Circular Needles – Why I Love Them

As any serious knitter knows, there are many types of knitting needles, straights, circulars, double-pointed and variations of these basics made from wood, metal, and plastics.  How is a new knitter supposed to choose needles?  Here’s my two cents. 

For new knitters, I always suggest that they skip the straight needles completely and just buy circular needles.  Why?  Because they can do anything a straight needle can plus more.  Straight needles are great for flat projects that are not too wide but circular needles are dual purpose.  Use them for flat or circular knitting.  They have ergonomic advantages like spreading weight of the project better, allowing you to rest your work on your lap.  This results in less strain on your hands, wrists and shoulders, serious considerations for avid knitters.  Project weight can be substantial when working on large projects like afghans.  On straight needles, the changes in weight distribution as you work can impact your stitches, making it hard to keep them uniform.  When you stop working, you can slide all your work on to the cable, no worries about your work sliding off the needles so no needle caps are needed.  Personally, I find them easier to store and I never have to worry about losing one of my needles (it has happened to me with straight needles). 

 

When shopping for circulars, what type to buy?  They are so many options and even more opinions.  The most common materials are steel, aluminum, plastic, bamboo, and wood.  Personally, all my needles are either aluminum or plastic resin (Denise Interchangeable).  I find that these two materials give me a comfortable knitting experience will all types of yarns.  Good quality wood needles can be pricey and since I don’t really need them, I can’t justify the cost (yet).  In the past, I’ve had issues with bamboo spoons splintering or breaking so I’m not overly inclined to try knitting needles.  Between the aluminum and plastic needles, I tend to prefer the plastic ones.  They are light weight, warm to the touch and very quiet.  My aluminum hooks have longer, tapered points so they are better when a pattern call for knitting 3 or more stitches together or lace. 

 

As for what size to buy, it depends on what type of yarn you are going to use.  For every size of needles, there are multiple lengths of cord.  Since there are so many options out there, I use interchangeable knitting needles as much as possible.  More about them in a future post.

The Trouble With WIPs

 I love getting new yarn, tools and kits.  It’s like a new toy I want to start playing with it immediately.  And that’s how my WIPs are born.  

Why are WIPs a problem?  For me, one of several things happens.  The most common is I lose the pattern that goes with the WIP so I can’t finish it.  Once, I lost the rest of yarn needed to finish and I have no idea how I managed that one.  A few times, a WIP has become a “what was I thinking?” project.  Lots of WIPs take up a surprising amount of room.  And, I always feel a pang of guilt when I start a new project knowing I have so may WIPs lurking around the house.  I also feel guilty when I buy more yarn or kits for my stash but I manage to squash it down. 

 

Almost 7 years ago, I had to have major surgery with a 6-week recovery time.  To avoid boredom, I decided to gather all my WIPs and complete them while I was recovering.  I found 7 projects in total, with most about 50% done.  I tackled them in the order of difficulty, starting with the easiest first since I was going to be on medication.  At first it was very slow going and I started to get discouraged.  I was in the hospital for 5 days after the surgery and very weak for a couple days after I got home so I lost one week there.  The second week, I would get tired easily, so I got very little done.  By week 3, I was able to start making good progress.  I was extremely limited on what I was able to do around the house so seeing projects completed made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile.  It also made me enthusiastic to get the next project done.  As the weeks passed, I was able to spend more and more time stitching.  I tied off my last project the night before I had to return to work.  It felt so nice to be completely caught up.  I had finished a shopping bag, an afghan, fingerless mittens, three scarves (not all of them were for me) and a stole.  At that moment, I made a promise to myself to have no more than two WIPs in progress at any one time – one for home and one for travel.

 

For the most part, I have done a good job sticking to my rule.  I did break it last year during lock-down and I got up to 5 WIP projects.  They were smaller projects, scarves and shawls, so I was not too worried about it.  I found knitting and crocheting very comforting during the pandemic.  Because 2020 already had enough anxiety, I did not want to add to my stress level by forcing myself to work on a project to completion.  If I wanted to start a project with my new yarn, I did so.  My attention span was not at the normal levels last year it was helpful to be able to skip around.  When the vaccines started rolling out and I knew better days were coming, I went back to my 2 WIP rule again.

 

Fox Paws from Jimmy Beans Wool Kit

My Noro Yarn - From WEBS Site

The result?  My toy box has 5 skeins of Noro Kureopatora, one Fox Paws scarf kit and the Pine Hill scarf kit, all calling my name.  Plus, there my stash also calling, saying it wants more new friends.......

Stitch Markers Save Sanity!

Every serious knitter has them – stitch markers.  They might be mass-produced plastic rings or miniature works of art.  No matter what they look like, the humble stitch marker goes a long way to saving a knitter’s sanity when working with more complex patterns.

I learned this lesson the hard way.  When I was an advanced beginner, I decided to make the Avalon Grapevine Wrap by Cascade Yarns.  The pattern seemed straightforward and the resulting fabric looked extremely impressive to my inexperienced eyes.  Yarn in hand, I happily cast on my stitches looking forward to honing my skills.

Avalon Grapevine Scarf
Cascade Pattern Picture

 

And all was well – for about 6 rows.  The trouble began with row 7 when I wasn’t seeing the expected diamond pattern start to develop.  I found my mistake and frogged almost the entire row and carefully reknit it.  Unfortunately, the same thing kept happening.  Each row of progress required frogging, sometimes multiple rows.  I kept reviewing the pattern to try and figure out what I was doing wrong.  I assumed the problem was due to my inexperience.  After months of hard work, I only had about 7 inches done.  I was very discouraged.  After a particularly disastrous frogging session of 8 rows (yes, 8), I put the knitting down to really study the pattern. 

 

I understood what I was supposed to do for each row, the pattern is made up of knit, purl and yarn over stitches.  Nothing complicated there.  The pattern called for stitch markers at each end to mark where the edging was not in the grapevine pattern itself and I had those in place.  But the pattern did not call for stitch markers in the grapevine section itself.  What if I added them?  I carefully added the stitch markers to the start of each repeat of the grapevine pattern and started knitting again. 

 

Grapevine Detail
Cascade Pattern Picture

The results were AMAZING!  Each time I came to a marker, I did a quick check of the stitching I had just completed.  I was able to immediately spot my mistakes before I had even left the current section of knitting.  No more frogging, no more frustration and I was able to complete the scarf in about two weeks.  

The finished project (in fire engine red) looks like the pictures.  The only problem is the sides curl in.  The issue persists even with multiple blocking sessions and a 1/2" crocheted border on each side.  Even so, it is still an eye-catching scarf if you want to give it a try. 

 

What did I learn about stitch markers from this experience?

 

 1.     Just because the pattern doesn’t call for stitch markers doesn’t mean you can’t use them.  If the pattern has a lot of repeats (especially a lot of yarn overs) consider using them.  Knitting is fun, frogging is not.

 2.    Have extra stitch markers on hand.  I seem to drop them regularly and sometimes they just disappear.  It is not uncommon in my house for a stitch marker to randomly reappear while vacuuming or cleaning out a drawer.  They show up in the oddest places – I found one in my make up case once.  Don’t ask, I have no idea.

3.      Have a couple of different types of stitch markers on hand.  I like to use thinner ones with smaller yarns, thicker ones with worsted or bulky weights. 

4.       When casting on a large number of stitches, place a stitch marker every so many stitches to make more easy counting.  For example, an afghan pattern called for casting on 287 stitches so I placed a stitch marker after every 50 stitches.  It is a lot easier to count 5 stitch markers and 37 stitches than it is to count 287 individual stitches.

 

Now, I find myself with several different styles of stitch markers.  Once of these days, I will gather them all together and do some test knitting to figure out which ones I like the best.

Knit n Purl - A Must-Do in Myrtle Beach, SC

 While in Myrtle Beach, SC last week, I visited the LYS, Knit n’ Purl.  It is a delightful shop, a must-visit if you are in the area.  While looking at all the beautiful yarns, I found a kit that came home with me. 

Picture from Kulabra Designs

This is the Pine Hill  wrap pattern by the very talented Natalia Moreeva.  Her Ravelry shop is closed but you can see her amazing patterns at her own site KULABRA DESIGNS.  The kit I purchased has light grey as the main color with all sorts of other lovely colors for the stripes. 

 

A finished wrap was on display so I could study it to see if I felt I was up to the challenge.  I always appreciate seeing finished samples of kits because it allows me to make a more informed decision.  If I had just seen this pattern, I probably would have passed, thinking it is too hard for me. 

There were several other lovely kits but I forced myself to choose only one.  It was a hard decision.

Knit n' Purl had a great assortment of tools, patterns, needles and buttons.  The yarn selection is top notch and had me wishing I could justify feeding my stash.  I did purchase a pair of Super Snip scissors and some safety pin style stitch markers for use with my very thin yarns.  

There is a great clearance room that is full of treasures.  I didn't find any yarns but I did purchase a pair of Knitter's Pride fixed circular needles for an amazing price.  There was also had a ton of free patterns and magazines to dig through.  I found a couple of old knitting magazines (perfect for beach reading) and some patterns to help me use up my stash.  

The staff was great.  They asked if they could help me when I arrived but after that, they let me browse in peace which I appreciated.  The shop has a welcoming atmosphere and I felt very comfortable.  They have a frequent shopper program which is always nice.  They also have an online store.  

Knit n Purl, 4811-B North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29577, www.knitnpurl.com, phone 843-945-9484.