So today I finished the ribbed hem of a sweater. Then I had to switch to larger needles. They were size 10.5 circular needles (basically a long piece of plastic tubing with six inches of metal on either end). Unfortunately, they were so twisty and bendy that it would be difficult to avoid the dreaded "twisting" of circular knitting. I remembered reading a tip - boil the needles. So I filled the pasta pot with hot water and boiled them. It worked wonderfully. They are nice and pliable now. Interestingly, the plastic tubing didn't get hot at all, though the metal tips took a while to cool down.

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