If you're itching to knit, but comfort is an issue due to arthritis, you may prefer knitting needles that are warm and somewhat flexible in your hands versus cold, unyielding metal.
Here are the best knitting needles for arthritis nowadays.
Wooden Needles Warm in your hands, quiet while knitting and light weight, they may make for slower knitting as yarn doesn't slip against wood as it does against metal.
Choose from bamboo, birch, walnut and ebony as most widely available.
They could split at the tips when worn, break more easily, and some beloved cats and dogs will chew them given half a chance.
Casein Needles Casein needles are made from milk protein.
Swallow, a company in Australia makes them.
They're lightweight, smoother than wood, warm, comfortable with a good combination of flex and firmness, and they're quiet when knitting so you won't disturb others.
They have a range of colors that sometimes look plasticky.
Plastic Needles Bryspun and Pony Pearls are made of warm, smooth plastic.
Bryspun are a dull gray, more available online than at your local yarn shop.
Pony Pearls are colorful and reinforced with steel wire that can rattle inside.
How Do You Know Which You'll Like? Trial and error.
Each person's hands and knitting movements make the choice of which needle feels best very personal.
Each yarn you use changes the feel also.
How much slip or grip does each combination make? Which do you like today, which tomorrow? Most knitters enjoy having many needles on hand.
Some needles get held hostage in an unfinished project for a spell.
You may enjoy one size best and have several projects going at once.
Who doesn't like grabbing a spare pair or different size from a stash for casting on when inspiration strikes? May you find your best knitting needles for arthritis among these choices.