This episode features my first unboxing! In the box are three books and two sets of interchangeable knitting needles, which are the first interchangeable needles I've ever owned. While I do give un update on a couple of UFO's, most of the time is spent discussing and trying out the needles.
Handy Dandy - 01:29
Unboxing - 08:25
Heart Full of Craft - 46:29
Handy Dandy
First up is a very quick update on my Opposite Pole cardigan. Happily, I can truly call it a cardigan now! When I originally planned the project in one colour, there was no way there would have been enough yarn to do sleeves so it was going to be a vest. But since it had to be rescued by adding another ball of yarn in another colour, there is now enough to easily include the full sleeves as per the pattern.
There is more to say about my progress on the Skandium socks. Mark 2 of the sock, which features a contrast heel instead of the gorgeous stranded heel in the pattern, is pretty much done. It is a bit past the point of where I got to with Mark 1 when I ran out of yarn. And this was enough for me to be able to decide (with the help of it's intended recipient, my partner Ben) which version I would actually stick with.
While I am happy with the final choice, it does mean that I'll be heading back to the frog pond... Although I guess that would be the destination no matter which version I chose.
Unboxing
This package from Knit Picks took around three weeks to arrive to Australia from the US. The reason for the purchase was really to get myself these specific interchangeable knitting needle sets, but since they were having a book sale at the time I went shopping I went ahead and added a few books as well.
The books are:
Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Knitted Cable Sourcebook by Norah Gaughan
And then we get to looking at the two sets of interchangeable knitting needles - Knit Picks' Foursquare in both the standard and the shorties sizes. The reason I went for these particular sets is purely ergonomic, although I do have to add that it doesn't hurt that the colours they come in are so my style! After some very simple research into the ergonomics of knitting needles, with some consideration of my paranoia for developing arthritis in my fingers, these ones fit the bill since they are made of wood and have a square shape.
You can watch me start whipping up two swatches using my go-to cast on - Tillybuddy's Very Stretchy Cast On (see link in Resources below), a quick and versatile method where and you don't need to guesstimate the yarn tail length.
One sample is using the standard size needle tips with polwarth wool from Tarndie, a local family owned farm that breeds polwarth sheep and produces yarn. I had already knit one swatch with this yarn on my knitting machine but was really waiting to get these needles before swatching by hand. The second sample used the shorties tips with a cable from the standard set, and some Lion Brand Yarn in cotton bamboo that just happened to be within reach.
Overall, I really love working with these Foursquare needles! I had heard that wood was a friendlier material to work with because they are warmer than metal needles, but I had never really understood how that could be when there's usually yarn between your hands and the needles. However, the difference really was noticeable. After having knit with metal needles for years now, I was also somewhat skeptical about how well the yarn would glide along the needles. Happily, my fears were laid to rest as these needles were completely smooth to work with. Lastly, and completely unexpectedly, I could immediately feel that these needles are softer in the hands. It was a revelation, truly!
My only complaint is that the plastic cables are a bit stiff and have a strong memory of having being coiled in their pouch. While one solution is to use shorter needle tips with shorter cables in an effort to make this less evident, there is one issue that I haven't resolved yet. This is that because the cables have a memory of curving in a specific direction, they do not want to go in any other direction and therefore naturally fall a specific way. Which means that the rotation of the needles are determined by the fall of the cable. Which means that my fingers often end up gripping the (rounded) corners rather than the flats of the squares. Which is, of course, completely against the whole point of getting square needles! So I will have to do some research into ways to soften the cables or combat this bias...
Heart Full of Craft
Hands down, this episode's gratitude goes out the all the postal and delivery workers in Australia and around the world. As mentioned above, this package took about three weeks to arrive from overseas which was quicker than I had expected considering the times we are in. Whenever Melbourne goes into lockdown, mailing and shipping goes up and delivery times go down. So a very big thank you to all of you out there working through all of these lockdowns and restrictions to get us our packages.
Since this episode was filmed, Australia Post have put out a notice saying that they are so inundated with mail that they need to pause parcel collections for 3 days just to give them some time to catch up. While I am so grateful that I received this package before that happened, I also really feel for their staff and for all the others out there experiencing delivery delays. So I just want to reiterate - THANK YOU Aus Post! I know you're doing the best that you can (and am in no rush and will patiently wait for my other online shopping to arrive).
Resources
Opposite Pole - © Joji Locatelli
Skandium - © General Hogbuffer
Knit Picks - Foursquare knitting needles
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