My Oldest Bamboo Needles

I’ve recently knit a few super bulky projects which means that I’ve been using the oldest pair of bamboo needles that I own. I love these needles. They’re full of memories and tiny teeth marks. Before I got these, I always used cheap metal needles, but it’s hard to find inexpensive metal needles in larger sizes. My options were budget-friendly plastic, which I knew I hated working with, or the expensive but pretty bamboo, so I spent what seemed like a lot of money at the time and treated myself to a pair of bamboo needles.

chewed_needles

At the time, Bean was just a puppy, and she had a certain fondness for yarn. She used to pick up my balls of yarn and run around with them like they were toys. On one occasion she pulled my knitting off the seat of a chair and ran around with it the way hyper little corgis do. She unwound the whole ball of yarn attached to my project in a tangled mess wrapped around the legs of the chair. Another time she managed to get my project down from a side table, and I was horrified to discover that she had chewed on the tips of my expensive new bamboo needles. At 18, I didn’t have the money to run out and buy a new pair of needles without doing a bit of saving first, but I desperately wanted to finish my knitting project. I took my needles out to the garage, dug out a sanding block, and buffed my needles smooth. I was worried about changing the circumference of my needles, so I just smoothed out the little bite marks enough that my yarn wouldn’t catch on the chewed bits.

baby_Bean

The whole needle-chewing incident left me in love with wooden needles. Not only did I find them more comfortable to work with, but they were repairable! I never did replace these needles, and their imperfections are part of what makes me love them.


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11 responses to “My Oldest Bamboo Needles”

  1. Ooh, look at that sweet little puppy face! I’ve buffed broken bamboo needles with an emery board in an airport and another time in the car on a road trip, but ultimately i prefer metal needles. I only buy bamboo needles if I’m stuck and there are no metal ones in the size I need.

  2. I prefer wood or bamboo needles to metal or plastic. I just feel like they warm up in my hand and wore so much more smoothly.

    My cats will play with my yarn, stitch counter, point covers, or anything else. They only play with the needles if I wiggle them in front of their nose.

  3. What a great story. I love that you chose to keep that needle even now!

  4. Aww, puppy love bite marks.

  5. Oh my goodness Bean is uber cute in that picture! I’m currently working on a project with big bamboo needles too and would you believe the same teeth marks!

  6. That little face, and those ears! Love 🙂 I’ve got many bamboo knitting needles with tiny puppy bites in them as well, those little teeth are needle sharp!

  7. JennyME

    That is absolutely the cutest puppy I’ve ever seen! 🙂 Well worth a few bitemarks, I guess.

  8. Donna

    That’s darling! I love working with bamboo and other wooden needles too. I like how they feel. 🙂

  9. My little Coton, Sunny, chewed a needle in my only pair of straight bamboo 7’s beyond repair when I was mid-project and snowed in (aka: I was not going to be able to finish this project without risking life and limb!). Needless to say, it’s a good thing she’s cute!

    1. The cuteness definitely helps you forgive them!

  10. I loved reading about your chewed up needles! When our things have a story it’s like they’re somehow more ours. 🙂 x

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