For Your Review: Denise Interchangeable Needles

A friend of mine is overseas for the Peace Corps. (How cool is that?)

Anyway, she has a little time on her hands and some knitting knowledge in her brain, but she didn't bring any knitting supplies with her.

She asked me to please send her some stuff. I dug through my stash for yarn, patterns, darning needles, measuring tapes...

But then I started to worry about needles. Would she need straight or circular? What sizes? I didn't want to lock her into just the particular needles I thought went with the project. What if her gauge was different from mine?

Enter Denise Interchangeable Needles.

The kit is nice and orderly, and has a LOT of possible uses. If she wants to make socks later, I'll have contemplate sock needle sets, but this seems perfect for her. Compact, and needles ranging from sizes 5 to 15. And, it's all affordable enough not to completely break the bank. 

So, this is the kit I've put together: 

row counter

yarn snips

highlighter & post-it notes

needles

yarn

patterns - right now it's just simple hat and mittens. I can send more when needed.

stitch markers

measuring tape

yarn needle

needle gauge

Did I forget anything? I'm going to wind any yarn I send before I pack it up, so she doesn't have to worry about that. 

Life's Too Short for Bad Needles

Ok, this isn't a review, exactly.

But, I've been digging through the bottom of my knitting bag, and I found this sad little set of #1 double-points.

They are odd little plastic-covered metal needles. I never really loved them (I got them in a big batch of needles on eBay), and now the tips are even splitting!

So, what should I buy for sock knitting? Should I use Addi? I love metal, so I'm curious to try aluminum in the 6-inch length, but I want your advice!