I did finish off that skein for the bobble baby blanket and this is what I worked on tonight in preparation for my potholders.
As it turns out these squares really are easy and quick to knit. I learned so much from them too besides the basics of the domino knitting technique.
The new things I learned with just these little squares include:
- the knit cast-on - I struggled with making this too tight at first but by the second half of the cast-on for the second square I was getting the hang of it
- what it means to “slip 1 knitwise” (and, consequently, purlwise also)
- the “slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slip stitch over” double decrease
- that purling the last stitch on the end of a row creates the most convenient loops on an edge that has to be knitted into later
- striping! This was the first time I’ve worked with two different colors
I’m very happy about my squares and all that I learned particularly after such a bad day with the bobble blanket. I should probably sleep on my victory and I might just tackle my first potholder tomorrow .. or rather, later today.
Oh, and a side note, my circulars are perfect for these.
With projects mounting I think I’m going to get something else knocked out before I knit up the blue. Just today I decided to crochet the Granny Square Skirt out of Leisure Arts Fashion Show Favorites using this cotton so not only will I have to buy more, I will need three more colors which may end up meaning three more kerchiefs as well. Since I’m buying it anyway, I mean, why not? I’m also intending on using it for learning the domino technique from Vivian Høxbro’s Domino Knitting by knitting up a bunch of potholders.
Hmm … I guess I like this stuff. (It’s even in my blog header if anyone hasn’t noticed).
Oh, this was my first project using circulars and I only discovered one problem. Since I’m use to working with my 8 inch bamboo needles, I got into the habit of propping the butt of the right needle against my stomach while I adjust the stitches (I suppose with a longer needle people usually stick it under their arm to do this) but obviously this just doesn’t work with a circular so I had to find a new way to accomplish this. One of the good things I found is that for some unknown reason my knitting looks better. Maybe it was related to my new efforts to loosen my death grip which resulted in my stitches moving quite freely and not requiring me to wrestle with them like usual. Several things I liked about using the circulars was firstly, being able to see my work better rather than it all being scrunched up on the needle after a certain point, being able to slide it onto the cord while I wasn’t working with it and not needing to be at all concerned about stitches sliding off and, I don’t know, they’re just kind of fun to fling around and stuff.
I have this problem with knitting. It seems that projects always call for needles other than what I have. Not only are there the straight needles but fifteen hundred different sizes and lengths of circular needles. Don’t forget double pointed needles. Well, for the sake of my pocket book I decided some time back that I wasn’t buying straight needles anymore. Instead, I decided to buy circulars and use them for all my flat pieces as well whether I liked it or not. That didn’t solve the problem of all the different lengths when it came to circulars so I actually was simply making do with what I had rather than buying new anything. Then I discovered the Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles and fell in love, especially with the pink. However, while I was saving for those my MIL passed on to me a 50% off coupon for Michaels but since I couldn’t think of anything I wanted from Michaels that would make savings worth the gas it took to get there and spending the money I was saving for my Denise Interchangeables, it appeared I wasn’t going to get to use it. Saturday rolled around however and I remembered it was the last day for the coupon and why wouldn’t I want to go to Michaels? I already knew Michaels didn’t carry the needles I was saving for but I ran a search on their website anyway and discovered the Boye interchangeable knitting needles. I figured since we were heading out to the park we may as well go to Michaels and take a look.
First thing I noted once there is that they were more expensive than I was expecting but with 50% off I could afford them and they’d be cheaper than the ones I was saving for. Second thing, and the real hangup, they’re aluminum. Denise’s are plastic and I’ve never knit with plastic before but I had grown partial to bamboo for how light it is (which is why I use a size 9 for my kerchiefs: it’s the smallest size I have in bamboo needles) and had been using my aluminum needles for decoration (they looked great standing up in my red vase). I left the store to find DH who had passed up Michaels for the World Market next door and lamented to him, starting with the price since I knew he didn’t care the slightest what they were made out of. He’s pretty good at math though so he’d figured out before I’d finished speaking that 50% off these needles was a lower total than the ones I was saving for and he’d already latched on to the fact that this set of Boyes had more sizes in it. He forced me into it.
Last night I pulled them out to experiment. As it turns out, I really don’t mind aluminum needles when they’re only 4 inches long. Also, I recently had been thinking about how I kind of missed the distinctive click of aluminum needles. They do up tightly and I haven’t had them come loose on me so far. I still have no idea how to knit in the round but my next kerchief is working up well. Actually, the only problem I’ve had so far is when I pick up the one needle in my left hand and begin looking around wondering where the other one is and I really don’t care to admit how often that has happened.
I know there is an overall preference among knitters for the Denise kit so if you’re in the market I guess take their word for it and go with Denise. Personally I recommend spending the extra for the pink kit as not only is it pink but the extra money is donated to breast cancer research. For me though, the price won out. As it turns out however, the money I saved ended up going to help others after all so that made it worth the sacrifice to me.
