Split ends: sea wool and surina

There has been a lot of muttering here this week.
I have been fighting with a combination of splitty yarn and splitty needles and let me tell you that is NOT a good combination when you are doing a "digging around in the back loop" stitch pattern!
Picture my Fleece Artist Sea Wool in Deep Forest. (Mmmm!)
Picture my new (ebay) Surina wood 3.25mm needles. (Hmmm.)
Two of these needles have split points which didn't show themselves until I tried to find the back of the second-loop-on-the-left for the Diagonal Cross-Rib sock pattern (Favorite Socks). Then the Fleece Artist split, and embedded itself in the end of the needle - aargh! I developed a callous on my left hand pointy-finger, where I tried to push against the needle point to get through the loop in a smooth motion. Ow.
I was so relieved to reach the row where I changed down to 2.75mm needles. Blissful Lantern Moons - ahhh!
Once I got over these relationship problems, I allowed myself to love the sea wool for its sheen and depth of colour. It is knitting up in subtle stripes of deep sea green and forest-floor moss, which is really beautiful. It feels slightly oily to the touch, and the two-ply splitty thing DID get on my nerves. And yet... it knits up as a beautifully smooth fabric, even on such huge (for socks) needles. But... I don't think it is going to wear well, as a sock yarn. It has a tendency to fluffiness once split and while I understand the use of graduated needle sizes to change gauge, it is looking very "open" at the top - I can imagine a thumb going right through it as this manly sock is yanked on in the morning. Hmmm.
The jury is still out.
Pictures to follow.