circular needle advice pls

[Lioness]

I am considering buying a set of circular needles. Dont want/need top of the range as I already have a few sizes from way back (20+ yrs)
Can anyone advise what is worth getting these days? The main thing is that they need to be comfortable to use as I knit holding both needles in my hands (continental style?)

Do I go for metal/stainless steel/wood/bamboo?
What length is likely to be most useful? 60cm, 80cm? Hoping to make shawls, and maybe jumpers if get into it again

[RozMinis]

Wood and bamboo tend to become a wee bit rough after a while, one also has to treat them with care as they can break, especially the finer ones. I ended up replacing the 4.00mm with the Zing range. Not only does each size come in a different colour, but they aren't as noisy as the aluminium circulars I used to use, I also found they are warmer to the touch when using them. I now only use Zing needles.

It is possible to buy needles that have interchangeable cables. Very useful, except that having to wear a thumb mitten means that the dratted things come apart in the middle of all but very short rows.

As for the length. I prefer 60cm myself, but the I make a great many baby clothes, or other small items. I do have two pairs of 40cm which I use for sock knitting. Two pairs because I find it easier to knit in rounds using two needles. I did try the very short one made especially for socks, but found it too much of a struggle. I have a couple of 80cm, 120, cm, and an even longer one that I use for shawls.

Hope I have been some help. ;)

Roz

[Lioness]

Thanks Roz.
I do have a set of straight bamboo needles but when I did a test piece, the yarn I was using seemed to drag on them. I have read that you can (should?) treat them with wax to stop them from drying out but I would be worried about this transferring to the yarn. I cannot use them for the project I would like to do, but it has convinced me that its probably not worth getting bamboo circular needles

I will investigate the Zing ones you mentioned as that is not a range I have heard of.
The interchangeable system sounds like a good idea as you need fewer cables, but I suspect that unless they have a clever locking mechanism, they could be prone to coming apart. I move the needles to knit so I suspect that the movement would loosen the join over time. I will have a look to see what the reviews say.
Its good to know that Zing needles warm up as I understand that this makes it easier to knit comfortably for longer.
Thank you Roz

[Chalet School Fan]

I got a set of KnitPro interchangeable needles as a freebie with a magazine subscription. I couldn't get on with them as they kept working loose and went back to my old fixed Pony and Milward ones. However, I was in a hurry to get a project finished, so I will give them another go when I've got a bit more time and patience as the actual needles were good to knit with.

[RozMinis]

Glad I am not the only one CSF. I gave mine to Christine who loves them. They come with a metal widget that is used to tighten them, but I found with the thinner needles I ended up breaking them.

The Zing needles are made by KnitPro, they also have some called Karbonz, which I bought for mini knitting in the days when I did 1/12th scale stuff. They also do an acrylic needle called Trendz, which I detest as I found them sticky as soon as they warmed up. The other metal ones they sell are called Nova, haven't tried those.

Roz