First Dishcloth

I was desperate to cast on something. I am wanting a ball winder for either Mother's day or my birthday. I will buy it myself if I have to. Knit Picks cataloge has one for $20. I don't know if it's a sale price or regular price. But the catalog expires May 16th. Anyway, I found a pattern for a dishcloth. I am using my Knit Picks needles and cotton yarn. Love these needles! I want to get every size in them. I will have the dishcloth done tommorow.

I am currently trying to get a shawl done so I can cast on for a shawl I will make for myself out of a Rowan pattern book and Rowan Cocoon yarn. I can't wait! I will post a picture when I'm done.

Ok...obsessed

I am working on my 3rd practice mitten with a new pattern. So far this pattern is the easiest and best. It is supposed to be a flip top mitten. I love this pattern....so far. I have 4 more rows until things get slightly complicated. I need a stretch of time to tackle this more complicated part. My knitting is the best so far on this mitten. I hope it continues. I won't be able to focus on knitting till late tomorrow afternoon. I may not get any knitting done. I had a great day knitting today though. Nothing like curling up on my bed propped up with pillows and wrapped up in my heated throw and listening to a great knitting podcast from Knit Picks to keep me company. I'm addicted and very happy!

Cable cast on

I did it! I learned how to do the cable cast on. I do not like how the thumb loop cast on looks. It's stupid simple but doesn't look good. This is a firmer neater cast on. It took three differnt videos to get it right. It is a slow cast on for me.

Went to a new yarn store!

There is a new Yarn store in Brookfield. It's called Cream City Yarns. It's in a old church that turned into a bank and is now a yarn store. It's bright, clean, and orgainized and not over stuffed with yarns. They have yarns there I haven't seen at the other yarn stores. I will probably go back at some point but there really isn't any yarns there I really want. Plus their prices seem higher.

Here are my 2 practice mittens. The first one looks really bad. The second one was more fun and easier to knit. I had far fewer mistakes. But I don't like the pointy top and the thumb is too tight. What I want to do is make mittens large enough to knit a liner into them. I might try making the first mitten again with the green yarn and change how I do increases and see how it turns out. I guess I'm slightly obcessed with making mittens since I can do it, I just need to tweek the pattern and eliminate the mistakes.

My new needles!

I bought some new needles yesterday. They are from Knit Picks and they are called Harmony straight needles. They are made from birch wood and have really pretty colorings. They are very smooth. My local Ben Franklin carries them now. They also carry the Options where you buy the tips and the cables seperatly and then the cables screw into the bases of the tips to give you a circular needle. I plan to buy myself some for my birthday. They are cheaper than the Addis. The tips are sharper. I also learned that you can use them as straight needles. You attach a cable to the end of the tip but then you cap the other end with the caps they provide. Do the same thing to the other tip and you have 2 straight needles. I'm a bit sceptical how well this would work. As you can see in the picture, I have been play knitting with these needles. Not making anything but just knitting to knit with them. I plan to use these soon on a pair of practice mittens I am attempting to knit.

Classic Straight Harmony wood needles 10" and 14" lengths. Our straight needles continue to deliver sharp, tapered tips, radiant waves of color, and a lightweight feel just like our circulars and dpns. Straight Harmony Knitting needles come in US sizes 4-17 in 10" and 14" lengths.

From an independant reviewer:
"The Harmony needles are made of laminated birch. Laminated birch is mostly used for flooring and furniture, meaning that it’s strong and long-lasting. Knit Picks says that this material allows them to make the points sharper on smaller sizes without sacrificing strength."

AQ neat thing about the Options is, let's say you are knitting a scarf. You are bored with it and want to start something new . The scarf and the new proju=ect call for the same size needle. No problem! Just unscrew the tips and place the end caps on the cables. You can set the scarf aside and happily work on your new project. Your tips are now free to knit something else! Each package of cables comes with 2 cables-not just one! That is neat!