Knit Picks vs. Addi - Head to Head

Let's start here, shall we? Here you see a Knit Picks Options 5.5/US 9 needle on the left, and an Addi Turbo 5.5/US 9 needle on the right. It's hard to show just how much pointier the KP needle is. It's a notable difference, as the cracked calluses on my fingers will attest.



Side by side (Addi on top, KP on the bottom). Though the KP needle is pointier, both needles measure 1.5cm from the very tip to the end of the slope. I'm not expressing that very well. From the pointy bit to the regular roundy bit it measures 1.5cm. Both times.



This is the extremely smooth join on the interchangeable KP needles. You can also see the "keyhole". That key is going to be the bane of my existence, but it works. I'm hoping they come up with something more convenient (and less easily lost) very soon.



This is the cross-section of the cable I cut open. Nothing much to see, but I thought I'd put it here anyway. It's purple. All the way through.

Now for the stuff that I found most interesting.



When the Addi gets a kink in the cable, it's a bend with a twist.



With the KP needle, I had to really pinch it hard to get a significant bend in it. But there's no twist, just bend. And the bend I made in it this afternoon is already gone. So I don't think these are permanent creases. But even if they are, you can buy new cables for less than $5 instead of having to buy the whole shebang.



Most painful for me is when that kink happens right at the join. The Addi gets a sharp little edge there when you bend it hard right at the join. This edge snags yarn. Ask me how I know.



Though I can see the separation in this photo, it doesn't feel as rough to the touch. I coudn't snag even my snaggiest boucle yarn on this edge.

And now, check this out.





That, my friends, is one seriously flexible cable. I noticed today while I was knitting flat using the KP circs that it's almost too flexible. When I let go of one side of the Addis when knitting flat, in order to turn the work, the needle I release just sort of stays there, hovering in midair until I reach for it again. The Knit Picks needle cable isn't stiff so it doesn't just hover in space; it drops and dangles. And I have to fumble for it. Over and over and over and over. I'm sure I looked crazy as a loon (Happy Canada Day!) dropping and bumbling for my needle over and over while standing at the bus stop.

The bottom line is, I'm not throwing the Addis out the window. But I see no reason at all why I'd need to buy more of them. At this point, I feel that whenever I find myself in need of needles, I'll buy the Knit Picks. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind. After all, it's only been one day.