Knitting Needles and Wool

As promised here is the follow on post from the Vintage knitting Patterns I shared last week.
When I went through my mother in laws stash, as she was de-cluttering in preparation for moving, I took all the yarn that was wool or cotton as that is what I prefer to knit with. :) This is what I have.


 All 8 ply wools and one ball of 8 ply cotton in cream I have no idea what I will do with any of them but will have yarn on hand if a project pops up :)

As an adult I choose to knit on steel needles and feel that they are better than plastic, I prefer the feel of steel in my hands however I decided not to be elitist and took all of the needles thinking I would have a wider ranges of sizes to try different gauges.

This photo shows what I took from the wrap that I am definitely keeping


A closer look at the needle heads ... very retro looking and sweet.


These are the ones I would additionally like to keep but they are damaged. At first I thought it was some kind of substance on the needles Its white and grainy but I couldn't get it off. Now I have started to think it is actually some kind of coating on the needles that is peeling away You can see it in the next image and the close up following that. Click on either for a bigger better look.



There was this quantity again of plastic needles but many of them were quite brittle and some were broken. This just served to reinforce my preference for metal. ( though I would give bamboo a try also ) 

So any ideas as to if the damaged needles are able to be salvaged or used?
Do you have a preference for material your needles are made from?

Comments

  1. I like the click clack sound of metal needles too. Funny I bought some pretty wooden crochet hooks to try once and then broke the hook off!

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  2. I have heaps of needles, mostly steel but am loving the two pairs of bamboo that I have. I have some old plastic and also two pairs of tortoiseshell needles but they are more for show now than using. Tammy some of my steel needles are over thirty years old and I have never had any of them peel like that! So no idea what you can do to salvage them.
    Cheers, Karen near Gympie.

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  3. Hmm what about small steaks for the garden?

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  4. I'd advise you not to keep the damaged ones Tammy, it is the outer casing coming off, I've had I happen to older style needles over the years. Like you I prefer wool and cotton and metal needles -- the foundation/tools of knitting are vital to the outcome so use the best you can.

    Lucky girl to have all that lovely yarn.

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  5. That's an impressive stash Tammy. When I knitted, I preferred steel needles too. I love the 'click' sound as the needles are working.

    Anne xx

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  6. Some of my grandmother's needles had that. It seems to be a corroding of the metal surface. You could try wet sanding it with sandpaper made for metal, but you would never be happy with how they worked.

    I kept the wonky needles and have them in a small vase. They are probably going with this new divesting, but they were nice to have as a memory of her for a while.

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  7. FAR out Tammy what a stash there!!! I am eyeing that wool!!!

    I inherited my Grans needles - so far none are peeling. Not sure what to do about it. If it makes it hard to knit by being to frictionus sanding back will make it worse... Not sure. Just see if it is still okay to knit with. Your MIL must have knitted lots for it to wear!

    I LOVE bamboo needles... If I ever not have the right size (may be impossible with my Grans collection) I will buy bamboo.

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  8. Oh yes i sure do have a preference. Metal for sure. Plastic ones break and i know first hand in the middle of a jumper and i must agree with everyone else if for any reason i need to buy any now it would be bamboo.
    Lucky you.
    xx

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  9. I'm not a knitter but needles are great for use with plant propagation. You can use them to transplant delicate seedlings, for making little holes in the soil and guiding their delicate roots down.

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