Harmony

I am really liking my new(ish) Knit Picks Harmony wood needles. I have both fixed and interchangeable tip styles. Quick list of pros and cons:

PROS

* Slick enough to be fast with the stitches but "sticky" enough not to drop your stitches if you have to lay them down suddenly.

* Colorful and bright. I call them my "Mardi Gras" needles with their purple, green and gold wood colors.

* Fairly inexpensive when purchased individually.

CONS

* Not interchangeable with Boye cables or other parts, even though they look really, really close.

* No cable connector parts available to take two cables and join them together if you need a really long cable. If Knit Picks doesn't sell the length you need, you're out of luck.

* Fixed needles seem "flimsier" than their interchangeable counterparts. I keep worrying I'll snap it right off at the join.

* No sizes on the needle tips anywhere. Even a single digit stamped into the metal bases of the needles would be helpful. Hanging tags onto cables of a work in progress is not useful for the many tips that are sitting unused in your storage case.

Wow, maybe I should have put the "cons" first, as this is coming off a little harsh. Let me say again that I love working with these needles... I have the Boye set, but there's something about working with aluminum that sets my teeth on edge. Plus the aluminum needles in the Boye set are too slick and way too short... my hands cramp up when I use them because they're not long enough to reach the heel of my hand.

The Harmony needles are a goodish length, have a warm feel and sound when being used, are slick enough to get a good fast rhythm going, and have good points that are sloped just about right for my tastes.