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Knitting Friday
It seems like I've been doing non-stop knitting all week yet have little to show for it. DH's red wool scarf is over half done; I ripped out a house (that is, warm, but I wouldn't wear it in public) shawl and am redoing it so it will be wider; I'm still working on a pink, wool, lace crocheted shawl/scarf in my Ubiquitous Shawl pattern; and I started the Advent Scarf for 2012, frantically working on it in bed last night (a no-no with lace for me since I continue to knit after I fall asleep - it's a miracle! - and a mess.) so that this morning on Day 7 of the patterns, I'm at least working on Day 2.
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| #1 2012 Advent Scarf Day 1 |
Well, I'm working with some of these ideas but not all. The original pattern has you casting on 91 stitches and then increasing or decreasing up to 4 stitches in the garter stitch spacer section which separates every pattern. Instead, I cast on 56 since most of the patterns are repeats of 42 stitches, sometimes with extra stitches at the end of each row, sometimes not. So, for the first pattern above, I'm working:
3 stitches in the pattern's K border,
my 3 extra border stitches (I'll talk about them later),
21 stitches of the pattern- 2xs (42 stitches),
4 extra pattern stitches
my 3 extra border stitches, and
3 stitches in the pattern's K border for a total of 58 stitches.
My 3 extra border stitches on each side are my wiggle room stitches. In the picture above, I worked them on the right side as: YO, K2tog, K1bl and on the left side as: K1bl, YO, ssk.
However, the pattern count changed on Day 2 (just 21 sts, not the extra 4 at the end) but with those extra border stitches built in, I only had to decrease 2 stitches in the spacer section and make my extra border stitches 4 instead of 3 on each side (RS: YO, K2tog - 2xs; LS, YO, ssk - 2xs*) and work the pattern as 3 - 4 - 42 - 4- 3 = 56. (*Cripes, after writing this, I realize it should be RS: YO, K2tog and LS: ssk, YO!)
I know I'll never finish this shawl by Day 24 but working 56 - 58 stitches goes so much faster. More on the progress I'm making on another Friday.
Last Saturday, my Knit Picks Sunstruck interchangeable needles arrived and here's the review of them that I promised. Once you remove the individual needle tips from their long cardboard holder and take the cables and accessories from their cheap cellophane packets, you get to put everything the cheap plastic, zippered container on the right.
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| #2 Sunstruck Interchangeables |
Yes, the KP interchangeable needle case is cheap and the pull for the top zipper breaks fast. Having said that, the case is a sturdy plastic and the zipper makes sure your needles and accessories stay together. (Unlike, the prettier cloth one I finally bought with the needles hanging out, ready to get lost for good.)
So while, KP works on the cheap with this case; it's durable and the transparency of the plastic is very helpful.
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| #3 Sunstruck accessories. |
With every KP interchangeable set you get: 9 sets of needle tips ranging from US 4 through US 11. You get 2 cables which will make a 24" needle (when you add the needle tips) and 2 cables to make 32" needles. With each set of cables, you get a tool to tighten the tips into the cable and two quarter sized discs which can be screwed into the cables. (You can see the discs and the tool in the little plastic case on the left, #3.) You would use the discs if you wanted to remove the needle tips to use that size on another project or if you wanted to make the needle a straight, not circular needle. Instead of a needle tip on each end, one end would have the tip and the other end would have the disc. I'll post a picture of the needles with the discs next week.
A tip about the tightening tool: it's used in the hole you'll see in the cable part of the needle. (The tiny hole you see on the tip end is too small for it.) You just put the tool in there. You don't twist it but use it to keep everything steady as you twist in the tip. If you lose this tool, a safety pin works just as well.
Another neat thing about this tip hole is that you can thread a lifeline into it, knit the row and just pull the lifeline along as you go. It is so easy. All KP interchangeables have this lifeline feature and some other brands do too.
Picture #3 also shows you Sunstruck tips, left to right: US 9, US 10: US 4, US, 11. Then US 10 and US 9 again. (I have no idea why that one cable is so zonky looking. Most KP cables lie flat like the one at the bottom of this picture.)
In picture #1, you're looking at US 6 Sunstruck needles. Yes, I'm making the Advent Scarf on them. Which brings me to the crux of my review: Do I like them?
I didn't plan to, much. I had asked for opinions on Ravelry and gotten some encouragement but basically neutral/negative comments: they are not as sharp as the KP Harmonies, the joins are rough, they loosen, the "wood" tips are grabby, the sizing is off. So I was expecting to convince myself to like them because, while I love my Harmonies, I can't see dark yarn on them (a common complaint.) However, I was ready for big problems.
Did I get a big surprise! I love them. As you can see from picture #1, they are working well on lace and the tips are not grabby nor the joins rough. I joined every needle tip into a cable and all the joins were solid. Plus, I'm on Pattern 2 of the Advent Scarf and I haven't had to tighten the joins.
One thing I did notice as I tried each tip into the cable, they all seemed to screw in more tightly. It wasn't just a twirl and they were connected. It took steady turning and I needed the tightening tool for leverage when I took them apart. It's possible that KP listened to a common complaint and worked on their join problem.
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| #4 Three tips |
As to the pointedness of Sunstruck, Picture #4 shows you three needles: L to R: Harmony, Chiaogoo stainless Lace, and Sunstruck. All are the same size needle and you can see that the lace Chiaogoo has the longest taper and finest tip, followed by Harmony and then Sunstruck.
Having said that, I don't find any problems with Sunstruck and lace. Plus, while I love my Chiaogoo, I don't use metal on lace: too slippery.
Of course, Sunstruck, unlike Dyakcraft needles (12 months+ wait for delivery) is mass produced and mass production, without expensive quality control, will always have some problems. I'm getting a replacement for a 24" cable because only one side will screw in and I'm getting a replacement for a US 7 tip because while one tip is a "big" 7, the other tip is definitely US 8.
Which leads me to the bottom line as to why I buy from Knit Picks: they have a fantastic customer service which mails you replacements without your having to return the defective product. (And that's why I deal with Amazon: they pay the return shipping.) I can accept mistakes in products but I don't want to "Pretty please" customer service in order for them to fix a problem.
Bottom line, which I always ask myself: Would I buy this product again? The answer is yes.
And finally, I'm looking at the Moorish lattice in this sweater and thinking about incorporating it into the body of a top-down pullover:
Now, while this link will take you to a picture of the sweater, you must be a member of Ravelry to get the free pattern. So once again, I'll urge those of you who are not Ravelers to join. It's easy and free.
Back to the lattice, I'm thinking about making a sleeveless pullover with a crocheted yoke and the lattice would start just under the armholes. I may have some progress on this by next week, but don't count on it: I really want to work on this Advent Scarf while its Ravelry site is active with projects and advice.
Happy knitting. See you next week.
1 comment:
Thanks for your review of the needles. I was given a knit picks gift card and eager to use it!
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