My needle broke!

Oh yeh, we’ve all said that. It’s just part of cross stitch… right? Wrong.
 
Needles are a very important part of cross stitch, and they can massively range in complexity, material, and price, and so it seems only natural to stick to what you know; and stick to the same old needle. However, after speaking with a very well known needle manufacturer last year when I was looking into how cross stitch needles are made, he informed me that cross stitch needles are soft. Not so soft that they can be broken easily, but far softer than say, medical needles.
Medical needles are, in case you hadn’t realized, used only once. And they are made from surgical hardened stainless steel, twice as hard as the gold needles you use. And then he showed me this:

Now on the face of it, that doesn’t look too bad, but when you remember you use a needle 256 times in a square inch. And your needle is half as strong as that one. That’s why I’m suggesting you throw out that old needle.
 
In fact, I’d go one step further and tell you that you need to use a new needle for every project. And no, I’m not a crazy rich person. Every time you use a needle, you damage it. Every bit of damage means you snag on the threads and canvas, you stretch the holes in the aida, you catch threads on other stitches, and frankly, you put your whole project at risk of those tiny little weird bits that stick out for no reason. Sadly, even storing cross stitch needles can damage them too.
 
So that’s why I use a new one for every project. Whatever the size, a new needle comes out. Now, let’s be honest, needles can be super expensive, and my preferred needle is a petite full gold number, but I’m not made of gold needles. I get smart. For plastic canvas, I use a standard, cheap needle, which can save a lot of money in cross stitch, as my plastic canvas stitches tend to be less than 1000 stitches. For anything with 10,000 stitches I use a fancy one, and anything in between, I use whatever I have on hand.
 
But this isn’t just a crazy idea of mine either. Not only is there a difference in how I can stitch, how fast I can cross stitch, and on the ease, but it has a clear effect on the end result. Less puckering, more uniformity, and no stray stitches that just don’t want to sit right. Try ditching that old needle, and see for yourself the improvement. And suffer a lot less broken needles.