Whoa. Yesterday I felt compelled to do something about those needles with the other-than-smooth join. They were driving me crazy! The internets told me that a LYS is having a sale on everything this week, so I dropped by to look ONLY at needles. I was debating between 12 and 16 inch addis, and the (super nice) salesgirl asked if I’d seen the 9 inch hiyahiyas. I didn’t quite understand at the time that 9 inches was short enough to work them on circs the way I’d knit a hat, but at half the price of addis, I grabbed 2, as the join looked so so so smooth.
After one round with the hiyahiyas, I was ready to write this off as a failed experiment and give these needles away. And then I went to ravelry, stalked these needles in forum posts, and realized that it takes time to get used to knitting with needles that have a less-than-2-inch tip.
So I tried again, focusing on keeping my hands relaxed, and boy does this speed up the sock knitting! I’m not sure if I’ll use these on all of my socks, but I’m going to try to complete at least this plain-vanilla-sock with my new 9 inch hiyahiya as part of a “get-to-know-you” experiment. As you (and I) can see from this picture, I was getting a bit of laddering with the annoying needles. Not so with the hiyahiya.
Have you guys tried these needles? What do you think?
Other things occurring around chez rooster:
I let this no-knead loaf to rise extra long (about 18 hours for the first rise) and I think that is the trick. One of my best loaves in recent memory.
I did A LOT of spinning yesterday, and finished the third bobbin of Soul Windows just before bed last night. This last one has more green and brown than the other two bobbins, and I am interested to see how it will look all plyed up. Still keeping my fingers crossed for enough yardage for socks. I may start that tonight.
Also, Boh asked me to tell you that he did A LOT of work on his bone collection while I was spinning. They all know now who’s boss. (Boh.)
On today’s list: making pickles, plying, prepping for a meeting with my advisor, practicing some rusty language skills, and all sorts of other things that may or may not begin with p.
barefoot rooster 
Very neat little needles! I haven’t tried them yet, but I’m intrigued.
I’ll have to try giving my no-knead bread some extra rise time. Looks yummy!
I’ve never heard of those needles, but I’ll have to look for them! Also, the spinning looks lovely. I bet it’ll look really gorgeous plied up, with some subtle color changes.
Okay, you’ve convinced me to give those needles another try! I was like you, I didn’t feel like there was enough needle to grip, but I’ll give it a go again.
Your spinning looks great!
I’ve often wondered about the super-short circulars, but have never tried them out. Perhaps one day. The socks are looking great, and I can’t wait to see more of the Milkweed (very pretty color). Good luck with the “p” tasks!