What I made, by Sharon

 When we were at Yarn Trader they had a 'needle taster' table set up with started swatches to give visitors a chance to try their needles. this was a great opportunity to see how the new Chiaogoo Quads  feel in hand. These are Chiaogoo's new square needles which are means to be gentler on the hands.  (c) Morris and Sons They have the same pointy tips that I love and the same smooth joins. In the shop they felt good in my hands and when the assistant mentioned that they are easier to tighten I was sold! I knit all week on them, and I had quite a bit of knitting time, and my hands felt great, the tips never came loose and my gauge didn't change, which is good, because I switched halfway through a project!  I'm thinking of getting tips in all the sizes I knit frequently in. The only "issue" is that I already have (basically) two set of the round Chiagoos. Also I would need to store these, and all the pages in my Thread and Maple needle binder are full, so I ...

Last time I found out someone I have a work relationship with was having a baby, it was very close to her due date, and I had to get my skates on to get the jumper finished in time. After that I planned to knit some baby gifts for the gift box, just in case. Then last week I visited my old workplace, and one of my ex-colleagues is having a baby, due February. Right, I thought, 2 jumpers. And then my brand new workmate in my current role announced that they are expecting.I've wrapped up some yarn - three lots of LOSY, and some left over Pallete. The other thing that is going on for me is that my knitpro needles are really annoying me. I wore out a pair of Karbonz while knitting Strathendrick, the joins aren't always smooth, I can never find a set, they loosen when I knit....I was just going to buy a set of Chiagoos , but I decided to try to be a bit minimalist about it and asked Kris if I could borrow a set to try, rather than just buying stuff because my job is unsatisfyi...

This post contains more discussion about a bunch of things I've written about before -destashed yarn, sock needles and sneaker liners. Last Monday MooreCat destashed some left over sockyarn, and I snagged 50 grams of Arne and Carlos self stripping Regia. She warned me that it was only 50 grams - which is enough for a pair of Sneaker Liners for me and my size 6 feet.   On Friday I cast on some Rose City Rollers. I took the opportunity to knit with the KnitPicks wooden 5inch 2mm that I bought after socktober last year. I enjoyed them but in two small socks I broke two of them, so they are not really a viable long term plan. I finished the sock on 2mm Karbonz, which were ok, but not perfect. I'm hoping someone at EYF has the new Addi needles to try. I finished the sneaker liners on Sunday - I had enough yarn left over to do a square on my sock yarn blanket. Now onwards, to knit some garishsocks for my father . I do love the way the colours in the socks reflect the colo...

I knit some plain socks for my mother. Well, unpatterned might be a better word for them: I figured, since I pinched this yarn from her stash I would make her a pair of socks from it:  After knitting the first one, I had two thoughts: these socks are really ugly but she’ll like them, and my gauge is too loose. I’m knitting at 28 stitches x  39 rows / 10 cm This is not the first time I have thought this. I tried knitting on 2.25 mm Karbonz, a while ago which didn’t help  At knit night on Monday I compared the texture of my socks to those of Brent and Ursula’s, and decided something has to be done. Brent thought that wood might be better, so I decided to do the foot of the second sock on 2.5mm wooden needles - because I didn't to want to mess with the gauge too much, I just wanted to see what difference it would make. I’m not sure it made any. Post blocking I can’t tell which sock was knit on which needles. I decided to knit myself a pair of Rose City Rollers ...

I finished the Mixalot socks yesterday. Despite s witching from 2.5mm to 2.25mm needles for the second sock, the second sock is marginally bigger - it's underneath in the photo below, and you can just see it sticking out. Also, the extra length of the Karbonz got in the way. This is quite frustrating, I used to make socks that fit me on 64 stitches and 2.5 mm needles, and now I can't get them to fit me on 2.25 needles and 60 stitches. I think my best bet is to choose patterns with cables and ribbing, so they pull in more. these wll be wearable, but I like my socks tight, and these are not.

  I have largely been knitting the endless edging on the Village Sweater wrap, but I did cast on a pair of sneaker liners in Rachel Coopey's Mixalot pattern, because sometimes it's just not appropriate to stare at a chart. I've been knitting with my beloved Signature  2.5mm sock needles. A couple of Fridays ago I lost one. Or rather dropped it on the floor at my parents, and they didn't find it until they vacuumed. It prompted me to do something I'd been thinking for a while: go down a needle size for socks. Maybe I've become a looser knitter, or maybe I'm choosing to knit with finer yarn, but my last few pairs of socks have been a bit loose on me, and have lacked that nice, tightly knitted feeling. i bought Karbonz in 2.25mm. I like the Karbonz almost as much as the Signatures, and they are a third of the price. The only thing is, the Karbonz only come in a 6inch, and I love the shorter Signatures. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime I'...

It's not over. I really thought I was done , last time, I really did. But just before I moved jobs, I decided I "needed" Karbonz needles in my most knit sizes, because I love Karbonz needles. Or because I was bored at work, which seems more likely. Knit-Pro makes a " starter set " which has the sizes I actually use: starting at 3mm and going up to to 4mm with 5 needle pairs in total. And it's got coloured cables, rather than the slightly horrible purple ones that come with the normal Knit-Pro needles. So, hopefully that's me done for needles. At least my new job is interesting and busy enough that I have done zero shopping on work time since I swapped roles, which is definitly an improvement. And, as a result of my previous boredom I now have ALL the needles a knitter could want.

Remember when I tried to knit  a toe up sock on 2.5mm needles and it ended up too big and I ripped it? No, I didn't really expect you to. Anyway, I decided I needed some 2.25 mm circulars, since all the toe up socks I have knit on two circulars have come out a little too big.  I was thinking about buying some more Karbonz ,  but I noticed that Knitpro now makes an aluminum needle called Zing that look like the Signature needles . They are half the price of the Karbonz, so I thought I'd try them. My thoughts are that they are ok, but only ok. They have a sort of rounded tip , and I usually prefer a sharper tip. I'll know more after I knit a pair of socks with them (which I am about to cast on) but at the moment I'm thinking I may still buy a sock set in the Karbonz. I bought these from Purlwise and Mark provided me with his usual efficient service. I love that online shop a leeetle too much. 

A couple of weeks ago Elise asked me for a pair of mitts. Yesterday, shortly after I bought online a new set of circular interchangables , I prepared to cast on Romi Hill's Gingerbread mitts. Now I know I could have magic looped them - but my hands don't love magic looping. I can knit on two circulars, but Princess Daisy hates that (they dangle down and tickle her back and she complains). Also, as I've said before, I find knitting on double pointed needles the most satisfying way to knit small circumference in the round. So I dug up my old bamboo DPNs, which I bought thousands of in a set when I was a new knitter. Unfortunately, in the 3.5mm size I could only find these:  3 really long ones and four short ones, one of which was missing an end and two of which appear to have been gnawed by a cat. So, on the way home I stopped by Morris and Sons, and bought myself a set of Knitters Pride Carbonz needles, because I thought it would be super fun t o try them out.  I...

I used my Addi Clicks to knit Bathmat VII . There are really easy to put together, but the bluntness of them irritates me. I've been buying individual Addi lace needles, trying to convince myself that I don't need the Lace Clicks. The ones in the pretty case. The super pointy ones with the red cord, just like my favourite needles. Anyway, today I woke up with a really sore right wrist, which I attribute to too much knitting, and knitting with blunt needles . In a moment of weakness I slipped and bought the Addi Long Lace Clicks . I hope they get here soon, I already know what I want to knit on them first ( Cria , by Ysola for those of you following along at home. Still I'm knitting a pair of mitts and hat hat and a pair of socks before I really, really want them, and usually packages get here in about ten days, so the timing should work out. No pictures of the finished bathmat yet, it's drying after being blocked

I started my shlankie last Friday, on a set of 60cm Addi Lace Turbos.  and I quickly realised I was going to need a needle with a longer cable, because this pattern grows by 100 stitches every repeat. I have a 100cm needle in the right size which I have been knitting on, but it's a normal Addi, and I like my needles sharper than that. When I bought the new one, I sort of thought they wold get here the day I finished the shlankie.   But no, they arrived today, just as I embark on the longest rows of the project. yay !