Quality Tools

leeluu's needles
Originally uploaded by amynowacoski

Looking over this photo of LeeLuu snacking on a pair of circular needles reminded me of a topic I wanted to write about - You should always buy quality tools.

In general, I do prefer to work with bamboo needles. They are a bit pricer than your standard craft store buys but they are lighter and "stickier" than metal needles. By "stickier" I mean that they don't slide out of your work as easy.

Another problem I've been having recently is the unbendyness of inexpensive circular needles. I have discovered the Magic Loop Technique. With this technique you can do a way with double pointed needles (dpns) when working in the round. Basically, you pull part of the bendy connector through half the work and well, its complicated to explain. Just watch the video ok? The key to making this work is using a longer than usual circular needle AND the connecting bendy bit needs to be VERY bendy. I've found that the needles I've bought on the cheap did not do a good job. The bendy bit is just not bendy enough.

At Purl Soho, I got a pair of Skacel Addi Turbo Circular Needles. They are a dream to work with. They are nickel plated I think. The metal glides through your yarn AND they don't have that slight grinding feel that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up at time. The only problem is the cost, I think they were over $12. Ouch.

But all this has taught me a powerful lesson - buy quality tools.

I'm saving up to reward myself with a set of interchangeable needles. Such a brilliant idea! you get a circular needle cable that has screw on the end that you can change the size of the needles. Very Neat. Knit Picks has them in both metal and multicolored wood. The wood are SUPER pretty but as knitting needles seem to be a tasty treat for some pampered pooch who shall remain nameless, I think I'll go for the metal.

The Lazy Perfectionist

Yes, I am a lazy perfectionist. Here's what I mean...

I'm knitting a sock out of the Jitterbug yarn using the pattern that came with the skein (written on the tag that identifies the color and stuff. I only recently discovered this was called a "Ballband", go figure since its not a ball, stay on track Amy!)

So I knitted the first sock with really no problem. The Mamajama and I disagreed on the meaning of one set of instructions but Ravelry came to the rescue (more on Ravelry later). Anywho, I knitting up the second sock and I notice a mistake on the instep part.

For you non-knitters, and brief introduction to sock knitting. Now to make a sock all you really need to do is knit a tube, and sew it up at the end and voila! You have a tube sock! That is not really the preferred method. A tub sock will get bunchy on the top of your foot and stretched thin on your heel. Most sock patters have you knit a tube in the round (either on several needles or with the new spiffy Magic Loop technique, more on that later too!). The you usually divide the stitches in half and knit half for a few inches to make a flap, conveniently called "The Heel Flap". Then you pick up some extra stitches along the edges of the flap you just made and go back to knitting in the round. What you've done is add extra fabric to accommodate the heel, and widened the sock so that it will fit the wide part of your foot across the instep. After you pick up these stitches and start knitting, you decrease by knitting together (k2tog or ssk) so that you have a smaller tube on the ball of your foot. Then you decrease for the toe. That's the basics really.

So to decrease for the instep you usually decrease one stitch on each side of the foot one round, and then you knit plain (with no decreases) on the next round. I missed a decrease round on one side of the sock. So I'll have two plain knitted rounds and two decreased rounds in a row. This kills me because it is not perfect. But I was too lazy to go back and unkint it and knit it again. Every time I wear the sock, I'll know its not perfect. Will anyone else ever notice? Nope. But I'll know. Oh yes, I'll know.

Amy