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.

Original Pattern - My Design Process Explained

A recent cable afghan yarn project fail (basically, it was ugly), left me with 10 skeins of Lion Brand Heartland yarn in Grand Canyon (a taupe color). Since I hated how cables looked with this yarn, I decided to design my own afghan. Here are the steps I follow when I design a project for some yarn I have on hand. 

 1. How much yarn do I have? In this case, it was pretty easy because the yarn is from an afghan kit I purchased several years ago from Craftsy (remember them?). Most of the time, I have a few skeins of a yarn that I want to use so I must figure out what I can make with what I have on hand. I look for online patterns that use the yarn to get ideas of how much is needed to make various types of projects. If no patterns are available, I will get the yarn weight (worsted, DK, etc.) and find patterns that use same weight and see if I have enough total yards to make the project. If I do, then I will work a gauge swatch to confirm. 

2. Once I have determined what my project options are, I will narrow it down to one specific type of project. For example, I might have enough yarn for a scarf, mittens, socks or small shawl. I figure out which one of those I want to make, usually going with the project that will use most of the yarn. I hate having tiny little balls of yarn piling up. 

3. Next, I consider what type of project do I want to work on – knit or crochet, easy or challenging, skill building or relaxing. For this project, I decided to do a relaxing knit project that used simple knit/purl combinations resulting in different textures. Once steps 1 – 3 are complete, I gather my pen and paper to write down notes as I work on the design details. 

4. Which stitches to use? I pulled out my trusty MonTricot stitch dictionaries and had some fun testing various stitches that met my criteria. Using some DK yarn, I tested about 15 different stitches. Some were quickly discarded after only a few rows so I ended up with a swatch with about 9 different stitches on it. If I had kept going, it could have easily ended up as a scarf. Once I had a good variety, I had some decisions to make about which stitches to use: 

    a. Do the different stitches play well with each other? The width of the swatch can vary wildly between different stitches. A rib-like stitch will be much narrower than a moss stitch for example. For my afghan, I wanted to make sure that all the different textures produced a swatch about the same width so my afghan would have straight sides. 

    b. What does each side of the stitch look like? I want my afghan to be attractive no matter what side was facing up so looking at both sides of the stitches was important. In some cases, the stitches were the same on both sides. Others were only attractive on one side. Some look different on each side but both look nice. All of the stiches I chose look good on both sides. 

5. What do I want my finished project to look like? A blanket made of only one stitch? I seriously considered this option because a large area of an interesting texture can be lovely. Need proof? Check out Purl Soho’s free patterns, especially the Slipped Garter Blanket. In the end, I decided to use 4 different texture stitches work into stripes, divided by garter stitch sections. Why? I thought I would get bored doing only one stitch and would put the project aside before I finished it. In my test swatch, I tried to use the moss stitch to separate the sections but the added texture blended in and did not offer the visual border I was looking for. 

6. Using the notes I had made while doing my swatches, I wrote out a sample afghan pattern. My notes include comments about each stitch I did a swatch on – did I like it, was the 1st row the wrong side or right side, did the edges curl, etc. 

Test Swatch in Progress

    a. One of the trickiest parts of this process can be figuring out how many stitches to cast on. The four textures I chose require a multiple of either 2 or 3. Based on the gauge of the yarn, I just did some simple math to find a number that was evenly divisible by 2 and 3 and would be afghan size. 

    b. For the reversible stitches, which side did I want facing up on the right side of the afghan? 

    c. How wide did I want my garter sections to be?  

7. Now, I have started stitching using my pattern. As I go along, I will tweak the pattern to get the finished product. Once it’s done, it will be ready to share. 

I have learned the hard way to always write down patterns as I create them. There have been several instances where I wanted to recreate something I designed years ago. With no notes, the process is much harder (if not impossible) because I have to study my previous project and figure out the pattern. Tedious at best and impossible if I don’t have the original item anymore. I have a notebook with several crochet motifs I designed years ago. I don’t remember what any of them look like so another lesson is to include a picture of the finished project with my pattern. Once day, I will have to stitch up those motifs to see what I’ve got. I’ll let you know if it’s anything good.

Pattern Surprise

In 2020, I used patterns from higher end yarn company (Shibui and Lana Grossa) for the first time and made an interesting discovery. Much to my surprise, I liked these patterns better than ones I had used from companies like Lion, Red Heart, Berroco, etc. A whole lot more. I’m just not sure exactly why. Full disclosure, I received all the patterns free with my various yarn purchases (all on sale). The first pattern was for the Shibui Medley Stole. Honestly, this one is so simple, I could have probably figured out how to make it without a pattern. However, I appreciated the designer’s explanation as to why she didn’t slip the first stitches of each row. It was printed on nice, thick paper that didn’t require a clip board which I also liked. This pattern really lets beautiful yarns shine and I would make it again. On the Shibui website, this pattern is $10.00. The other patterns were two PDF booklets from Lana Grossa that I got with the purchases of closeout Cashmerino yarn. The first is called Luxury Shades and has 7 scarf/shawl/stole patterns, 4 crochet, 2 knit and one that is a combo of knit and crochet (something that I wish was seen more often). All of the patterns used charts which is OK with me. I have made two of the crochet projects in this one and found that I didn’t need the charts anymore after the first few rows. The other is called Shades and has only one patterns for a crochet shawl. I love this pattern so much I’ve already made two – one for Mom and one for me. Again, this pattern uses charts. I don’t care for PDF patterns so I need to print these out. I like paper patterns because I can add notes, highlight, etc. One thing I love about these patterns is that they have interesting edging details that really make the items shine. My successes with these patterns has me much more interested in other pattens by higher end yarn manufacturers. Recommendations?

Comfort Crochet

I had a couple big kitting project fails recently (more about them in another post), so I decided it was time for a comfort crochet project.  What is comfort crochet?  Let me explain.

I have been crocheting since childhood, so it is much easier for me than knitting.  I’m fairly fast, can confidently read patterns and can figure out how to fix problems as I go.  That means that I rarely have a project that I end up hating after spending hours working on it.  I don’t get frustrated with crochet so the time I spend stitching is truly relaxing and restorative.  An added bonus is the boost to my confidence and confirmation that I actually can stitch!  None of this is true with my knitting yet (I know – time and practice).  A comfort crochet project is one that is smaller in scale, like a scarf or shawl, fairly simple to stich and uses up stash yarn. 

Comfort crochet project came up more often during 2020.  I made three different shawls during the year, one for my Mom and two for me.  When I needed a break from my Shibui Medley stole project, I would work up one of the shawl projects.  For all three projects, I used Lana Grossa patterns.  Here are pictures of the patterns and my version (all yarn was from  my stash).

Large Triangular Crochet Shawl
Luxury Shades, Lana Grossa

My Version With a Surprisingly Busy
Mystery Alpaca Yarn

Crochet Shawl, Shades Booklet, Lana Grossa

My Version, Unforgettable Yarn Polo

My Version, Universal Yarns
Handprints

Crochet Scarf
Luxury Shades, Lana Grossa