Circular or straight knitting needles? Pros and cons?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

I need more needles. Do I buy straight or circular?
Some of the patterns I'm looking at say circular needles are needed.

What do you buy/ use?
What are the pros and cons of the different types?

Thanks! :)

I am not an expert but I would say to have both are useful - straight for most stuff and circular for when they're needed.

Personally, I prefer straights for flat knitting. I find the problem with circulars are that the stitches often get caught on the junction between the needle and the cord and that you have to get exactly the right length of cord to suit your project if you're knitting in the round (I've tried Magic Loop - it doesn't work for me).

Having said that, a circular needle is good if you have a project with a lot of stitches in the row, as it holds them better than straights would. And they do work really well for knitting in the round if you get the right length.

There is a brand of needle (KnitPro?) where you can just buy one set of needles and then attach whichever the right length of cord would be for your project. So that could work.

It depends on what you are knitting... circulars are great for big heavier pieces of knitting or making scoks if you are not using DPs.

Frankly, you will need both. I have Circs, DPs, bamboo and metal. Just build up your collection and always buy the best that you can afford.

or even socks... :)

I like circulars because you can't lose the other needle.

I am not v organised.

Circulars negate the need for stitching together on hats etc, but make sure you get the right size, magic loop is a pain.

Plus when you knit on the round you'll often need straight double Enders for the last few rows as too tight to do on the circulars.

I'm only a novice so hope that made sense

I have knitpro interchangeable circulars and use them fir most projects now. The join is very good so the stitches don't tend to get caught up. The only niggle is that when I bought mine they didn't put the sizes in the needle tips so you have to store them carefully so you know which ones are which. I think they've changed that since though.

I have loads of straight needles but I only use the knitpro ones now. I'd only just got back into knitting, I didn't have any circular needles so decided to splash out on a complete set of decent needles rather than buy cheaper ones here and there. I'm less likely to lose needles from sets too.
I always feel like I'm fighting straight needles, whereas circulars are much comfier and the weight of the knitting rests in your lap.

well i've won a set of 15 circular ones off ebay for a v small amount so we'll see how they go.
if they're no good then at least i've lost v little.

Circular needles give you more flexibility. You can get different cable lengths and different thicknesses of attachments. I love KnitPro and have now abandoned my straight needles.

I use circs for everything -- because they don't stick out and bash into my chair/the sofa arm/DH/the guy next to me on the train :o