ChiaoGoo9-Inch Red Line Circular Knitting Needles, 1/2.25mm (6009-1)

excellent for knitting sleeves, much faster and easier than double-pointed needles

Love these needles! The cords don’t curl up! Nice points!

Started making some socks again after fighting with dpn's. This works nicely. I wouldn't recommend them if you have huge hands as you don't have a ton of room to work with them. They are making my sock knitting go much more smoothly and they are nice and pointy so I can get into the yarn. I've used these with fingering and sport, and it works well for both in my opinion.UPDATE: Since buying this needle I've gone back and forth from DPN's to this, and I also tried magic loop. I would say that these are, by far, the easiest way to make a sock if you are good at knitting in the round. You don't get that 'ladder' effect like in between needles of the DPN's, and you also don't have to deal with the pulling back and forth of the magic loop. I will avoid 'second sock syndrome' by purchasing a second one of these needles and taking turns on them. I have also found that I do more work since buying this needle since I can carry my work with such a slim profile. This tiny thing and a 50g ball of yarn fits into my pocket!

These are 9 inch which is great for knitting socks on circular needles. Bought from another brand but needles shorter and more difficult to use in tight quarters.

I've been knitting for many years. I won't tell you how many. My age will show! ~smile~ I've used a lot of different needles over the years. Without a doubt, ChiaoGoo is my favorite brand. The steel needles are smooth, the joins are smooth, and the cords are smooth and tangle free. Obviously, the cord in this set is too short to tangle. ~smile~These size 7 9" circulars were purchased to knit Cream Cabin Socks. I've never used size 7 9" circulars before. The worsted weight yarn moves easily over the needles and the cord. I'm very happy with them. I think that these are an excellent value for the money, because I've never had a pair of ChiaoGoo's fail. I expect them to last as long as I need them then go on to live in someone else's knitting bag.

I absolutely LOVE these needles for making socks! They are easy and comfortable to handle, and allow for seamless knitting in the round, enabling a sock to be completed in record time! The metal tips are sharp enough to easily pick up thin sock yarn, but not so sharp that they hurt your thumb/fingers. There are no areas of catching between the needle and wire, and allow for smooth and seamless slipping of stitches. I have already purchased many of these for others as gifts, after they have seen me using mine! This company makes a quality needle for a great price!These needles also work great for making newborn and baby hats out of fingering yarn.

My favourite needles ever. Smooth, yet flexible.

I'd been itching to try 9" needles for a long time, and after exhaustive research finally decided on these. For once, I did good. At first I planned on getting Clover needles since that's what I've been using thus far without issue, but VeryPinkKnits' review actually changed my mind. Everyone seems to think you need lots of grip on such small needles, but I assure you, you want them to glide without too much effort, and that's easier on stainless steel than bamboo.Now, the juicy details:The quality is excellent, the all-important join is smooth, the size is conveniently engraved on the needle, and the cable is firm, with some kind of cross-hatch pattern all over that I thought was cool for a minute and then completely forgot about. It doesn't affect the knitting at all.As soon as I got my little paws on these I grabbed some random yarn and cast on a random number of stitches and just played around with it, trying knits and purls and decreases and increases and cabling and whatever else I could think of. Easy. If you know how to use circular needles, this is hardly different, and this coming from a shlemiel knitter. I know some have loving referred to using 9" needles as 'knitting with toothpicks,' but I don't get that feeling. (This might be because I ordered #7s so they're thicker.) I sat experimenting with these little guys as long as I wanted, and when I checked the time afterwards it was two or three hours later, so fatigue certainly hadn't stopped me; though I've dealt with tricky tendons in my arms for years and I may just be used to soldiering through it.I did have to think a bit about how to hold these at first, and the fact that I'm a tight knitter doesn't help, but basically you have to get over the idea that you can only hold the needles themselves, and that you need a death grip. No and no. It's perfectly fine to hold it by the cable too. Use your whole hand. Knit with your usual tension, those stitches aren't going anywhere except where you take them. I noticed I tend to grip hard with my right pinky, and that was most of the fatigue, but recently I started a hat on 16" needles and discovered I was doing the same thing, so it's just a bad habit I need to drop. I'm the Harpo Marx of knitters, so my method is weird and doesn't look like anyone else's. Even so, that hasn't prevented me from using them.Having never knit a sock in my life, I started off by making a cute, simple little drawstring bag with some leftover yarn that needed a job. What fun! I didn't use a pattern and just knit something basic, a great no-pressure project for starting out using these shorties.Then I chose for my first real project some cute fingerless gloves that I had tried on DPNs and had been ruined by a huge ladder, due to an accidental YO between needles. Oh, so much better. The cabling was a bit tough, but nothing a stubborn girl can't work through. (I found that knitting from the cable needle was usually better, but it wasn't always the case. Be flexible.) I finished the first in roughly 24 hours, and other than the thumb hole being a bit too small (my fault), it's fabulous. Faster, easier, the gauge is beautifully even. I could hardly put it down. I haven't started the other yet, but I already know I'm not going back to DPNs for projects such as these. I also plan to try making boot cuffs, which have always failed for some reason or other on DPNs.Long winded story wrapped up, I am quite pleased with these and want to get more sizes. Even if you don't knit socks or sweaters there are plenty of other uses to be found. You won't know for sure until you try, and if you still don't like them, there are those who are willing take them off your hands...