Circular knitting needles

[Changeismine]

I used to knit a bit, quite basic but haven't now for about 15 years. Want to start again and I noticed that lots of people now use circular knitting needles. Would like to start with a basic DK cowl (in the style of the recent one Sandra aka Cherry Heart showed on her podcast) as I presume there would not be a beginning and end and therefore no sewing up/joining would be necessary. Is this correct? Can anyone recommend a type/brand of circular knitting needles please?

You can knit as normal with a beginning and an end on circular needles or you can join it up and knit a circle. I use Pony brand. Cheap and good!

Knit Pro are a decent quality brand at the lower end of the price range if you just want to get one to give it a try. Look at the Zing fixed circular needles, or Symfonie if you prefer wooden needles.

What material needle did you prefer before? Many experienced knitters will prefer metal needles, as they are more slippery so you can knit faster, but less confident knitters might find that very slipperiness off putting because it can be very easy to drop stitches! The same goes for needle pointyness; splitting a stitch is much easier with a pointy needle.
I use chia goos. Their cables don’t have a “memory” so you can’t get annoying kinks when you store them-but yes, deliciously slippy and pointy!

I love knitpro symfonie interchangeable circulars. You screw the needles onto a cord so can have several different length cords for different projects but just one set of needles.

Thank you - I'll have a look at these.

I've used the knit pro wooden interchangeables for years and use them for all my projects, flat as well as in the round. They are lovely to use and you can buy a starter set with different size needles and lengths of cable.

I used to use bamboo as I didn't like the metallic feel in my teeth with the scratching of the needles!

Thank you, will do.

Ah, I didn't realise you can knit as normal with a beginning and an end - thank you!

Used to use bamboo as metal made my teeth feel funny! I will have a look online, thank you.

Yes, if you knit “flat” on circulars then the cable takes the weight, which is good for heavy projects like blankets. It can also be more secure as you can push your project onto the cables when not knitting which helps reduce dropped stitches; you can even get needle stoppers which stop your project falling off the needles. Plus no more lost needles 😁

For a bit of luxury, I buy KnitPro Karbonz, which are carbon fibre with brass tips. But for everyday, I go for Pony (they have wooden ranges as well as metal).
But lately I have been doing circular knitting in DPNs (double pointed needles). I knit on 5 needles and find it much less faffy than circular needles. I tend not to do well with the cables, and I have some 30cm DPNs which are excellent for cowls as well as smaller jumpers.

Right, I have bought the Knit Pro Symfonie and Zing. One set is 60cm and the other 80cm. I find the 60cm a little short/restrictive but I really love the whole circular needle way! Have started the snood and really enjoying knitting again. Thanks everyone for your help and advice.