Sprite Stitch Board!

The other day I realised that perhaps marking a grid out on my aida might be a good idea (soooooo much unpicking, grrr!) and was looking at the fabric marker pens on sewandso. I figured that while looking at the fabric pens, I might as well see if they had anything elsse interesting, and came across "Twin pointed quick stitch" needles. These needles are threaded in the middle and have twin points, so you can work with one hand above the cloth and one below, and it's supposed to be quicker once you have the hang of it. Just wondered if anyone else out there has used these, and what they thought of them? http://www.sewandso.co.uk/ran802-0.html

I have some of these as I was also curious about them too. I haven't really sat down and practised with them a whole lot, but here are some thoughts:
1. Obviously you will need some kind of stand to use them as you will be using both hands. I don't have room for a full stand so I have a small one that screws to the edge of my desk.
2. It's awkward. This is something that would go away with practise, but if you aren't used to using your left hand for sewing it is strange. It's supposed to make you stitch faster but until you are able to use your left hand as well as your right (or vice-versa) it feels slow and awkward.
3. Something I found the last time I tried to use them, it seemed to shred the cotton. I use one long strand of thread with the loop at the needle and it seemed to be sawing through the thread. It is possible this might be just because of me not using the needle correctly and twisting it too much, or maybe it's better to have two separate stands of thread.