a set, I don't think there was a 4" tip set available or it was sold out, and the set doesn't include 3 mm needles. So ordering little by little and stocking up those supplies I need the most has worked for me the best.

The needle case doesn't have a slot for the 3.0 mm needles (between US2 and US3), and the slots are a bit tall for 4" needles, but it's still nice and has extra slots for other needles as well. My 5" minis are at the upper left slot.

I really love these needles. I don't think the needle tips are too sharp and pointy, but that also depends on the needle size (obviously the smaller the needle, the sharper it feels). I think I've also adjusted the way I move stitches on the needles so I don't poke my index finger repeatedly with the tip anymore. But they are of course sharper than the wooden needles I previously used, and because of that it's so much easier to maneuver stuff involving multiple stitches, like decreases.  

The hollow stainless surgical steel needles are lightweight and I don't get a metallic smell on my hands nor a metallic taste in my mouth either, but I rarely snack on my needles... They're also smooth and slippery, so my gauge is probably a bit tighter on these than they are with the wooden needles, because more friction makes me intuitively loosen up. But that's not truly an issue, because you can't really choose your needle size only based on what's on the pattern / yarn label anyways, you have to know your gauge. 

Small cable with 3.5 mm and 3.75 mm needles. The cable and the joins are smooooooth. The bend on the upper needle's join has probably come during use and is a bit worrisome.  

I love that the size markings don't rub off, and that there's a length marking also on the small cables. Though I'd like the size marking to be at both ends of the cable, because I always seem to check the empty end first. Both US and metric sizes are marked. The small TWIST cables definitely have no memory, but they're a bit thick and stiff for magic looping, in my opinion, especially with the smallest 2.75 mm needles when you're knitting socks. Not impossible, but not as pleasant to work with as the KnitPro plastic cables were. But that's purely from the magic loop perspective, otherwise the plastic cables have elephant's memory and required dipping in a bowl of hot water to relax, and even then they tended to sometimes regain their memory while knitting and it was annoying. I also tried a SPIN cable, and I would prefer that for magic looping but my knitting is too tight and stitches get stuck on the SPIN cable type of join (I think that's mostly again an issue with the 2.75 mm needles), and also the SPIN cable will have as much memory issues as the other plastic cables. 

Size comparison between small and mini cables.

Queue the mini needles and cables! A while ago Chiaogoo launched mini sized TWIST interchangeables, ranging from 1.50 mm to 2.50 mm. The mini cables are much more thinner and flexible than the small cables. There are also adapters to use the mini cables with small needles. That doesn't really work for me, though, because the mini cable is so soft and flexible that it gives in too easily, and just sort of folds, I guess, when I try to push my knitting down or up the needles. At least with heavier work / larger amount of stitches. I still prefer to loop with the small cables if I'm working on sleeves, for example, but I'm still thinking of researching the issue further. I didn't have as much issues with knitting socks 2AAT with magic loop, but moving the other sock up the left needle to be knitted might have "displayed" this issue, maybe? 

4" and 5" mini needles

The mini tips weren't first available in 4" length, so I ordered the 5" tips (sizes 2.00-2.50 mm) for sock knitting. I haven't done much of sock knitting so my experience is very limited and memory a bit hazy on this matter, but I had some comfort issues with the needles. Since Sock Madness "injury", my right ring finger has been prone to go numb if a needle presses on it, and I was reminded of that when knitting socks. Not sure if it's the 5" length, as I'm more used to the 4" tips, or the thinner needles, or just magic looping socks, that make me grip the needles differently and that happens. But just today I checked my mailbox and my latest order had arrived, which included 2.25 mm and 2.50 mm sized 4" tips. So after I've exhausted my Tour de Sweater enthusiasm, I can test these shorter needles for knitting socks and see if I still have an issue! 

Unfortunately the mini cables don't have any markings. I don't know if it's because it's too difficult or impossible from the manufacturing point of view, but lacking that, maybe they could forgo the "Red" and color code different lengths. Because different colors is always a cheering thing. 

The tricky part of the needles is getting them tight enough so they don't unscrew open while knitting. There's a hole for a cable key (T-pin, or pretty much anything that fits inside the hole!) in the cable, but I personally can't get a good enough grip on the needle itself to be able to twist the needle tight enough on the cable. I have a Chiaogoo rubber gripper, but for some reason I can't get good enough grip with that either, the gripper just slides around the needle. What works are HiyaHiya's rubber grippers. HiyaHiya's rubber gripper is rubbery on both sides, and while it transfers something sticky on the surface of the needles, it's the only thing that's worked for securing the needles to the cables. The sticky stuff rubs off easily. 

There's a cable key hole on the 4" mini needles for tightening

The 4" tips are of solid steel so they do feel heavier, but I haven't really noticed that the weight of needles in general would matter to me, so I can't say anything about the effect of slightly heavier needles. But maybe because they're solid, there's now a tightening hole also on the mini 4" needles (as well as the cables), so you can really tighten the needle to the cable, and I assume without a gripper.

Accessories include cables, cable connectors, end stoppers, adapters, and other stuff I don't have experience with.

I have one pair of small and mini end stoppers, which are cute for leaving live stitches on a holder while working on other stuff. But more often I simply attach safety pins to the cable key holes and either connect both ends of the cables with one safety pin or just leave both ends and the safety pin is (usually) enough to prevent stitches sliding off. 

I read a tip that the end stoppers are actually built from cable connectors, so you can remove the plastic end bit and use the cable connector part for joining two cables together. I have used cable connectors for joining another long cable at the hem of a sweater so I can try the sweater on to see the fit and length without stitches falling off while I'm putting the sweater on. Then I can just replace the cable with the needle and continue knitting with a small circumference circular needle for ease. 

Positives:

1. Very smooth joins 
2. Smooth surface
3. I like the sharpness and taper of the tips
4. Lightweight 
5. Cables don't have memory
6. Haven't had a single faulty item
7. Nothing has broken
8. Small connector pieces
9. Adapters to use small needles with mini cables (and large to small) 

Negatives: 

1. The plastic bags the needles and accessories are packaged in can be a bit difficult to open 
2. Needle case has no dedicated slot for 3 mm needles nor for 7 mm needles, but I haven't (yet) ordered any of the large sizes
3. Chiaogoo rubber gripper does not have enough grip
4. Mini cables not coded for length
5. Some cables have developed a bent join where the cable meets the connecting part, which causes me some concern of durability
6. They aren't 100% silent, though knitting with them doesn't make too much noise either, and the sound is pleasant enough
7. Small cables are a bit rigid for magic looping 

The positives and negatives list item counts seem almost equal, but the negatives are very minor things and most don't have anything to do with knitting itself. There are probably things I've forgotten to mention, but that's it for now.