New fings

Sadly no photos, as Mr Bee has taken the camera away with him, so I shall attempt to not be too verbose with a filler-post.

I've been a-shoppin' again (that's the problem with me decluttering by selling stuff on ebay... I immediately find stuff to spend the paypal money on!). This time I bought some Knit Picks options needles, in size US4 & 5. They've only just got a stockist in the UK, so I settled down for a long wait thinking there'd be a waiting list, and - whammo! - they arrived today!

I decided not to get the whole set (although I've spent 1/4 of the cost of it on just 2 sets of needles & cords :-/) because I do love my Denises. Plus I have heaps of inherited straights. But the Denises only go down as far as a 5, and the 5 is a right pain in the arse! I'm using it now for my Swallowtail, and half my 'knitting' time is actually spent easing the stitches over the join. Size 6 and up is fine, but the 5s are a tad fiddly.

I really want to switch immediately to my Knit Picks, but think I should wait until I've finished the Budding Lace part of the shawl. I've only got 2 more repeats to go, so hopefully it won't take too long! My gauge tends to change between plastic and metal, so I thought if I switched needles between lace patterns it wouldn't be too noticeable.

Next purchases have been balls of yarn for my Fairly-Easy Fair Isle. I have 10 balls of Sirdar Nova in navy (which I'm using for the body), and 10 balls in hot hot hot pink. I dyed a sample of the pink with blue Kool Aid, and it went a lovely purple colour, so I thought I'd buy some more light colours & see what shades I could get. I've bought 2 yellow balls (I hope to get green!) which might not turn up for days; but the 2 balls of 'camel' arrived today. Or yesterday. Who knows? The postman left the package behind the dustbin and didn't knock or leave a card.

I want to wait for the yellow to arrive before I do lots of experimenting, so it's a good job I can occupy myself with my new needles!

Tempting is Finished!

I know! Blimey. I only started this self-described 'quick knit' in Summer 2005 an' everything.

(Of course, when I say 'finished', I haven't woven in the ends yet. Or bought a ribbon).

We still don't have a mirror in our new house yet,* and while looking in the windows at night works fine for a general reflection, it doesn't quite give me a proper idea of what this looks like. I'm somewhat scared since every proper garment (i.e., not just a scarf or arm-warmers) I've knit has turned out pretty rubbish. And, *ahem* since I started Tempting I'm pretty sure my bust measurement has gone up by both a cup and band size.

Mr Bee took a couple of bored photos of me wearing it, and the ribbing does appear to shriek BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS LOOK AT ME STRETCHED OVER BOOBS!!1!... but maybe that was due to the camera flash. (The pictures were horrible; I deleted them).

But anyway. It's done. I can now almost fill up my Denise case again with all the wires. I've had the 3 or 4 wires used for Tempting out for so long that I couldn't remember how they all fit back together. I had to look at a photo online to figure it out (and in doing so discovered that Denise now do a kit with rainbow coloured needles - oooooooooooh).

And I think I'm just pretty stunned by the fact that yes, I can keep knitting, I can get there, I can finish things. It might take aaaaaaaaaaages, but it happens. Good stuff.

* i.e., we haven't yet unpacked and reassembled the wardrobe which has a mirror on the door. But then, we've lived here a month and still haven't bought a fridge/freezer. This, by the way, is an indication of just how cold it is in our kitchen.

Is it wrong...

... to be tempted by the Boye Interchangeable needle kit, when I already have the Denise set (oh yeah, and can't really knit at the moment) just because they are pretty colours?

But they come in blue. And purple. And green.

Needle Happy!

My Denise needles were waiting for me when I got home today - hoorah!

I will do a full review when I've used them more, but from some initial swatching this evening I am impressed. The joins are very smooth, and the needles are so light! I don't know whether it's because I'm still working on the Sonnet sleeves with 7mm bamboo needles with very heavy knitting hanging off the ends that this is a welcome alternative, or whether they are just really light. Of course it's not as swift to push the knitting along the needle as it has to go over the join, but I'll get used to that in no time I'm sure.

Anyway. Although I know I should finish Sonnet - especially as I'm so close - how could I resist using my new needles? So I've spent a couple of hours this evening swatching for Tempting. I started with the designated size 8US (5mm), stockinetted a few rows and checked my stitch count - too low. So I went down to 7US, repeated the process, still too low. Went down to 6US (4mm), repeated, and it still seemed like too few stitches. So I did a few more rows then cast off (all but the last stitch so I can unravel) - when I measured this I had the stitch count spot on. So tomorrow on the bus I will knit a proper gauge swatch with the 6US needles to make sure, and also knit some ribbing to make sure that looks nice on those needles (I tried the ribbing on 4.5mm / 7US a while ago and it's lovely).

Within Temptation last night were awesome, but I am now utterly knackered after only 3 hours sleep, so I must go to bed.

Quick! Somebody stop me...

Too late ;)

I just placed an order for a set of Denise Interchangeable Needles from The Woolly Workshop, one of only a handful of UK sites I could find selling them, and the best value for money. The set is £31.95, and postage is only £1.96.

I hope these needles are good. They certainly have rave reviews from Amy the editor of Knitty. I do need some circular needles - my existing pair are metal, with a metal cord which twists something rotten, and they're a bit rusty (they're my grandma's). I was planning to get some bamboo circulars from Dragon Yarns, as they have dragons on their website and will be relatively local once I move. However, at nearly £5 a pair it's much better value to get the Denise set. I need a 24" set and a 32" set for Tempting in size 5mm - I think. I don't currently have a set of 5mm needles, so if I bought some 5mms and then my gauge was off I'd have to buy more in a larger or smaller size. So it makes sense to get the interchangeable ones, with a stupidly high number of circular combinations for the price of 7. They do have a 33" rather than a 32" though - I do hope this won't be too much of a problem...

My order came to just under £34... And given that I've just spent £36+ on Within Temptation tickets I think I can justify it in the long run! It also means I can test out my gauge with those needles so I can get the right size of double pointed needles.

I'm going away for the weekend and I have packed my cardigan to knit on the train and while loafing around. I'll also be packing a book to read and make notes on... I wonder which I shall do more of. Hmmm...

;)