Product Review – KnitPro Karbonz (updated)

So after my previous review  the people at KnitPro kindly got in touch and asked if I’d like to try out their new carbon fibre needles which are currently in the testing stage. They kindly sent me a set of dpns and a 3mm circular to try out.

The first thing I did when they arrived was try the needles in my needle gauge as the previous needles I’d had didn’t match with the size that was printed on them, these however went quite comfortably through the 3mm hole with no problem, a good start. The main difference with the new batch of Karbonz is that they now come with a metal needle tip which then tapers into the carbon fibre shaft of the needle. This solves the problem of my fingers turning black after a period of time, it also ensures that the point stays ‘sharp’ (another thing I found with the recalled Karbonz is that tiny pieces of carbon fibre were breaking off leaving the tips jagged) and smooth. The join between the metal tip and carbon shaft is practically flawless, my yarn slides easily from one surface to the other with no problem at all. It’s very easy to get a rhythm going and it feels a little bit like the best parts of knitting with metal needles (precise, clean and strong points) has been combined with the strength, smoothness and flexibility of carbon fibre.

A few years ago I came up with an idea of taking a wooden needle and combining it with metal tips in order to get the sharper points that you just can’t achieve with wood. My concern though and what I couldn’t seem to get right was the join, it was either too rough, too flimsy  or would have led to the wood splitting. KnitPro seem to have made this work and so far I can report no breakages or lost tips yet and while I don’t go out of my way to test things to the point of destruction being a designer means my needles see a lot of action and so far these new Karbonz are holding up nicely.

The cable is the same sleek, flexible black cable that was on the previous generation of Karbonz. One of the things I’ve always liked about KnitPro’s needles are the flexible cables. Other manufacturers have used materials in the past that haven’t had the same level of flexibility and often needed to be soaked in warm water prior to use in order to loosen the cables up a bit. This is one problem I’ve never had with KnitPro, even going back to my first set of their metal interchangeables with the purple cables I remember being impressed at how easily the cable unwound and stayed flat with no persuasion. I can only assume the black cables are made of a slightly different material because they seem so much more flexible and pliable than even the purple ones, which especially when starting off a new project the value of which is definitely something that can’t be underestimated.

At £10 a time and despite all their good points I would still consider these to be a knitting luxury, something to put on my birthday list or treat myself to once in a while. I’ll definitely keep them in my knitting arsenal particularly when knitting those cable patterns that I just keep breaking tips on. I suppose the appeal of the carbon fibre needle is that they provide flexibility and strength in a small size of needle and for those knitters who like me have a habit of breaking needles the idea of paying £10 for a needle that can stand up to extra wear and tear isn’t so bad, after all break two of the Symphonie tips and you may as well have gone out and bought a set of Karbonz anyway. I’ve now been informed by KnitPro that they’re hoping to launch the new and improved Karbonz line next month.

Product Review – KnitPro Karbonz

After hearing about these from a fellow knitter a few months ago I was quite excited to get my hands on a pair as soon as they were available in the UK. I opted for a pair of 3mm 80cm circular needles and waited for them to arrive. As soon as I opened the packaging I was immediately impressed with just how smooth the carbon fibre tips were in comparison to my usual wooden needles, not to mention how shiny they were and the sleek look of the black cable. Upon taking them out of the packaging and noting that both the sleeve they came in and the needle itself had 3mm clearly printed on it I was a little surprised to find that the needle wouldn’t fit through the 3mm hole on any of my needle gauges. It later transpired that 3mm is not a recognised size in American knitting (who knew?) which may explain this, though it’s worth noting I don’t think I’ve ever had this particular issue with any of the other KnitPro needles I’ve used over the years. It did however fit comfortably into the 3.25mm hole on the gauge which wasn’t a total loss as I had a project in mind that required just this size.

I cast on and set to work, after initially thinking to myself how smooth the needles felt I was soon eating my words. The very tips of the needles felt quite rough in comparison to the smooth shaft and knitting with them felt very jerky and slow as it was difficult to get a rhythm going when the yarn seemed to stick so much. After a couple of hours of knitting I also began to notice where my fingertips had been in contact with the needle tips they had started to go slightly black – something that’s hardly reassuring when the yarn you’re knitting with happens to be white. I work with a lot of hand dyed yarns so I’m used to the occasional spot of excess dye coming off on my fingers but colour bleeding out of needles is a new one on me. A downside to the carbon fibre seems to be that the reassuring ‘click click’ that knitting needles normally make is absent in these, being replaced instead by a scratching sound which after a while of knitting in my quiet studio began to grate on me a bit.

I was drawn to the Karbonz initially because of their promise of being flexible, strong and light (the dpns even go down to a 1mm diameter) and so far they haven’t disappointed. I seem to be very talented when it comes to snapping needle tips, especially when working on cables. So far this is one aspect of the carbon fibre I’m quite impressed with and despite doing a few of my usual tricks I’ve yet to damage them. Despite this I’m still rather undecided about these needles, there’s a number of good points but they feel to me to be outnumbered by a long list of bad points. Not least of which is the price – £9.98 for the pair I’ve been using compared to £5.24 for the equivalent size in KnitPro’s wood range. I understand that KnitPro have recently recalled stocks of the Karbonz needles for an undisclosed “manufacturing issue” after my experiences I’m still slightly surprised (I’ve never knitted with carbon fibre before so I’ve no idea whether the ‘stickiness’ of the needles is a normal trait or not) but I will say that I don’t think the needles in their current state are worth the £10 price tag. Perhaps once this manufacturing issue whatever it may be has been resolved I’ll be able to come back and write a more favourable review.