On The Needles - March 3, 2013

I'm feeling better than I did yesterday. I've got some energy, although not a lot. Trying yet another sock method was looking too much like work, but I wanted to knit.

As part of the endless sock experience I'd gone to Walmart and found these balls of wool blend yarn. They obviously aren't sock yarn. The gauge is too big for one thing. But I loved what the colors are going to do. I found a free scarf pattern on Ravelry that didn't look too intense, and started to cast on stitches.

Of course, even this easy project had to have issues. I have a lot of knitting needles. Some of them inherited from my mother's stash. Some I bought decades ago. I went through them and got rid of the obviously bad ones a year or two ago. I went through them again and got rid of another 4 pair last week. So the ones that are left are probably OK.

I had bought a set of interchangeable needles last year but had never used them. The first thing I did was cast on with those. I HATE that set of interchangeable needles. I'm not giving the brand because frankly it is more me than anything they did wrong. The pieces went together exactly as described in the instructions, for example. But I didn't care for the buttons on the end. They kept hitting the table I was working on and I know they will hit me when I'm sitting on the couch. And the tips are only 4 inches long. I don't know if that is what all of these are like, or if it is only this brand. I found that annoying. But most of all, I like a pointer needle. They were just too blunt for me. The needle in the picture has a 3/4 inch tip, and is actually a larger size than the one I was using from the set. The tip on the needles on the set were only half an inch long and ended with a blunter tip.

In the end I cast on 4 separate times on 4 different needles until I ended up with these. They are only 2 sizes smaller than the one called for on the ball. I'm not sure if I'm making gauge or not. It doesn't really matter with a scarf. I will be checking it out later when I'm doing stockinette, just out of curiosity.  I knit Continental and we Continental knitters usually knit loose, and I knit very loose.

Which is another reason why I'm not starting the socks. I own #0 and #1 40 inch long circular needles and I can't make gauge on those. I found #00 and #000 on line in the same brand I currently have in the larger sizes. I'm going to order both of those first. No use even starting if I don't have the right needles.

Take care all.