I was a young, die hard fan of The Nancy Drew series (hence the title of this post). My favorite Nancy Drew book was The Mysterious Mannequin. Anyone else love ND??
I want to discuss interchangeable needles with you. Tiffany and I met with our Skacel reps yesterday and got the scoop on the Addi Click sets. "Where are our sets that we ordered in October?" we asked. It seems they set exceptionally high standards, as they should for $150 per set, and the first TWO batches did not make the cut. "Do you have a set we can see?" we quickly begged. Well of course they did! So we thoroughly reviewed the "set of the century" and here's what we found. Tiffany and I liked them very much. However, we each learned a thing or two that surprised us.
1-The Addi case is strong and elegant, held together by a magnetic flap over the front of the box. It felt like opening a jewelry box-black on black! Nice but about twice the size of the Denise case. Not so easy to pop in your knitting bag but a perfect fit in your suitcase. We gave the case a thumbs up!
2-The size of the case allowed for 12 needles. How did they choose their sizes? First, with the amazingly tight and secure locking mechanism the smallest size possible is a US4-and that is included. The largest size is US15 for all the instant gratification knitters. To get 12 sets in there, it was necessary to omit one so the US 5 is absent. This bugged Tiffany more than me but after thinking it over, I can't recall the last time I used a US4 but I can a US5. Hummm...
And the other big moment was learning they included a US 10.75 instead of US 10.5. Of course this is based on all the metric knitters of the world not just little ole' US knitters. No biggie for me but will take some getting used to.
3-The workings of the needles & cords were NICE. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the join, a spring action mechanism provides a tight, smooth join. And as with all Addi's, the weight of the needles makes them feel like a high quality mechanical instrument!
4-The light blue opaque cords are wonderful and will hold a sweater with ease. The case provides 3 cords: a 47" a 32" and a 24" WITH a connector to make an even longer cord OR attach two ends together and serve as a holder. Nice!
5-In the future, you'll be able to add bits and pieces (more cords, tips, etc) so that will be a plus. But for now, they are extremely hard to get. We are on the large waiting list of shops and hope to get ours soon. Maybe in time for Spring Break? Be assured, you'll be the first to know when they arrive in the shop and I think we will have a shop set you may play with and make your decision. If you can live without a size 5 in your interchangeable kit, then you will absolutely LOVE this set.
Now for the discussion part...
*Any of you own a set already and if so, what do you think?
*How do you plan to use an interchangable set (as your primary needles, back-ups, etc)?
*What do you think of the cost of the set?
*Does it break your heart there is no US5 or not a huge deal?
As always, we appreciate you buying from us and supporting local small businesses! If you want a set, let us put you on the call list and you'll have first dibs on them!
Jo
Adventures in knitting and sewing. Oncology nurse by day with a passion to play in my yarn room and to share stories. Proprietor of the cutest little yarn shop, Knit Picky Yarns, from 2006-2012. (I may be a little biased) Six great years of yarn play. It was great fun meeting new friends & fellow knitters.
