If you enjoyed my post about Signature Needle Arts last month, you'll be happy to read more news about your favorite hook and needle brands from H+H Americas. In preparation for my time at the largest needle arts trade show in North America, I asked my Instagram followers what they wanted to know. There were multiple questions about crafting equipment, so I did my best to visit each of the brands that you showed interest in. Here's the latest news from my five favorites: Addi, KnitPro, Tulip, and [Chiaogoo/Signature Needle Arts] which are now under the same ownership.

At a Glance

• Addi Yarn Arm: New product that holds yarn and can be worn on your arm for hands-free knitting and crocheting; easy to assemble and serves as an accessibility tool.
• Tulip Etimo Murasaki: New purple crochet hook line featuring lavender-tinted aluminum shafts with purple rubber handles; each size is a different shade and comes in a luxury carrying case.
• Chiaogoo/Signature Needle Arts: Factory is acquiring new equipment to maintain the original precision and quality of Signature needles; prototypes expected next year with no major updates in the past two months.
• KnitPro Updates: New interchangeable needle cords made with kink-free stainless steel instead of stiff nylon; laser-etched sizes on metal connectors to replace painted sizes that wear off; Symfonie line getting brighter colors in version 2.

Stacktangle Scarf Downloadable Crochet Pattern

Bear Claws Downloadable Knitting Pattern

Blooming Brioche Downloadable Knitting Pattern

Addi

You may have seen the buzz all over the internet about the new Addi Yarn Arm product. This unique contraption holds a cake of yarn and can be strapped onto your arm (r anywhere you need your yarn to be) so that you can walk around freely while knitting or crocheting. Scacel, the US distributor for Addi, had a bunch of Yarn Arms available in their booth. I stopped by and picked one up. 

I also snapped this pic of the Addi representatives walking the show floor while wearing their Yarn Arms. I'm writing this article hours after landing and I have not yet tried the product with yarn. So far, I've only put it together and tried it on, and it was very easy to do. I can see how this could be a great accessibility tool and I'll be reviewing it and demonstrating it sometime later this month. I think it'll be something I'd put on my leg or on some furniture, not just an arm.

Tulip

Tulip always has the most beautiful crochet hooks on the market. This is the brand of crochet hooks that I prefer because of the streamlined metal hook and low profile handles. I have the Etimo with a gray handle and gold hook, but if you are in the market for something more special, they always have colorful options packaged in luxurious carrying cases.

This year, they premiered a purple set. The Etimo Murasaki (japanese for purple) line of hooks has a lavender tinted aluminum shaft with a purple rubber handle. Each size is a slightly different shade to help differentiate. When purchased as a set, the hooks come in a low profile carrying case with a coin purse style clasp.

I love the frosty purple tinted hook. Lavender is a favorite color of mine, but I also love all of the colors that Tulip produces. Their cases and packaging are always premium.

Chiaogoo/Signature Needle Arts

You asked for an update on the revival of Signature Needle Arts, so I stopped by the ChiaoGoo booth to speak with owner Leon Zheng about any possible updates on the revival of the Signature Needle line. 

There's good news and bad news. 

The bad news is that there aren't really any updates from the last 2 months, you can read about the last update here. In order to create such a precision tooled product, the factory has to get some new equipment. He does not want to compromise the original identity of the brand by changing how the Signature Needles are made. 

The good news is Leon is really excited to take on the production of such high quality tools. He's dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the signature brand, just as he cares about the quality of his original ChiaoGoo product.

You'll get another update next year when the prototypes are ready. I know that true fans will wait with me to see what they come up with.

Side note: As an industrial designer, it was really cool to talk with someone about what kind of CNC lathes and tooling processes are used on each different type of needle.

KnitPro

Followers on Instagram asked me to visit KnitPro and find out about their Symfonie line getting an update. Since the show is in the United States and serves the North American market, the Symfonie line was not available in the booth!

They were still able to answer my question about the differences between older lines and the new updated version. The Symfonie line specifically will get some new brighter colors in version 2.

Their needle sets are getting an update. Older interchangeable needles had a stiff nylon cord which held its shape as it was being used. The new interchangeable cords are made with kink-free stainless steel coated some sort of black rubber. 

In this picture you can see the difference between the old cord on the left and the new chords on the right. This changing materials is supposed to make the experience much more enjoyable and can agree, a coiled stiff cord is no fun to work with, the stainless cables will be much better.

In the past, the needle tips have had sizes painted on the wooden shank. Over time, the paint could wear and become hard to read, so they've added laser etched sizes to the metal connector at the base of the needle. If the paint wears off of your much loved needles, you'll still be able to find the size even if it is a little bit harder to see the etched numbers.

Conclusion

Attending H+H Americas gave me the chance to connect directly with the brands you love and bring back the details that matter most to our community. From innovative accessibility tools to thoughtful design improvements and sparkling new colorways, it's clear that the hook and needle suppliers are committed to making our crafting experience better than ever. Stay tuned for more in-depth reviews and demonstrations as I dive deeper into these products in the coming weeks and join my newsletter if you want more content like this delivered to your inbox.

Disclaimer: Addi and Tulip provided the equipment for this post. Scacel also provides Addi needles for my classes and videos. The brands in this post did not sponsor me to write about them, I just like to share this information with the community so that we can support our favorite craft supply brands. If you click and buy ANYTHING from amazon, I get a commission... so go click over and get your monthly essentials.