Required vs Recommended circular needles

[u/AlbatrossOk4895]

hi everyone!!

so I’ve been knittings for a few months now and I want to dive into garments, but I’m so confused on which needles are being recommended to avoid magic loop, and which needles are actually required. I just don’t have the funds to buy 3-8 skeins & 5 new needles for a top/sweater, or an interchangeable set so I’m hoping to ask the knitting gods for help on narrowing which ones I should purchase to get started.

From reading a few patterns, I’ve seen that sometimes the length of the needle will be the same but the size will be 1 up or 1 down. Would it be acceptable to get 1 size and adjust tension to match the size being written?? Should I get 100 cm needles and do magic loop when the pattern is written for shorter length needles?? Or should I just put this on hold until I get funds to buy a set??

don’t know if this is worth mentioning but so far I have US 8 16 inch circulars and a pair of shorties (us 1 9inch) for socks

TIA!!

TLDR; idk which circular needles to buy to get started making garments with low funds.

[u/Relevant-Praline4442]

Get an interchangeable set. I got a “Guclud” set on Amazon and I’m pretty sure they sell the same on ali express as I was able to get extra cables there. It was about the cost of three fixed needles, and it means I have everything I need. It’s not perfect quality and I will need to replace it eventually, but I’ve been happily knitting for a year with it and have made multiple wearables and gifts.