Linda from Denise Interchangeable Needles stopped by last week to show us all of the new changes that have taken place at her company recently. Some of you own, or have seen, the traditional style Denise needles that come in a case that folds closed so that it looks like a book. I owned a set of them for a while but when my tastes turned towards one of several metal needles I gave my Denise set to a friend who still uses them.
Denise Colors: Pink, Red, Seafoam, Purple
Fast forward a few years and what a big difference there is! While the company still offers their needles in the book-like case, they have many more options now. They teamed up a while back with the Della Q folks who make various styles of cloth knitting needle storage cases. The sets are now more compact and come in lots of exciting colors. And, they’re becoming increasingly popular with travelers who like them because the smooth resin needles seem to give them less trouble at the airports. Let me tell you about some of the recent changes.
Denise offers interchangeable knitting needles, interchangeable crochet hooks, and a double set that contains both crochet hooks and knitting needles. Even the double set rolls up into a package that is about the size of a closed fist. MUCH easier to drop in a knitting bag or purse than the old sets!
Denise Double Set for Knitting and Crochet
All of the Denise sets, both knitting and crocheting, come in four attractive case colors: Seafoam has matching light teal cables, purple has lavender cables, red has white cables, and the pink set, which costs a little more because the company donates the difference to breast cancer research, has pink cables. The knitting needle sets run from size 5 to 19 and include a crochet hook to help fix mistakes. The crochet set comes with 12 hooks beginning with size F. All of the sets come with cables of varying lengths, a set of four end buttons, and two extenders to join cables to make longer ones. Additional needle tips or hooks, cables in varying lengths, and extra connectors/end buttons are also available.
All of this sounds really great, but the major test, to me, was how the needles act while knitting. I use metal needles for just about everything and the quicker the finish, the better for me. Other knitters like to tailor the type of needle to the fiber they are using.
Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles
I decided to knit a swatch with the trusty Plymouth Galway that I use for demonstrations in our classes. It was past time for me to go home, but once I started on the swatch I didn’t want to stop. I found the needles to be a pleasure to use. The Galway slipped easily off of the needles but not so quickly that a beginner would have a problem. I might not have achieved the lightning speed of an addi Turbo, but I was more than pleased and the sets are half the price. My stitches moved quickly and smoothly across the needles and I didn’t want to put the swatch down. I wanted to just keep knitting and knitting and knitting.
The Denise company backs their sets with a lifetime guarantee for all knitting or crocheting parts. In addition, the company is headquartered in Charlottesville and the resin needles are made for them by a Waynesboro craftsman. While the company gets their roll-up cases from Della Q, all of the Denise parts of the needle and hook sets are made in USA.
The original Denise sets were invented by the Linstead family who made and sold them for several decades. The Krag family purchased the company in 2002 and the changes they’ve made are great examples of the fact that you surely can teach an old dog new tricks.
Stop by the shop and take a look at our Denise products next time you’re in our area.
