First Finished Object of the New Year! January 6, 2013

Sock Yarn Slouch Hat

US Size 2.5 and 3 Needles

Noro Kureyon Sock

I used a US Size 3 (3.25mm) 16″ circular needle and a US Size 2.5 (3.0mm) 40″ circular needle to work the pattern.  I changed the cast on to 150 sts and the increase to 50 sts.  I worked the rib for 15 rnds.  After the increase, I worked the body of the hat for 5″.  I decreased first from 200 sts to 192 sts, k 2 rnds, then followed pattern decreases except only doing 2 rnds between decrease rnds.  On final decrease rnd, I had 18 sts, so I did 3k2tog and 1k3tog on each needle (magic loop).

If I were to make this again, I think I’d do the pattern as written but use size 2.5’s instead of my size 3.  I definitely won’t be using Noro Kureyon Sock again since it just has no give and doesn’t lay well for this type of work.  I’m really unhappy with the way the ribbing came out although some of that I have to chalk up to using Norwegian purling on a round or two which doesn’t play well with the Noro.  I think I’m going to try it again but with a different tonal yarn as I’m not thrilled with the color of the yarn I used.  All in all, it was a quick knit — I cast on on Friday and just finished it tonight without working on it every waking moment.

Foreign Concepts January 5, 2013

I’ve heard of Norwegian purling before but never went any further to investigate it.  I found a YouTube video tutorial for it on one of my knitting groups and since I was doing some 1×1 ribbing I decided I would give it a shot.  I’m sure it’s because I’m new at it, but I’m not seeing any time difference over bringing the yarn forward.  It also may have been the yarn I was using (Noro Kureyon Sock), but my Norwegian purls seemed looser than my regular purls.  Again, it could totally be the yarn, Kureyon Sock is by no means smooth and it was from a frogged project so it was a bit wavy to begin with.  I’m going to wait and try it with some worsted weight yarn and see how it goes, until then the jury is still out.

My No Purl Monkey socks are moving along nicely.  I’m into the instep on the first one and I’m loving the way the Colinette Jitterbug is working up.  The yarn is nice and springy and the colors are fantastic.  Here’s a picture of it before I finished picking up the heel flap stitches.

I haven’t made much progress on the socks because I’ve been cheating on it with the Sock Yarn Slouch Hat.

 

I’m using some Noro Kureyon Sock that I’ve had in my stash for ages and doesn’t match anything I own, but I like the colors and I need a hat in the worst way.  I’ve made a few changes to the pattern.  I’m using a size 3 (3.25mm) needle because that’s the smallest 16″ circular that I own.  I changed the cast on to 150sts to accommodate my gigantic head and changed the increase to 50sts so I got a nice even number.  I have about two more inches to go before I start doing decreases.  If I can keep up the pace, I should be able to be done with it by Monday or so at the latest.

 

 

Needles December 26, 2012

I made my first call to Knitpicks customer service today for my bent and cracked needle.  You can definitely see the bend in the needle, but I couldn’t get a shot of the hairline crack.  The customer service representative I spoke to sounded a little dubious that the needle had bent and cracked in regular use but they are going to send me a replacement needle.  I’m hoping I can loosen my grip a bit so this doesn’t happen again but my Addi needles all have similar bends in them so I’m not too hopeful.

I love the pointy tips on the Knitpicks needles, so much nicer for increasing and lace work than the blunter Addi needle tips.  I dread doing the thumb gussets on the Joe Schmoe Fingerless Mitts because a M1L is doable, but a M1R is a massive PITA with a blunt tip needle and there are ten of those suckers.  I have a 36″ size 1.5 Addi lace needle but it’s too grippy and I don’t like the way the brass smells when I’m using it.

As long as I’m griping about Addis, I will also add that I hate their new cables.  The nicest thing about Addi needles was the gold cable.  Now they all seem to have monofilament cables and they just aren’t as supple as the old gold cables, another thing the Knitpicks needle has going for it.  For sock yarn, I have two hanks of Colinette Jitterbug, a hank of Madeline Tosh and one of Malabrigo in my stash to be used.  I’ll be using my Addi size 2.5’s for all but the Malabrigo, so I don’t have to worry about the Knitpicks needles for a bit.  I want to replace my 40″ Addi sock needles with Knitpicks needles but I’ll have to wait and see how this second needle holds up before I make a decision.