The post with gloves, sewing and a new ukelele

Things have been busy here, Unwind is next weekend which means a slight panic all round. Not a mad panic, but a slow ordered got-to-make-sure-that-things-are-in-order kind of controlled panic. Now I'm not organizing Unwind, I am unwinding, and along with smallest cub,  teaching two classes, and taking one. That means getting organized for three classes, so I've been sorting and stacking, things for this class, things for that class, and things for the other class in yet another pile. I've also been volunteering as a general helper if and when needed - so there have a few chores as part of that. Today I've got an update on the Sanquhar gloves, which are coming along nicely and quicker than anticipated, a new sock club installment which came with my new favorite knit tool, I'll show you my volunteer project for Unwind, and there is a new ukelele and with it a new word - purfling. All in all a busy weekend.

My Sanquhar gloves are growing surprisingly quickly, for something knit in colour work and at a fine gauge. Around 10:30 last night I reached the point of dividing up for the fingers and decided that was a task best left for another day. The wrist fits beautifully, but the palm seems loose. That may be the result of the straight dpns/needles distorting the fabric, or it maybe the stitch count being reliant on multiples of 13. I'm holding off making any decisions on this, but know that given it is pink and grey Bear is unlikely to welcome them even if his paws are larger than mine.

This kit arrived during the week, the latest installment of the Vintage Purls 2012 Summer club, I've not done the purple justice, its richer and purpler than this. Truly this is one of those purples that even those who don't really get purple like  - I lost count of the number of comments along the lines of 'well I don't really do purple, but this purple is the kind I can do'. 

 I have a new toy, the wee special treat in the last Vintage Purls sock club,with it I can highlight the line of chart I am knitting.

And when I've knit that line I can move the tape to another line - easily.

This is my new favorite knit tool, highlighter tape. I guess that most of you already know about this stuff, but I'm still underlining in pencil and occasionally using yellow highlighter pen or a 3M sticky post it. The best bit is that the tape isn't even sticky - it seems to be that clever cling plastic rather than traditional sticky tape so there is not sticky residue left behind and it stays clingy. I am indebted to Morag for discovering this in Julia's knit kit and sourcing enough to supply knit-clubbers.

One of my volunteer roles at Unwind is helping the the swap shop, a table where one can trade the  yarn one owns but no longer loves for credits that can then be used to 'purchase' yarn traded in by others. The Swap-shop needed a sign and this is it, a quilted banner to drape across the front of the table, the fabric is a remnant of a Liberty Print, Melbury in colour way D. Finishing this let me tick of another thing on my to-do list.

Lastly there is a new Uke in the house, little cub has been playing Ukelele for 3 years, all the time on the same pink cheap lacquered soprano ukelele. Initial cost was $20, and while we had invested in a tuner and a custom bag, it remained a little cheap uke. Elder cub has returned to his guitar and so we are shopping around for a guitar to fit his five foot ten inch frame, his last one was bought when he was 9, and much shorter.  As we toured the music shops of Dunedin I became aware that there was more to the Ukelele world than cheap toy versions, and that little cub who has plucked away under her own steam for three years could also do with an upgrade. We are still negotiating with the elder cub the  details of the guitar,  so far no pick up, steel or nylon strings as yet undecided, Bear wants one made in Canada or Spain, Cub wants a cutaway body ..... its a whole new world to me, and a whole new set of terms. In the meanwhile we have splurged on a new uke for little cub, a Lanikai Flame Maple Tenor with real abalone purfling. Sounds much more mellow and full than the wee pink soprano uke it replaces. We figure this kind of spending replaces the large game station that we will never buy for them.

Purfling - now that is a word that I could use to describe my knitting, in some dictionaries its a ruffled or curved ornamental band - in others an ornamental border or edging. Now I think I'm  looking for a project to purf ...... I'm sure Morag just finished a cardigan with a Purfled band ..... Purfling is nice in the right places.

take care
na Stella

New toys

Really knitting is just arranging yarn with sticks, nothing more. I know that in times gone by knitters worked with quite primitive sticks, smoothed twigs, or wires ... or bone shapped and smoothed to the sizes needed. In theory a good knitter is a good knitter and the needles are much less important than the knowledge or the yarn used. But in practice - good well made elegant tools are always nice to use. I perfer to use materials and equipment that just works well, that way I can get on with the process of knitting (or writing, or working, or stitching, or drawing, or baking, or whatever it is that I'm doing).  Todays post is mostly about a new knitting toy that I've been enjoying, and a little update on the current lace project.

In the beginning when I learned to knit there were straight needles, long plastic or metal ones with stops on one end that displayed the size. I knit many things on those needles, mostly metal but sometimes plastic. Then in the mid 1980's (yes I have been knitting that long) I discovered a particular brand of knitting needle that were steel cores with a bright translucent plastic casing. I thought they were amazing - the different sizes were colour coded, and when you shook one the steel core rattled. I can't even remember the brand. Latter around 2000 I discovered the online knitting community and inspired by them branched out into dpns (double pointed needles). Metals ones were available here, but soon I was ordering lovely birch dpns, and addi bamboo dpns, Lantern Moon, and even Crystal palace dpns. Each seamed nicer to use than the last and my knit kit seemed to be constantly upgraded as I found better and nicer tools. I read about circular needles - so I bought some, and even invested in a set of interchangeable Denise  circular needles. I felt so prepared for knitting anything. I'd discovered knitting in the round and this set let me do that. Of course the Denise set also tended to come adrift at odd moments and didn't have needles small enough to knit socks. I tried to magic loop socks but really didn't find it a pleasant process.

Finally some one took pity on me and offered to send me 'good' circular needles to try - I accepted and was sent a pair of KnitPicks 2.25mm sock needles. Wow! I finally understood that the quality of the join, how smooth and flexible it was made all the difference in how easy a circular needle was to use. The better the join, the smoother it was, the more flexible the cable was, all that contributed to a nicer to use needle. Around that time KnitPicks launched their interchangeable needle set, and I meet two local knitters who had brought sets back from the States. I was in awe at the pointy tips, the flexible cables and the secure way it all fitted together. I sold my Denise set to fund a full set of Knit-picks interchangeable circulars complete with binder (they called it the Options set but don't offer it with the binder anymore), had Bear call in professional favors to forward ship the order from a US address to a NZ address (KnitPicks wouldn't ship outside of the US) and paid a small fortune in shipping - but I was happy. A few years latter  KnitPicks were available in New Zealand, and I picked up extra cables and wooden harmony tips. I thought I was set, the needles were all I could ask of a knitting tool, flexible cables, pointy tips, secure join, and several kinds of materials to choose from (metal, wood and plastic) all in a neat zip up folder.
Then my local pusher was incredibly mean and showed me the latest knit kit from Hiya Hiya. I  have had Hiya Hiya needles before, little short glove needles for working the fingers, and  a few circulars. Nice I thought but not nicer than my current set up. These new Hiya Hiya circulars are amazing, I've succumbed, I ordered a set and once it arrived my other needles haven't left their zip up case.

First up the case is flat, compared to the 'other set' its tiny and yet it holds pretty much the same equipment. There are needles, in sizes from 2.75mm to 5mm, with space for at least as many more tips to fit, there are cables small enough to knit a hat and long enough to knit a large shawl, and the little grippy pads, each in its own storage area. This is so much easier to tote around and prettier with its silk cover. Inside are the tips, and each has its size etched smoothly on the tip to prevent confusion. The tips screw fit to the cables with a long thread, and are tightened using two wee grippy pads. All that is good but the best bit is ....

here, at the end of the cable there is a wee swivel. The cable swivels easily and is amazing, no more twisty curly kinks as one knits. That feature alone is one of most valuable improvements  - kink-less knitting. I guess that sounds really weird, and if you didn't knit it would be, but if you knit, and knit with circulars you know how annoying it can be when the cable builds up twist and starts to fight back. Some one at Hiya Hiya is a knitter, and not only that but a knitter who thinks about what would make knitting better ... I like that.

So I've been knitting with my HiyaHiya, a few rows here and a few rows there on my Deciduous lace shawl, and loving every bit of it.

Oh and I apologise if you now need to investigate Hiya Hiya needles, but you would rather I shared than kept them as a secret wouldn't you?

take care
na Stella

Small world this knit one

So this week I've been reminded that although the world is a vast place with millions of people I will never know - it is at times small and friendly, incredibly friendly. I talk about meeting up with an old friend, and making a new friend, Elspeth and Jane. There is not much knitting reported here - sorry about that, but a fair isle video made and in edit stage for latter this week.


A wee while ago I posted a rather sad and lame complaint on Knitters Review about not being able to easily get more Knit pics clear files for my options folder. Just like all the other non-American knitters out there. Jane dropped into my life with an offer, out of the blue to send me some she had spare. What a wonderful gesture from a fellow knitter! Anyway I since found out Jane might be very much a knitter person like myself, with a busy life, and for whom the post office is not always an easy stop. I had a few hic-ups sending a small thank you to Jane, for which I felt very apologetic. Jane's spare knit pics clear files arrived over the weekend. There was also this kit for a key ring sock blocker and instructions for knitting a sock to fit. So cute, I've seen these on blogs and on-line shops and these are 'way way cuter' in person. Thank you Jane. I can see that I might need to knit a few socks, one for each that I knit, just to keep things fresh, and toe up - maybe with a double knit toe ....?


So here is my rather full knit pics options folder, with many, many more clear file folders. It is nice a and fat now. So what use did I put the spare clear files to? Well apart from giving each pair of needle tips its own pocket, I filed the little cute tools that come with Knitpics, the wee flat ends and the small looped tighteners, and then I think I went very commercially incorrect ....

I filed my Addi turbo circulars in the same folder as my Knitpics ... something tells me that this might be frowned on by both the manufacturers of Addi and of Knitpics. And while I don't want to alienate either of those two - this is my knitting resource so both belong here in my eyes.

and Elspeth, well way back in high school when I was not a social butterfly, still aren't, for many reasons(then and now). Elspeth was cool, and intelligent, and soo soo small. In that petite and boyish way. You know there were those girly girls who the boys liked, then there were the ones who every one liked - well that seemed to be Elspeth, she was little, cute and cool. She listened to the cool bands, the Dunedin sound. She was good at art, and nice, nice nice nice - not many cool teenage girls are.
Well last weekend it turned out Elspeth was back in my life, as a student upgrading her qualification at the institution I teach. And true to form, every other lecturer on staff who had taught her (she studied here before I joined staff) remembered her in a good way. She is just one of those people, and yes, we talked, a very quick catch up in a busy class, and she is a real person, and still just as cool and neat as before!