Denise Needle Question

We all love the Denise Interchangeable Needle set and we sell a boat load of them on a regular basis.




However, a customer recently told me that they had heard a rumor that Denise was coming out with a set with smaller than size 5 needles.

Despite my bashfulness, I contacted Emily, a lovely lady at Denise, and asked her about their plans. Here is her reply:

"I really wish we could make these smaller sizes because we get requests for them daily. Unfortunately, because of the locking mechanism, the needle needs to be a certain diameter to maintain strength, and that diameter is no smaller than the #5s. We've had requests to do regular circulars (joined rather than interchangeable) because people like this needle material, but if we do that, it's going to be quite a ways down the road."

Here's something else that you might find useful about Denise sets.

Denise Needle Tricks and Tips from Cat Bordhi
posted 2006 Nov

Here are some of the Denise knitting tricks I’ve discovered:

-Make a pair of matching circular needles out of just one kit! You can knit with two circular needles of the same size even it you just have one Denise kit. To make a pair of circular needles in the same size, just use the correct size tip on the end held by your right hand. Use a smaller size tip on the left side. This works because your gauge is determined entirely by the right hand tip, which receives the loop and whose circumference determines its size.

-Tight knitters can knit more easily! If you are a tight knitter and have to work to get the stitches moving along your left needle, just replace it with a smaller size, going down as many as 3 or 4 sizes if you like. See above for an explanation of why this will not change your gauge; only make your knitting easier. Incidentally, this will work in circular knitting only. In rows, you would have to keep switching the tips, making certain you always had the larger tip in the right hand (which you could do).

-If you’d just like to speed up your circular knitting, try putting a needle a few sizes smaller on the left side. The stitches will slide easily, giving your hands a break and your needles room to fly. Again, this won’t change your gauge, just help you knit faster!

-Whoops! Got to start over—now it’s easier! Something went wrong, but you’ve only knit a few rounds or rows, and you’re glad you caught the mistake. Just remove the tip from one end of the cable and all your stitches will slide off so fast you won’t believe it. Unravel, and start fresh.

-The cure for uneven stockinette! Many knitters purl more loosely than they knit. This results in uneven stockinette. But with Denise needles, all you have to do is use a smaller tip on the purl side of the circular needle. Do some experimenting, and find out if you need to go down 1, 2, or even 3 sizes. It will vary depending on the yarn and gauge.

-Applied I-cord—a handy tool just the right size! I use a lot of applied I-cord and it is most easily done with a short straight needle. If you have a Denise kit, you have a nice assortment of very short straight needles, that is, all the tips. Just push a rubber needle tip protector on the bottom of the tip to give your very short needle a nice comfy base, and you’ll find it is a great tool for applied I-cord.

-To try on a garment in process to be sure it’s working out as planned, just add a connector and an extra-long cable (30”, 40” or 52”) to your needle and spread out the stitches. Would you like to add shaping to a garment with intricate texture or color work, but not have to insert increases and decreases? It may be gradually shaped by changing tip sizes (which can be done in seconds). For instance, to knit a shaped sweater in the round from the bottom up, begin with a larger tip, shift to the next smaller size to begin shaping, to the next smaller size after another several inches, and so on, then reverse the shaping above the waistline. Sleeves may be shaped in the same way. Row/round count will change a little, but probably not enough to make a significant difference.

-Picking up stitches is easiest with a smaller needle, so use a very small tip to first pick up all stitches, then change to the correct size to begin knitting.

-Change cable length without moving your knitting stitch by stitch. If after lots of increasing or decreasing, you need a longer or shorter cable to fit your stitches comfortably, just remove a tip, add a connector and the new cable, slide all stitches to the new cable, remove the connector and old cable, and add the tip to the new cable.


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