Broken Circular Needle

Aargh!

I hate it when my circular needles break. I’ve had the actual wooden needle sections snap before but the absolute worst is when the cable begins to crack or split.

I then have to contemplate how long it will hold together before shearing off and shedding stitches. If it breaks instantly then I know I have to just deal with it now. The will they won't they scenarios for a half broken cable is so much worse for me to deal with.

This time the cable broke as I was filming a stitch of the week tutorial in the round for the Starburst Stitch. All set up and the first part recorded when I realise I can no longer feed my knitting round the needles.

On closer inspection the plastic cable has snapped in half. Will it last long enough to find

new needles?

Luckily yes, although it was a fairly frantic search through the Woollery looking for another 6mm pair of needles. Not my most popular size....

Time to move the stitches across to the New needles. While they are allegedly the same size, I'm not so sure... Also as I'm moving from wood to metal needles I know the tension and gauge will change. I'm knitting up a cowl so I'm not too bothered about this but had it happened mid cardi there may have been issues. The Starburst Cowl will be released in the next couple of weeks as free pattern here at Babs Gets Crafty.

Luckily not a lace pattern this time around, although it has happened to me during an 800 stitch circular lace shawl. That was a terrible day.

Once the stitches are transferred I’m all ready to carry on, well start over with the tutorial recording anyway.

Pro Tip: don’t waste money on cheap plastic circular needles. They will let you down at the worst possible times and not everyone will have a spare set of needles just in case.

Has this happened to you in the past? Do you have any tips or stories to share of needle breakages and recovery? Share in the comments to help out your fellow Yarn Jugglers.

Bye for now,

Babs x