Deep Dive into Knitting Needles and Crochet Hooks

Deep Dive into Knitting Needles and Crochet Hooks at Loopine

Have you ever looked at our selection of knitting/crochet tools at Loopine and thought,,, “What? How? Why?”

What are all of these tools?

How are they different?

Why are there like five brands for the same thing?

Well here is a deep dive into all of those questions.

Please allow me to run through them brand by brand.

Chiaogoo is our most comprehensive range of tools.

The brand was birthed in the early 1980’s and provides great quality that has withstood the test of time.

At Loopine, you can find Chiaogoo Interchangeable Needles, Fixed Circular Needles, Bamboo Straight Needles, and Bamboo Crochet Hooks.

Chiaogoo Twist is Chiaogoo’s stainless steel range.

This range is a good trusty place to start your needle journey.  

The needles are a good weight, smooth, sharp enough for easy knitting and not sharp enough to hurt. You can’t really go wrong.

The Twist Interchangeable Tips, precisely machine made of surgical stainless steel, start at 1.50mm and go all the way up to 10mm. 

All sizes come in 10cm and 13cm lengths (1.5mm – 5mm tips also come in 8cm).

The Twist Interchangeable Tips, are paired with the Twist Red Cables (though any other Chiaogoo cable range would also work with these!)

These cables consist of a multi-strand steel cable coated with red nylon. They are memory-free (don’t curl) and don’t swivel.

It may be worth getting the Twist Set if you plan on getting into interchangeable needles. You can get:

A Small Set if you tend to knit things like socks, summer tops, and light jumpers (anything in worsted weight or thinner). 

A Large Set if you are into chunky knits.

A Complete Set if you’d like to keep your options open!

Chiaogoo Spin is Chiaogoo’s bamboo range.

These lightweight, smooth, warm-to-the-touch patina tips are hand-crafted from Moso bamboo. 

The bamboo tips offer a bit more friction than stainless steel. Ideal for working with slippery yarn.

The Spin Bamboo Tips range from 2.75mm to 10mm in 10cm or 13cm lengths.

They are paired with the Spin Nylon Cables (though they too can work with any other Chiaogoo cable range). Compared to the Twist cables, the Spin cables are more flexible and they swivel! Though these will curl up like all nylon cables.

The Spin Sets also come in Small, Large, and complete sets.

Chiaogoo Shorties is a saviour for those of us who get stuck on sleeve-island forever!

Using the Shorties has doubled my sleeve-knitting speed (thus increasing the chances of me finishing garments dramatically).

The Chiaogoo Shorties are 5cm and 8cm Tip Combos paired with 5cm- 20cm X-Flex cables.

You can also get the Shorties Sets.

The Mini (2mm- 3.25mm) and Small (3.5mm- 5mm) sets include 10 sets of 5cm solid stainless steel & 8cm stainless steel interchangeable tips (while the Large set includes 5 Sets of 8cm tips), a secure tip sleeve, three X-Flex cables, end stoppers, tightening keys, connectors, stitch markers and a mini needle gauge all in a blue, pocket-sized nylon fabric pouch.

Hiya Hiya is the OG range at Loopine.

We love everything from their beautiful cases and pouches to their extra sharp interchangeable needles.

From our experience, Hiya Hiya is pretty on par with Chiaogoo regarding quality and user-friendliness.

One big difference between the two brands is that Hiya Hiya (especially the Sharp Tips, as the name suggests) is much sharper than Chiaogoo.

This is great for people who do a lot of lacework or like having extra pointy needle tips in general.

However, if you are someone who constantly pushes the tip of your needles while knitting, these sharp tips can hurt your fingers over time!

In that case, the Hiya Hiya Bamboo Tips may be a better choice for you.

Hiya Hiya interchangeable cables, like the Chiaogoo Spin cables, are flexible and swivel. 

You can also get the Sharp and Bamboo Hiya Hiya Interchangeable Needles in Small, Large and Complete sets. 

Addi has been producing knitting needles and crochet hooks in Germany for almost 200 years.

At Loopine, we offer Addi aluminium straight needles, Jumbo needles and hooks, AddicrasyTrio DPNS, and some fixed circular needles.

There are so many techniques and tools when it comes to small-circumference knitting.

Do you have trouble working with DPNS, but short circular needles cramp your hands, and you also don’t like the idea of magic-loop?

Give AddicrasyTrio DPNS a try. They are fewer needles to keep track of than traditional DPNs and less fiddly than magic-loop!

Finding gigantic tools to make the popular chunky knits we see on Instagram can be difficult. 

Thanks to Addi, you can find circular/ straight / DPN needles and crochet hooks up to 20mm to suit any super chunky yarn you’d like.

 Budget-friendly tools for beginners and those who would like to dip their toes into knitting!

All Pony products are manufactured in compliance with international Social Accountability standards.

Pony Bamboo straight needles are light, quiet and smooth. Their warmth makes them perfect for knitters with joint or hand issues.
Note: If you are a new/tight knitter, bamboo needles under 3mm can snap with too much force.

Pony Knobbed Aluminium straight needles are hard-wearing and cost-effective. Being made of aluminium helps to make knitting fast and smooth, but it also means they are heavier than bamboo needles.

Pony Plastic Large straight needles look just like the aluminium ones. However, these large-size needles ranging from 7.5mm to 15m are actually made of hollow plastic to keep the weight down!

You’re probably familiar with Knitpro if you’ve been knitting for a while. 

At Loopine, we carry Knitpro crochet hooks, DPNs, and other crafting tools like blocking mats + pins and row counters.

Waves crochet hooks are great for beginners. They are easy to hold, and the silicon handles provides cushioning that helps with minimising pain in your hands. 

Zing crochet hooks are the classic ones that many of us learnt crocheting on. They are light, smooth, and warm up quickly during use. If you’re looking for speed, this is your boy.

Zing double-pointed needles come in two lengths and colour-specific sizes. The sizes are laser printed onto the needles to withstand extended wear. They are manufactured in superior-grade lightweight aluminium, providing smooth glide for all yarns.