TL:DR; I fixed some cheap-ass circular needles by using a top-grade wood conditioner.
The long story is this: I wanted to branch out, improve my knitting skills, particularly with circular knitting needles. Mainly because I fell in love with this hat pattern from Nina Machlin Dayton over on Ravelry:
Isn't this just the bees' fuckin knees? It reminds me of something Tuppence would wear (Partners in Crime fan, me).
I'd had great luck with bamboo needles - I have a full set of regular and double-pointed ones - and so I went with bamboo yet again. When they arrived, I was a little disappointed with how short they are. That was a failure to read the description on my part - that and the fact I couldn't quite envision what they'd be like in reality. That's not really a problem - they can be lengthened (a topic for another day) easily. My issue was this: the bamboo was infinitesimally rough. You couldn't tell by running your fingers over them - you could only tell by trying to knit with them. The yarn - no matter what kind of yarn - would stick and drag. I thought about sanding them, but that would change their diameter. I remembered I have this wonderful wood restoration oil, so I gave it a shot. Just a drop on a soft cloth, work it into the needles and let them rest overnight. Worked an absolute treat. Matter of fact, I'm going to recondition ALL my bamboo needles now.
I'm working on that pattern now - I've decided to use a button instead of a tassel for accent. How it's going:
As prototypes go, not bad. I really should have taken the time to do a gauge swatch - this turned out about two sizes too large. Lesson learned. Making another. SWATCHING FIRST.
