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Huh, I prefer the feel of the bamboo needles, maybe just because it's what I'm used to. Glad to know the bending isn't some kind of sign of my terrible technique or anything, though! Another point against bamboo and wood, though: my cat totally chewed up a wooden needle and ruined it. drat you, cats.
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Feb 21, 2012 01:35
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Spiteful posted:
Apparently the reason boyfriends come to kiss knitters in the middle of dropped stitches is our look of determination draws them. Threatening stabbing with the needles is more fitting than decapitation, unless you're using circulars you can garrote him with.
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Feb 21, 2012 01:36
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I like bamboo best! If you notice your needles bending, you probably want to ease up on tension. And you can just rotate the needles the other way to bend them back in the opposite direction.
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Feb 21, 2012 05:30
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i like nice words
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:Another point against bamboo and wood, though: my cat totally chewed up a wooden needle and ruined it. drat you, cats. She loves to chew on bamboo and she also loves to chew my needle toppers, which nearly led to tragedy two weeks ago. She'll still chew the plastic part of metal needles, so I'm never totally safe unless I'm stashing projects in a bin when I'm not working on them.
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Feb 21, 2012 05:41
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Anne Whateley posted:I don't mind buying more than I can knit right away -- it's a good sale, I'll use it all eventually, and it's not like yarn has an expiration date. I'm a slow knitter, but I've been doing it for years so it's not like I'll suddenly lose all interest. And I know the price of raw materials is going up, so better to buy now rather than later; I'm just not sure how much. My boyfriend says I should literally buy $1000 worth, but uhhh that's pretty nuts. (I don't think he knows how much that would be.) Looking at all those pretty colours makes me so jealous! I wish I had someone telling me to spend that much on wool. I probably still couldn't talk myself up to quite that much at once on one type though. Unless I really really liked it. Does everyone else have a huge wishlist of what they'd spend $1000 on? I desperately want a fancy set of circulars and some decent quantities of good quality yarn. I didn't even realise there were interchangeable circs until reading this thread, and now I want them so badly. I think crappy needles is why I hated knitting in the round for so long - I adjusted every pattern to knit it flat.
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Feb 21, 2012 10:10
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Anne Whateley posted:I like bamboo best! Yeah, me too. My bamboo 4mm straights are my best friend, although at some point a yarn dyed them slightly blue. I like wood for double pointed, my circs are all bamboo tipped- they were a massive job lot off Ebay and in true cheap Chinese fashion the ends fly off and have to be glued back on, grr. I like wooden ones too Brittany needles are divine, but they're so heavy! Metal hurts my hands much faster than others, although I do use metal DPNs on and off and for very teeny projects where you're using 2mm needles. Most of my needles are plastic though, my mum found a huge set in a case in a charity shop a few years back and I haven't got round to filling in all the gaps in my wood and bamboo selection yet.
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Feb 21, 2012 12:04
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Yeah, if a fairy godmother gave me $1000 that had to be spent on knitting, there are a lot of other things I'd get! My boyfriend just thinks I should spend that much on the sale now...and then not buy any more yarn for literally five years. That's a nice thought but there's no way that's happening. I might spend like...$200, though. I really like the yarn, and I love the heathered colors. It's so rare to find an inexpensive/acrylic-wool blend that isn't all primaries and pastels, you know?
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Feb 21, 2012 14:50
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I use bamboo needles almost exclusively (Clover brand) and I've never had them bend, but I'm a very loose knitter (I usually have to go down two to four sizes on recommended needle size). They're light, warm in the hand, and have just enough catch. I also use steel for DPs and smaller circulars. Aluminium is bullshit, and though I have a set of DPs in it, I mostly use them to bend my own custom cable needles.
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Feb 21, 2012 15:08
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It really depends on what I'm knitting. I generally prefer metal DPNs for socks now , and everything else is on some form of circular. Those tend to be large projects, and for those I generally prefer bamboo--lace and sweaters mostly. I have some of the Knit Picks wood ones, and those are pretty and pointy, but I find I use them less now. Of course, I do use metal circulars for Fair Isle sweaters and vests, specifically Inox/Prym/whatever they are called now because they are both cheap and let the yarn slide easily--which is a big deal when I need it not to get bunched up under my hands.
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Feb 21, 2012 15:13
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Man, if I could just spend a grand on knitting stuff...that would be awesome. But, it's not like I don't have plenty of yarn lying around. I almost exclusively use my Knitpicks aluminum interchangable set nowadays. And I have a 60" addi turbo size zero that I make all my socks on. I used to buy bamboo a lot, as evidenced by the giant tangled pile of bamboo circs in my under the bed tupperware knitting storage system, but I HATE using them. So sticky. And the small ones kept breaking in my hands, even though I'm not a tight knitter. I guess part of it was that I tended to buy the cheap bamboo so the cords suck balls. Ooh, I know what I'd get with a grand of free knitting money - those DPNs that are made out of the same material as the stealth bomber.
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Feb 21, 2012 15:46
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:
That will burn about $300. That leaves $700 for yarn!
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Feb 21, 2012 16:15
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FelicityGS posted:That will burn about $300. That leaves $700 for yarn! Are they really THAT much? Holy goddamn.
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Feb 21, 2012 16:41
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I googled around and found they're called Blackthorn needles. I found a set of DPNs for only $35, are they strong enough to stand up to a super tight knitter? I always thought CF was very brittle?
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Feb 21, 2012 16:48
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:Are they really THAT much? Holy goddamn. No, I was thinking of a full set of Signatures, not the Blackthorns. 
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Feb 21, 2012 17:03
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FelicityGS posted:No, I was thinking of a full set of Signatures, not the Blackthorns. LOL I was talking about them with a non-knitting friend a little while ago and she insisted on looking up their website and reading it to me out loud (she is my annoying friend) and she was saying something about $42. I was thinking maybe it was per needle rather than for the set! Teknicolor, they are supposed to be extremely strong and lightweight. I would imagine it'd be hard to break one no matter how tight you knit.
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Feb 21, 2012 17:30
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Made my first sock/felted thing: (Sorry for the crappy photo. I thought adding the Nintendog would help the focus and it didn't) Not the best job but they would have been great during the Euro cold snap the other week.
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Feb 22, 2012 16:30
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Anyone going to be at Stitches West? I'm going with my knitting group tomorrow to hit up the marketplace, would be cool to run into some other knitgoons!
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Feb 24, 2012 00:23
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Drei posted:Anyone going to be at Stitches West? I'm going with my knitting group tomorrow to hit up the marketplace, would be cool to run into some other knitgoons! I just heard about this! I'm going to try to go, but no promises.
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Feb 24, 2012 07:21
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Mizufusion posted:I just heard about this! I'm going to try to go, but no promises. Cool! If you see a girl wearing a knitted object it's probably me so you should run up and scream "DO YOU HAVE STAIRS IN YOUR HOUSE?" really loudly just to make sure.
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Feb 24, 2012 07:35
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Drei posted:Cool! If you see a girl wearing a knitted object it's probably me so you should run up and scream "DO YOU HAVE STAIRS IN YOUR HOUSE?" really loudly just to make sure. I could see this going really really well. I won't be; I'm a midwester so I've got to wait before I can go to Chicago for Stitches Midwest
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Feb 24, 2012 16:41
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I'll be there Sunday. My mother and I go every year and buy too much yarn (it's always on my birthday weekend so we justify about half of it that way). 2 years ago my present was the pattern and materials for a knitted dress, which Mom did a great job on, so I'll be wearing that. I mostly knit smaller things myself (I love the balloon animal patterns they had the last two years) and weave lots of very warm things not suited to a convention center.
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Feb 25, 2012 15:47
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 My 2nd haruni shawl, unblocked (obviously). My gent is downstairs messing around with power tools to make me something with which I can block it, because it's larger than my normal projects. I made one with fewer rows that I love and figured I'd go all out with this one and it's gigantic (but gorgeous- the pattern is really simple but has great results if you're a shawl fan). My pops sent me some buffalo hair yarn that is surprisingly soft. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with it yet...
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Feb 26, 2012 01:08
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Wow, that's gorgeous. I'd love to hear about the buffalo hair yarn. Never even considered it as a possibility.
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Feb 26, 2012 01:26
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:Wow, that's gorgeous. I'd never heard of it before, either. This is where he ordered from: http://cottagecraftangora.com/ (site's a little wonky, but oh well) They're actually more into muskox yarn, which I'd never heard of before, either. My dad says he talked to one of the owners (there was some mixup on my dad's end with the shipping address, so he had to call them to fix it) and that they're very sweet. Of course, my dad's a wildlife nerd which is why he ordered it in the first place---- he thought the buffalo stuff would be a reminder of home as I grew up in a place not far from one of the largest buffalo herds in the world. double  Once I figure out a project I'll show you guys what I'm doing! I'm not really a big sock person (which is kind of what I thought this lends itself to) so I'm thinking.
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Feb 26, 2012 01:35
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Good heavens. Musk-ox down. The idea has never even crossed my mind. But dang that's awesome. And really sweet of your dad. indeed.
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Feb 26, 2012 02:01
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Ozmaugh posted:
drat, that is so nice. It even gets over the fact I absolutely hate that pattern from seeing it EVERYWHERE. I think it's the colour. It's very pretty.
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Feb 26, 2012 02:03
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Stitches was....big. The marketplace was gigantic and swarming with people, even in the first hours on Friday. I'm actually a little surprised at myself, since I gave myself a generous budget I thought I would be buying stuff left and right. I only ended up with two skeins. Part of it was that it was lots of sock and lace yarn (and while I do have sock patterns queued I also have a backlog of sock yarn) and I was also determined to only get yarns I had never seen before (because if I've seen/touched it before, I know if I like it and can always order online). This is Western Knits Magnolia Sock yarn, which has cashmere and I'm using for a friend's cowl. Of course now I'm wondering if 378 yds is too little and I should have gotten 2 skeins of the DK instead. The color was exactly what I was looking for (and I think everyone in my knitting group got something from them, the colors were absolutely lovely).  Woobu from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The skein is absolutely enormous (620 yds of sportweight). I wish they'd had some of the brighter colorways, but the grey is really pretty, and $30 to knit a top is a price I can agree with. I really wanted to get something from Buffalo Gold but good lord those prices are expensive.
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Feb 26, 2012 18:12
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Man I wish there were fiber festivals in my area of the country.  The closest I get is the two different yarn stands at the Kutztown Quilt festival during my vacation.Though I'm kinda tempted to visit Lancaster again this year just for all of the yarn stores there
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Feb 26, 2012 20:02
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Ozmaugh posted:
I keep toying with making that pattern, but I'm afraid of ruining it when I try to crochet the border. I don't know why everything I touch with a crochet needle turns to poo poo. I read in the pattern about making i-cord instead, but that seems like it would be awful clunky.
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Feb 26, 2012 20:05
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I'm horrible when it comes to crochet but the finishing in the pattern is actually really easy- for part of it you're just treating your crochet hook like a knitting needle anyway, and then it's just chain stitches so there's not a lot to it.
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Feb 26, 2012 20:25
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Can anyone suggest any good wool shops in London? I've been into John Lewis a couple of times but I'd like to find some other places to occasionally browse in. I went for a walk around the back of Oxford Street but couldn't really find anything. Any other London knit goons have anywhere good to suggest?
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Feb 28, 2012 00:53
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Ozmaugh posted:I'm horrible when it comes to crochet but the finishing in the pattern is actually really easy- for part of it you're just treating your crochet hook like a knitting needle anyway, and then it's just chain stitches so there's not a lot to it. Hmm, it *sounds* like I couldn't mess that up--It's between that the the Swallowtail Shawl for my next lacy thing, I'll have to mull it over.
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Feb 28, 2012 04:44
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HeatherChandler posted:I read in the pattern about making i-cord instead, but that seems like it would be awful clunky. I did the i-cord and it turned out alright. It took forever though.
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Feb 28, 2012 04:51
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Serenity Dove posted:Can anyone suggest any good wool shops in London? In that immediate area there is Liberty on Regent Street, All the Fun of the Fair on Carnaby Street. A bit further south near Waterloo is I Knit. If you're near Islington then there's Loop, who stock Wollmeise.
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Feb 28, 2012 16:58
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Sodium Chloride posted:In that immediate area there is Liberty on Regent Street, All the Fun of the Fair on Carnaby Street. A bit further south near Waterloo is I Knit. Ah I didn't realise Liberty did wool. Thanks for that, I'll go and have an explore during my long free on a Wednesday between classes!
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Feb 28, 2012 18:22
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Sodium Chloride posted:In that immediate area there is Liberty on Regent Street, All the Fun of the Fair on Carnaby Street. A bit further south near Waterloo is I Knit. Eww the guy who runs I Knit has a creepy little chihuahua Yarn shops in London are so tiny too  A friend of mine wants me to knit her a cardigan and when I asked what kind she posted this up: http://www.wraplondon.co.uk/fashion-W731-SMWKW-SMWKW1/cardigans/oriana-cardi.htm Can anyone suggest a similar pattern? I don't mind paying. Of course, the yarn preferably needs to be less than the cardigan she linked to.
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Feb 28, 2012 19:43
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This one doesn't have the cables on the side, but along the edge. It's pretty and has a fairly similiar texture to it. Otherwise I got nothing.
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Feb 29, 2012 02:15
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I think I have the world's most frustrating yarn. It's some sort of acrylic(?) single-ply roving. I think I got it from Wandering Knitter's destash, and it looked kind of neat because it seems to be a self-striping rainbow yarn. Unfortunately, it's pretty impossible to knit with since it broke three times when I tried to cast on with it. The colors are kind of pretty so I don't want to get rid of it, but I have no idea what to do with it. Normally I love to find uses for novelty yarns that other people don't like, but this one leaves me wondering who the hell decided to invent it. The drat thing just keeps falling apart, and since it's synthetic it's hard to join the ends back together. What the hell, yarn. 
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Feb 29, 2012 12:45
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I've decided I want to try and knit a jumper/sweater/warm thing and have found a pattern that I've fallen for. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spinster I know it's ambitious for my first Cardigan but it just looks so pretty. I've had a quick read through the pattern and it makes sense to me with my limited knitting knowledge. However, the author of the pattern admits that it's more a collection of notes rather than a pattern. Could any goons who have knitted sweaters before and have a spare moment glance over the pattern and tell me if it does make sense or not?  I've watched both the videos linked in the pattern and I think I can do it. Shaping the sleeve cap looks a lot like turning the heel when you do socks.
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Feb 29, 2012 14:32
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Mizufusion posted:I think I have the world's most frustrating yarn. It's some sort of acrylic(?) single-ply roving. I think I got it from Wandering Knitter's destash, and it looked kind of neat because it seems to be a self-striping rainbow yarn. Unfortunately, it's pretty impossible to knit with since it broke three times when I tried to cast on with it. A single ply acrylic? What the hell. I don't know if this would work or not, but if it's breaking because it's not twisted enough, maybe you could add twist with a spindle? Or even ply it with some neutral thread or something. That would give it more strength. Bonus, if you don't spin already, you'll probably catch the spinning bug and start a whole new stash that isn't even yarn yet. That's what happened to me, anyway.
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Feb 29, 2012 15:38
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