'scuse the silence

Sorry for leaving you in the lurch there when I was supposed to post my next Tamora Pierce review - 

...but first I got distracted when I got an email from Morris and Sons (aka Tapestry Craft) saying the new Melbourne store was open - so I just had to dash into the city. Unfortunately, the announcement was a little premature, but the love shop assistants let me in to have a look around - the Morris and Son yarns are divine. The should be open next week, just in time for the yearly May/June sale. For a better sneak peak at the store check out my flickr page (after they so graciously let me have a peek I took photos from outside the shop with my new super duper telephoto lens) 

The store is at 234 Collins st (right above Dymocks mecca) and the will be having weekly s'n'bs on Thursdays from 7-9pm (tho I am assuming they will start after the sale finishes)

...then due to parental units being in town I was out and about and busy busy busy for a couple of days

...and I got stuck down by some lurgy (not to worry, no curly tail a la Dudley, so it mustn't be swine flu. If I start oinking I'll let you know so you can disinfect your computers, because with all this panic about swine flu I am sure it must be contagious via the interwebs)

...but the best news - I got me a new macbook :) oh yay! Quick Q for all you mac pushers users out there - anyone used google chrome? It's now my preferred browser, but I am not sure how well it will work on the mac.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back into it with the Pierce book reviews.... for now I am curling up in bed and catching up on my blogs :)

Pictures of the dress, at last!

The rockin' 40s frock on the catwalk!

This dress was swatched, knitted, finished and mailed off to the competition in under a month!

It is knit completely from pure Australian Merino Wool (Patons Merino Deluxe DK purchased from great LYS "CCCK")

Construction is knit all in once piece, with the exception of the belt. The bottom 'frill' is knit side to side with short row 'pleats' and grafted together at the back before stiches were picked up on the side and the body was worked. The paneling effect is due to incorporated i-cord 'piping' and the shaping is due to various increases and decreases within the green panels. Short rows were worked under the bust before a mock cast-off 'braid' was worked between the bodice and bust. Gathering of the bust is due to slipping stitches in the middle of the bust. Cute cap sleeves were created by casting-off the underarm stitches in one round and then casting on the sleeve stitches in the next. The dress is finished off with scalloped crochet edging at the neckline, and double crochet at the hem (to prevent roll) Sleeves were left 'unfinished' as i like the small 'frill' the stocking stitch roll created there. 

Belt was worked seperately, in moss stitch to add a bit of texture and so it would lie flat. 

The only error I really had to amend was that I miscalculated the number of stitches to cast on for the sleeve about three times. (I was frequently trying it on as I worked it to see if it fit - when I didn't have the mobility to get out of the dress without help I knew I had a problem) In the end I didn't have time to rip it back AGAIN to fix it, so I got a little crazy, did a crochet chain about 5 rows before the underarm cast off and then literally cut through those rows to make a bigger armhole. This left me with a metric-shipload of extra ends to weave it, but it was quicker than trying to reknit the top of the bodice.

Of course, this model is leaner and taller than I am, and she really worked the catwalk well and deserves credit for this frock rockin' the catwalk as much as it did :)

More pics of the awards and royal easter show here http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerknits/sets/72157616772530761/

Dress on Ravelry here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/gingernut/rockin-40s-frock

Textile Tuesday

This week brought to us by the loverly Purls Palace in Daylesford... the LYS that, like the rest of Daylesford, is cosy and classy. While I wandered around fondling yarns and fabrics, and flicked through books, The Man and Pupster sat on the comfortable couch and read through the Age (because, like the rest of Daylesford, Purl's Palace is Dog Friendly* and caters for partners)The Man bought these goodies for me as an extra birthday present when we had our dirty romantic weekend away back in March. 
These are the shots where I pay a homage to Brooklyn Tweed and his amazing yarn portraits. Above - Noro Iro, and below, Noro Kocharon.
These beauties have been turned into an incredibly warm beret/tam that gets lots of comments at Markets. I really should take some piccies of it!

*Of course, when we turned up on the doorstep of Purl's Palace The Man, Pupster and I were all wearing hand-knit sweaters. You'd have to be an idiot to turn away that sort of clientelle!

spoilt!

Me - well and truly! 

Thanks to everyone who sent comments, emails, messages or texts wishing me a Happy Birthday on Friday - I had a fantastic day weekend!

On Friday arvo the Man, Pierre and I departed for Daylesford. The Man had booked a pet-friendly B&B - hence P came along. We arrived just before sunset - so after finding our accommodation we took the pupster for a wander down the main drag.

When we strolled passed Frangos & Frangos it became apparent we were rather peckish -and they were rather dog-friendly, so we stopped for dinner. Well... The Man and I had dinner - poor Pierre didn't get any of our cuisine...

Due to the fact it was early in the evening, the staff weren't too busy, so I nabbed the waiter to take a pic of us when he brought out our mains - 
(The Man had lamb, black lentil jus and mash while I had canestroni with roast pumpkin, ricotta and mustard fruits - see, it wasn't mere food, but cuisine)

And there wasn't a birthday cake, but we shared this - 

Blood Plum and Rum Trifle topped with gold leaf - so good we had to taste it before we got the camera out...
Oh - and P loved being out to dinner with us!

After dinner we went back to the Double Nut Chalet (appropriate seeing as it was gingernut and Mr gingernut!) where there was champagne sparkly, choccies and a spa bath awaiting for us.

The view from the front door of our 'Chalet'
See those high ceilings? The only thing that went wrong during the whole weekend was that at about 2am the smoke alarm battery decided it was going flat... and was giving out persistent chirps every few minutes and the smoke alarm was riiiight up the top of the wall! The Man had to climb on the table to reach it to shut the thing up!
Funky cosy living (even port supplied for that nightcap)
And cosy heating (and aircon if you need), a good supply of movies, and electric blankets if its your thang (we prefer to snuggle under an extra woollen blanket thou)

MMM... Spa!

After our lingering breakfast on Saturday, we found Purls Palace (more on this in another post!), the Convent Gallery and had lunch (well, I had Devonshire tea coffee) at Rhubarb Cafe and stopped at the bookstore before heading back to Geelong to catch up with The Man's family for dinner. (All dog-friendly... except the 'Bad Habits cafe' at the Convent Gallery, as it doesn't have al fresco dining)

At the Queenscliff Market on Sunday I tracked down  the "Tea with Alice Cupcakes" stall and bought this goigious lime-iced vanilla as a birthday cake treat for myself.

(Well - to keep with the theme, Sunday was actually an UNbirthday for me, but I am sure the Dormouse and Mad Hatter would have approved!)

Earning my keep

And here we return to a bit a knitting content!

Those of you who visit the blog, may have notice that ol' Winston has been bumped down a little bit in the sidebar - I have added a couple of new self-promoting segments to the sidebar (after all... a girl needs to eat)

One is my Market Diary. As of this weekend I will no longer be spending my Sundays lolling around in bed until noon. I will be bright eyed and bushy tailed and trailing the markets down on the peninsula - the next one is at Queenscliff, and it appears that the weather will be playing the game. I'll be there from about 8 til 2, socialising, knitting and spindling - so if your inclined come down and say 'hello' to me. Feel free to bring your knitting and show it off! No pressure to buy, but I will have some yummy handspun yarn and kitchsy stitchmarkers available.

The other is my class timetable - I will be teaching a 3 hour class on a Tuesday evening at the LYS here in Geelong (Stitchery Blue for those in the know!) The class will be on sock techniques and will cost you $27 for the the evening... What does that $27 get you, apart from my wonderful company and expertise? Well, we will also provide you with a light supper, and you will leave having made a complete (albeit tiny) sock! The sock you make will teach you all the techniques needed to make comfortable, cuff-down, handknit socks - and I will be sending you home with a pattern for adult socks. If you're at all interested, call Stitchery Blue to sign-up...

No, really, please do!

I need a minimum number of students to run the class or else it will be postponed til next autumn. If you have ever wanted to learn how to knit socks, or just interested in perfecting techniques come along. I promise we will have fun (and besides - it will be in a yarn store after hours... that in itself it worth tuition fee!)

Here are a few pictures of the sample sock I have made (that you will make in 3 hours) - it makes the perfect mobile-phone cover, or alternatively - make two and give an infant you know happy feet!

handspun yarn pr0n

Not a lot of knitting is happening round here – but I been spending heaps of time at the wheel…

Just a bit of what I have created thus far...and these are my lucky jitterbug socks that got me the gig at stitchery blue (yes, it is the LYS in Geelong) - colourway mardi gras... And this little fellow all dressed up for the mardi gras was some secret knitting I sent to Lara...Bazza the Ram (complete with tail still attached)

Whoring for comments…

I know – rather selfish of me to not post for over TWO WEEKS, and then expect you all to leave comments for me, but it appears that my blogiversary is coming up this month and it has become tradition to thank your readers by doing a bit of a giveaway…

But first – I have been rather busy… I have moved (well – as much as I can fit in the back of the focus with the seats down) in with a buddy, and as part of the fantastic services Tel$tra provides – was without the interwebs for a few days. Living with my parents again was only ever supposed to be a temporary arrangement, so when my intended accommodation didn’t become available when expected and a room opened up at my old haunt, the decision was easy to make. The new house has a fully enclosed backyard that Pierre can run around in at his leisure, so he is enjoying the new digs too.

I have also been spinning like a fiend. I went to my first market on the weekend (lots of interest but unfortunately no sales) and have been trying to get a nice stock of handspun together. I be doing a market tour around the Bellarine Peninsula this summer, and once I get it all together will wack up a list of dates and venues in the sidebar.

I will also be teaching knitting through LYS, Stitchery Blue – starting with a 3 hour ‘Anatomy of a Sock’ workshop on the 8^th of September. More on that in a few days…

And now back to the whoring for comments…

Everyone who leaves a comment in August will go into a draw to receive some goodies… not entirely sure what those goodies are, but most likely it will be some stitchmarkers or handspun (for the knitters) and if there are non-knitters I’ll make up sumfin’ special… a pair of socks or what-have-ye

This goes for all comments on all posts – yes, comments on previous posts, comments on Black Dog Friday posts (which – BTW will be back this week).

One comment per person per day will count – and at the end of the month each comment will go into the draw and pick out a couple or more winners at random. So the more you visit over the next couple of weeks and comment the more chances you have to win. It also means that those of you who have dropped in the past 2 weeks, when I haven’t posted, and left a comment get a bit of a head start.

Anyhoo – start the ball rollin’ by letting me know what you would like to win from Chez Pierre – especially any non-knitters lurking out there.

Now I need to go catch up with my bloglines – 1000+ unread posts! YIKES!

Winter Melbourne

Little monkey foo foo socks – check

Vintage hues cardi – check

Manual noro scarf – check

Roarin’ forties hat – check

Green Leather trenchcoat – check (yes, the avatar is based in some reality)

Half-blood prince audiobook for drive – check…

We are ready to head to Melbourne for a rainy winter day!

I may not have had the best colour co-ordination in the world, but I was very glad I threw everything in the car yesterday when I caught up with long-time friend CT yesterday. In preparation for Saturday’s big release, I have started listening to HBP again, and a drive to Melbourne and back meant I got a good 2 hours of Pottiness in.

I have known CT since I started high school, and in the past couple of months he has shouted me dinner a couple of times, so I decided to use my creative ways to make a little thank you for him. He is a retired goth who has not yet reformed his wardrobe, so I didn’t think he would appreciate a sweater. After a quick trip to the beading shop I had purchased all I required to make a couple of earrings (my first attempt at ‘real’ jewellery) – tiger’s eye and silver(?) earrings. A (non-imperial- see below) dragon on one, and a Scorpio scorpion.

And on with the day…

First up – brunch! Caramelised banana, maple syrup, cinnamon and ice-cream pancakes at an eclectic café in Fitzroy. I can’t remember the name of the place, but they served breakfast til 4pm – la vie Boheme!

CT and I then discovered we both wanted to see ‘The Great Wall’ exhibit over, so we dashed over to Melbourne Museum in Carlton. I didn’t mind the nil photography rule until we came to the most beautifully embroidered Emperor’s gown – it was gold silk with gorgeous, precise embroidery of, amongst other symbolic totems, the Emperor’s five-toed dragon. It is astounding that something that intricate could be made 250 odd years ago, before modern machinery. Of course, I can’t find a picture of it online anywhere either, so trust me, it was divine! (oh, and with all the layers of clothing, we were glad that the museum had a free coat-check)

It was still raining, and our metered parking was running out, so we did the completely lazy and un-green thing of driving the car a whole 3 blocks to Lygon st where we decided to spoil ourselves with a hot chocolate – and if you are talking hot chocolate on Lygon, there is only one place to be!

I love how typically Melbourne this photo is – it is pouring down rain, but we are so social we want to dine al fresco just so we can people watch and enjoy the fresh air!

I tried a koko black chilli blend hot chocolate – oh la la! Very warming!

It just so happened that The Knitters Workshop was on the way back to Coburg (CT’s residence) so we dropped in. (Didn’t think I make a trip to the city without a stop at an LYS, did you?) I manage to pick up a back issue of Jo Sharp’s knit for half price (apparently ‘shop-soiled’ – it has a small tear in the back cover) and CT mentioned that he would like a scarf. I tried to sway him towards a grey black merino with long colour repeats, but apparently this would have been too outrageous for recovering goth CT (see comment about un-reformed wardrobe above) After handing him skeins of different fibres, his only request was that it ‘not be scratchy’. The mohair was dropped like a hot potato, and he ended up choosing an 80/20 merino/cashmere blend that was on sale. I grabbed the last 3 skeins, paid and we left. (CT later forced money for yarn and labour upon me – lo and behold, my first commissioned piece)

Deciding that the weather was taking a turn for the worst (hail!) and that peak hour was almost upon us, CT managed to talk me into staying for dinner – which was real Melbourne, nay, Victorian fish’n’chips take-away (Melbourne fish’n’chips they throw your flake, potato cake, dimmy and chips in the same basket to cook, dump all the contents onto a sheet of waxed paper and bundle it all up in butchers paper – it means that when you settle down in front of the telly, the paper provides an instant tablecloth to catch any spills that may occur. None of this Sydney, cardboard box and your potato scallop will cost you extra! And yes, I am a tad bit biased, why do you ask?)

All in all, the day was brilliant – I have missed Melbourne so much in the past couple of years, so it was fantastic to bundle up and enjoy a cliché or two!

being jack sparrow

Yes - I got dragged along to see 'Pirates' today (like my arm had to be twisted) and without giving too much away, it is, of course, nowhere near the original, more plot but less entertaining antics than the second - still a great swashbuckling adventure that any pirate-wannabe would need to see...

And now I have another giftie that has dissapeared from the UFO pile at Chez Pierre..

The Sasquatch socks!


THE STATS

NAME: Sasquatch socks - sasquatch being another name for bigfoot, and these are made for a male size 14 foot.
PATTERN: Based on WGTUP
YARN: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch Special - 150gm ball
YARN SOURCE: Rubi and Lana
NEEDLES:3.5mm Addi DPNs
COMPLETED: 13 May 07
Considering they were pulled on the minute my LBB recieved them, I think that means he likes them. And I got the fit pretty much spot on - quite proud of these ones :) However, LBB seems to think that Smellie will steal them for bedsocks. Looks like I may have to make some more...


Yet another WIP

And here is what I have done so far with my sea-wool. The colours aren't quite right here, but you get the general idea - much too pretty for socks. A 3mm is recommended for socks, which you generally knit firmer, so I went out to a 3.5mm for this project. Any guesses as to what it is?

I am loving this yarn - This is one ball and I am getting alot of yardage out of it! And it feels so nice to knit with - regular wool feels like barbed-wire after knitting with the sea-wool. And such sheen - it looks like silk, but has all the bounce of wool.

...and out and about

Anybody seen these adorable squatches from Australian Country Spinners? They definately make me want to buy the yarn.

Oh - and I have to admit, I thought the Paton's Totem label change was just re-branding, but it does, in fact, feel a tad bit more luxurious than the old Totem... has anyone else noticed this???


And I had to share this - the latest in designer mens-wear: patchwork ties... how incredibly rustic :)

the trip home - Pitstop 1.5 and 2: Tarcutta and Wangaratta

Sorry - no pics of the hand-painted goodies I picked up at the Tarcutta Farmhouse Industries Craft Shop - but I got some loverly hand-painted mohair and some gorgeous rainbow hand painted handspun...

The volunteer shop-clerks recognised Pierre from a previous trip to the town (I stopped there everytime I was going between Geelong and Sydney) and we discussed how Tarcutta was such a handy location for a pitstop (the rest area is on the main road with easy, ample parking) and the possible highway by-pass, luckily not scheduled until about 2012. I was very disappointed to have missed Taph and her mum, who stopped by a little later on in the day - however, I warned the ladies that more fibre fiends would be stopping by! If I didn't have certain place to be by a certain time I would have gladly grabbed a cuppa in the town just to catch up with Taph once more.

And that certain place was... WANGARATTA WOOLLEN MILLS!

Behold the majesty of such a yarnaholics mecca.

The photo collage above clockwise from top left: Yarn sales around here somewhere; One of the many overflowing yarn bins; the entrance to the retail shop; must be heading the right way for the yarn sales; just a minor stash enhancement; textile avenue - must be on the right track; the ACS mills - unfortunately no tours available; wool and woolblend remnants - $27.50 kg.

The retail shop there closes at 4pm, and I wasn't sure of what sort of time I would make - but due to the new by-pass around Albury I made it to Wangarratta before 3. (Yes - I enjoy driving through all the small towns where you only have to slow down for a couple of kms before you can resume cruise control, but Albury with its doglegs and traffic lights really irked me! Also, the bakery and roadside cafes tended to have better food for a better price than all the fast food in Albury)

Some of the photos are a little blurry as I was asked not to take pictures inside the shop, but they suggested taking some through the window (well, the original response was 'why do you want to take photos...? ... weblog...? ...maybe you could just do it outside... you know... through the window...?') Anyway - remember Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money bins? Replace that coin with yarn and you have something like the retail shop and something a hellava lot softer to dive into.

Anyway - next time I go to the Wangaratta woollen mills I will definitely be taking an empty car. Or perhaps a semi-trailer (my Dad could drive - he got his truck licence on Monday - Yay and congrats to him!) I walked out with one HUUUUGE bag of woolblend yarns, and one HUUUGE bag of acrylic yarns (approx 4-5kg of yarn in total) and spent just over $100. The acrylic, which my Nan uses to knit soft toys - was $10/kg. The wool and woolblend stuff $27.50/kg. There was also some other yarns with small discounts (patonyle, whole-bags of angora supreme etc) but I didn't partake of those.

I picked up enough shadow tweed to make two garments in two different colours, and more than enough inca to make another Josephine. Considering that the retail for these yarns is approx $10/100g, or $100/1kg the $27.50/kg was a steal.

Top Ten Tips and Tricks for making the most of Wangaratta woollen mills:

1. Clean out your car (trust me, yarn takes up a lot of room)
2. If you can spare the room in your front passenger seat, take a friend to split petrol costs and therefore afford more yarn (the only space left in my car was the front passenger seat, so I ended up piling up my yarn there)
3. Know your products - spend a couple of hours swatting at the ACS handknitting sites (ie cleckheaton, patons etc) and get to know the composition of your yarns. They are bagged up without labels/ballbands with a yarn composition and a weight written on the bag. (I know my patons yarns well, so I see wool/alpaca/acrylic and know that its inca)
4. Be flexible. All the yarns are a bit of a cluster-fork in the bins. Just because you know that inca comes in black doesn't mean you will find it, or it is even there. Its remnants - it may not be your lucky day!
5. Don't stress over dyelots. No ballbands = no dyelot information. If you are worried about dyelots, do a little research into how to disguise then when joining yarns.
6. Know what you are prepared to go through in order to save money. There are tangled yarns that are even cheaper than the $27.50/kg - but do you want to waste good knitting time untying knots? I know I can't be bothered.
7. Add in your petrol costs to your yarn purchases. It's no use spending $50 in order to save $10 on yarn. (Of course, the upside of this is that the more yarn you buy the more cost effective your trip)
8. Make sure the mills are open when you plan to go. On my way back to Sydney in January I made a slight detour to Wangaratta only to find the mills were still closed from the xmas/new year break. This time I emailed ACS customer service to ensure I could get a little S.E.X. in on the way home. (S.E.X. = Stash Enhancement eXcursion)
9. Make sure you buy enough yarn to make a garment - pointless saving money on 3 balls of yarn when you discover that you need 12 more of them to finish.
10. If the excitement gets too much for you, just find a seat, dip your head between your knees and breathe into a paper-bag for a while.

And now we briefly return to retail yarn for a moment:

At my last RandL knit group two and a half weeks or so ago, I decided to make one last purchase at my favourite LYS . After much mopey browsing, I decided to go with this loverly oceanic slubby handspun from Mollydale. The colours reminded me of the harbour city, and the yarn was of (reasonably) local origin. I grabbed all three skiens of the colourway, and am now trying to decide what I should make with it.

I have 300gms and just shy of 300mtrs - its labeled as a 12ply. I would welcome any suggestions on what I can make with this beautiful yarn - I haven't played much with slubbies before so please give me your input.

And a finished pair of socks... for ME!

THE STATS
NAME: Roza-knee-hi
PATTERN: Loosely based upon Roza's Socks by Grumperina in the spring InterweaveKnits. Modified for toe-up, and extra brioche stitch incorporated to stretch over calf.
YARN: 2 skeins Lorna's Laces's Shepard Sock in Black Watch
YARN SOURCE: ebay (yarnbow's shop, from memory)
NEEDLES:15cm Tulip 2.75mm bamboo DPNs
COMPLETED: 07 May 07


An just so you know, Pierre is doing well in his new (temporary) home at my parents. My Dad and I have been working on some new tricks with him - and he can now 'roll-over'

knitpicks review... finally!

(Sorry, but this is a photo heavy post - if your on a slow connection please give it a minute or two to load. Also, the skullcandy banner is still awaiting your click over in the sidebar!)

These needles can almost be summed up completely in the two words my favourite 2yo says everytime he sees me using them:-

1. shiney
2. pointy

I'd have to add one other word to that:

• smooth

But these are so good, that I have to use a few more words....

BKP (Before KnitPicks) my favouritest needles were tulip bamboo (circular and DPNs) - so I am using these for comparison...

The Join...

The most important part of circular needles is how the cable joins the needle.

As you can see on the left - the transition between the cable and needle on the tulip bamboo has a rather sudden bump in it. In this size needle (4.5mm) this was not a problem - however, in the smaller sizes, the bump in the cable made it difficult to get stitches past, and in the larger needles, the transition from cable to needles was sometimes too sudden and you had to work to get the stitches back on the needles.

As you can see, there is no bump in the transition from cable to needle, and out to the needle size, is perfectly smooth. I haven't had any problems with the joins coming undone or snagging stitches, provided I used the small wire key to tighten the screw into the needle.

Due to the screw on the end of the cable, the smallest in the interchangeable set is 3.5mm (the exact same size of the screw housing - it couldn't get any smaller). However, there are smaller circulars available. I have not had the need to use these yet, nor purchased any but I assume that they have similar attributes.

And as far as that smooth transition out to the needle diameter - it is still fantastic for the larger needle sizes. Shown left is an 8mm needle, and you can see that the angle out to the full diameter of the needle is nice and gradual. The needles go up to a chunky 12mm and the taper from cable to needle makes for great knitting.

I have knitted a sleeve and back on the 8mm already, and found the larger needles to be quite comfortable to knit with (and any joins invisible)

The point....

This is where knitpicks holds all the cards - a nice sharp point on the needle which makes it perfect for lace knitting, splitty yarns and cables-san-cable-needle

This is a fairly new bamboo needle, and as you can see it is rather blunt in comparison - fine for most DK yarns, but sometimes it is just a tad bit blunter than I would like. Of course, there are two problems with the points on bamboo needles once the have suffered a bit of use - firstly, the points tend to get blunter with general wear, and secondly, with further use they can begin to split - causing terrible knitting heartache.

But what I did like about the tips of these bamboo needles was the angle from the needle diameter to the tip. This angle is incredibly important when knitting - to sharp and it can be hard to get the needle through a stitch, and two shallow and you may end up knitting with a section of the needle smaller than your desired diameter. Knitpicks has done their research well - take note that the angles of the knitpicks and bamboo are almost identical (there is something magical about this angle, knitpicks uses it as the transition from the cord to needle - if you are thinking of making your own needles you may want to measure this angle!)

The cord...

No pictures for this section - but knitpicks claim that the cord is kinkfree with as little memory as possible... and I fully agree. The only problem I had with the cord is that in the deluxe set I started with I received 60, 80, 120 and 152 cm cords. I would have preferred the 100cm instead of one of the longer cords. However, at less than 5bucks a pop that was a problem quickly rectified.

The DPNs

These come in 15cm lengths for the smaller sizes (2-3.25mm) which I really love. I have stated before, that I am a rather tight knitter - that means that when I have used bamboo and rosewood DPNs previously I could feel a bit of strain in the needle. I haven't had the misfortune of breaking one, but I can understand how it could happen. (however, these don't come without their own hazards - see here and here!)

The also have the same point as the interchangables, so perfect for cables-sans-cable-needle, because, lets face it, you're already juggling 5 needles, why add more into the mix?

These are excellent value, they start at just under $8 for a set of 5 incredibly sturdy needles. (I love that they come in sets of five. I have in the past bought two packets of four DPNs so I could knit with five.)

And slightly off topic - I finally started my phallic sock - I had to buy DPNs in new sizes for the rockin' sock club patterns, and so far am loving the yarn, and this pattern. I will always be smiling when I wear these socks because I will have the thought I am walking over all men!

The feel..

My mum has often had a bit of a laugh at me because I don't like using metal needles on cold days. Indeed, this is one of the reason I preferred bamboo or wooden needles - they are warm to the touch. So was this a problem with the knitpicks???

Surprisingly, no. As the knitpicks needle tips are hollow they are quick to warm up while you knit.

And the other complaint I have heard mention is that the knitpicks maybe too pointy. Did I have this problem... Well, initially yes, but I have developed a useful "knitting callus" on my index finger and thumb. There are a couple of tips I can give you to help while your callus is developing:-

1. for prevention: handcream, often - when your fingers are dry, it is easier to poke between the ridges on your fingertips.
2. for first aid: bandaids, when needed - I'd suggest the kiddie-sized waterproof ones... I prefer the sesame street one, but really, each to their own...

The accessories...

Where to begin! I got so many with the set.

I guess, first of all we will have to talk about the handy organisation system. There is a place for everything in the binder I got with the deluxe set - The needle tips fit nicely into the triple pockets, the cords do well in the double pockets, and the DPNs are at home in the single pockets. (BTW - I am using the packaging for the extra needle tips I bought to hold the DPN sets altogether. It seemed easier than having to fish them out of the pocket one by one)

At the back of the folder there is a pen holder, and room for a notebook or pattern photocopy. In the front, there is a zipper pocket (perfect for PTYS stitchmarkers - couldn't resist a plug) and an expanding pocket which holds your needle sizer/ gauge ruler.

All together the folder can be a bit bulky, but I intend to leave this at home and just take the needles in use with my when I go a-travelling with my knitting.

Now, I have to talk about the needle sizer/ gauge ruler.

Knitpicks were incredibly smart when then designed the set - not only did they recognised that the US system of needle sizing wasn't standardised, but they decided they could count to ten, and use the metric system to get exact needle sizes.

This was quite a bold move - and to try and integrate their system into the US market, they made this great needle sizer that has both US and metric needle sizes on it (and also show just how inexact the US system is - just what does a US 1 or 2 convert to?) Okay, so I hear you say 'so what!' - after all, myself, I already had 2 needle sizers with metric, english or US system on them. But what makes this really cool is the magnified gauge ruler incorporated into the same tool.

And this also utilises the metric system - it is a 15cm ruler, label in both cm and inches - and the magnified part has a red line marking out both 10cm and 4". Quite useful to use as gauge is usually referred to in inches, while tension is usually in cm. Yes, I know they are the same thing, but 10cm is not quite 4" - and perhaps that half stitch may make a big difference. (And yes, that is my holey argyle - growing oh so slowly!)

Of course, there is one other reason knitpicks had to make this tool...

Unlike the nifty tulip bamboo needles that have the size printed on them, knitpicks don't. Quite a problem if your DPNs are all floating in the same plastic pocket, or you mix the tips up a bit. Luckily this comes with the set.

Also included with the set are the needle size ID tags and cable end caps. It is understandable that, if you are not a monogamous knitter like me, you may have more than one project on the go at once, and may need the same tips you have on another cord. The idea is that you take off the needle tips, slip an ID tag on the cord (preferably one that correlates to the size needles you were using) and then put the stoppers on. The needle ID tags have the US sizes on one side and the metric on the other, and currently, I use each tag in the pocket with the relevant size needle tip.

I find the end caps very useful to convert the cables into stitchmarkers. In the picture to the left, I am actually trying my hardest to force the stitches off the cable, but the end caps work very well!

The Price...(this is in AUD - please ignore this if you are not purchasing in Australia)

The RRP for the deluxe set is $129, but because I pre-ordered my set through Tapestry Craft I was lucky to get it for $99 (although this is a moot point - someone else paid for the set as a birthday present). If you can't afford to by the big set all at once - don't worry. You are really only saving about 70 cents over buying the pieces separately (YES - I worked it out!)

However - DO NOT bother buying either the Entry or Chunky set. These work out more expensive than buying the pieces separately (by about 10 bucks!) and they vinyl case you get with it is not worth it. I'd suggest using the extra 10 bucks to by a couple of sets of plastic pockets so you can start building up your own 'deluxe set'. I haven't tested this, but I am pretty sure that the pockets will fit into a filofax system, so if you can't afford a knitpicks folder this may be a good storage alternative.

I found it useful to buy the 4 size needle tips I didn't get with the set (3.75, 9, 10 & 12mm) so I would have the full system available, as well as a couple of extra cords in the shorter lengths and extra pockets so I could store it all easily. As mentioned, I also bought the full range of 15cm DPNs (2 - 3.5mm with increments of .25mm) - mainly because I wanted to be ready for whatever the rockin' sock club gave me this year in any gauge. I aim to get the complete set with the classic circulars in smaller diameters, and the 20cm DPNs - but that will be a long time work in progress, as I will only buy those sizes as I require them.

As previously mentioned, I bought mine at Tapestry Craft, but I have also heard that Doni has come through with the goods. Prestige Yarns is the distributor and will have the info if you require a stockist closer to home. There is also a full price list on their site.

And now for something completely different...
This is my secret knitting - I am sharing here because I doubt my Pop (maternal grandpa) will read the blog, and am hoping that Mum won't show him until after I have finished them.

Fingerless mits, in manly olive green and brown - they are massively big for me, so I am hoping they will therefore fit him. These will be for his birthday next weekend - which I will hopefully make it down to Geelong for.

And this is the beginning of a noggin warmer for Dilby... I love the way flash photography makes you want to reach for your sunglasses..

And here is Pierre - wanting to know why I have been blogging for 3 hours and if I am ready to go to bed yet. Didn't realise I would take so long to write this up!