New toys to test drive...

Geelong LYS

Direct cut and paste from a Ravelry forum post I thought I might keep here for ease of reference. (I have linked all of these to their ravelry LYS page - if they have one. When I have time I'll find some more detailed weblinks.)

Twisted Threads is right in the centre of town - in the main street in fact! It has just been taken on by a new owner and would have the biggest variety of yarns. It is the only store in Geelong that is dedicated to knitting and needlework.

If you are keen to go into the suburbs, there is Busy Bee Fabrics in Belmont is an outlet for Bendigo Woollen Mills and has lots of pattern books, and there is the Belmont Drapery across the road that also has some yarns (once you get past all the old lady underwear!).

Woolsy Trading Post is in Geelong West and is a stockist for opal and Ashford products.

After that you may choose to head down the Bellarine Peninsula - there is the Ocean Grove sewing centre which has a selection of yarns, Wildpurl at Port Lonsdale - which is a homewares store with a yarn section out the back, and Coloured Jules at Queenscliff - which specialised in Hand painted mohair.

If you are heading that way you may want to stop at Drysdale. Not actually a yarn store - but Shiloh is a small farm specialising in natural coloured wool that is grown, scoured and spun in Geelong. Quite possibly a good place to get some unique souvineer wool. You will probably need to make an appointment thou (and if you are keen it is right next door to one of the main Bellarine wineries)

Depending on when you are in town you may also want to check out one of the weekend markets on the Peninsula - There are a couple of stalls (including GingerKnits - me!) that sell yarn and crafty stuff.

Heading south from Geelong along the coast you may want to check out some of our famous surf beaches, and while you’re there it would be the perfect oppotunity to check out Pear Tree Yarns in Torquay. Pear Tree also sources local producers and is scoured and spun in Geelong - and has some products to die for.

One last thing to mention - the National Wool Museum (external link) is located in Geelong and definitely worth a visit for any knitter. I don’t recommend you buy any yarn there thou - it is incredibly overprices (I think it has something like a 70% markup!). Save your pennies and go round the corner to Twisted Threads!

Good PR

I sent some of my stitchmarkers to Damo to say thanks for hooking me up with a pattern book - he has posted some awesome photos of his booty on his blog with some good PR for my store.

Click here to pop on over to his blog to check out what he has to say, and see those pics!

If you are keen for some of your own knitting bling don't forget that you can get a 10% discount and free shipping on all purchases until the end of June -  Remember to use the code LOSTMYMARBLES when you check out to take advantage of this offer!

Store Update...

Just some of the beauties I have uploaded to the store tonight - shawl pins and chunky necklaces can be found in accessories, and the tubs of lip balm under pampering products!

Read the post I wrote earlier today for details on discounts, free shipping and the competition...

Sun Shoes day!

Okay - I know that according to the Goddess of Footwear RoseRed that Shoesday is supposed to be the day after Monday, and not the day before, but I spent ages taking product photos yesterday and today, and felt the need to share this shot with you.

Shoe-stylin' stitchmarkers available from GingerKnits.com. 

From l-to-r; b-to-f: purple enamel high heel, high heeled sandal, slingback high heel, 

plain flip-flop, flat slide, floral flip-flop.

One of the aims of the photography class I am taking as part of my course is to be able to take reasonable product pictures. I don't yet have the Digital SLR as part of my kit, but I do have the ability to play with the ISO, exposure, white balance, macro and flash settings on my camera, and can also play with light and the composition. 

I took heaps of pictures, and got lots of over/under exposed shots, blurs, out of focus etc etc - it is very difficult to take nice pictures of teeny tiny little shiny beads and get any detail. And I only used Photoshop for cropping and extending the background colour into the back corner.

stitchmarker frenzy...

I literally just added hundreds of stitchmarkers to the store - and rather than put them in sets, I have them all up for individual sale, with prices starting at $2.50 a piece.

I have had a beading marathon, and my hand is now bruised where the handles of my pliers and wire-cutters dig into the fleshy part of my palm.

There are a wide variety available - cloisonné, glass, acrylic, polymer clay, metallic and enameled - and cute funky motifs, such as pirates, shoes, handbags, animals, cocktails, butterflies and candy-coloured glass beads. If you need a little knitting bling, pop on over and check it out. Some tempting images are below to whet your appetite.

Ravellers already get a discount, but if you are reading this and you haven't yet gotten past the Ravelry velvet rope drop me a line at info@gingerknits.com with the subject "Discount Puh-lease" and I'll let you join in on the savings :)

Don't forget that every-time you shop at GingerKnits.com in April you go into the draw to win a skien of handspun!

Mandie - you Rock!!!

This post is spoiler free!

Just got the latest Ewe Give me the Knits fibre club installment, and I have to say... 

WOOT!

SQUEE!

YAY!

Mandie - the swag is fantastic! Made my day - and love the top paddock blend and the colour!

About to dash out the door to school, but I'm glad I was here when the postie stopped by. And also glad that he had my current ebay purchases for my Passap :) One less trip to the post office for me!

BLURT!

I have a lot of things that I have been meaning to blog about in the past week or so, and just haven’t got around to it… so I have decided to blurt it all out here…

--------

This great little satchel is handmade by The Shopping Sherpa (www.theshoppingsherpa.blogspot.com) and I won it from her earlier this year in a blog contest. It is a very convenient bag, however, due to TSS’s monochromatic colour scheme it creates a great canvas for groovy badges and pins. Did you notice that one right in the middle? Let me zoom it in a bit for you…

This little jelly-baby pin was an impulse purchase when I was in line at the checkout – so cute that I had to grab one. It is to raise funds for research into Juvenile Diabetes and to attempt to find a cure. I am really glad that I did now, because it turns out that Dotter (aka Othlon) has been dealt the rather harsh hand of being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in the past couple of weeks. Jelly-baby month is officially May – but there are still some lingering around. If you see them around, spare your 2 bucks for a worthy cause – I plan to have an army of different coloured Jellybabies on that bag eventually. To read more about how annoying Diabetes can be, check out Dotter’s blog over at Othlon’s Demon Knits, or her Mum’s blog, Jejune’s Place

-----

Centrelink. GRRRRR! Need I say more!

However, I did get a good deal of knitting time down on the “got any blacker” commissioned scarf. Too bad that I decided it should be narrower to add extra length and frogged it all when I got home!

-----

The yarn I used for my clapotis is Fleece Artist Sea Wool – it is a 70/30 wool/seacell blend and a gorgeous silk mimic. I bought it through www.littleknits.com – I think that Kate at Blue Mountains Knits, and either Paisley Womble (or maybe Ozknitter? One of the sock queens) also has had a play around with it.

-----

Those of you who are awake will have noticed the past tense in the previous topic ‘yarn used for clapotis’ – Yes, c’est fini! After wearing it last night and today, I finally bought some foam tiles to block it on. It’s HUGE!

And the best part – this is all the yarn I have left!

-----

Having finished my Tour de France knitting commitments, I went looking for another French inspired knit before I went to s’n’b last night. I found a couple of balls of Jo Sharp Desert Garden Aran Cotton in the stash and a cute beret pattern in Knit2.

Well… c’est fini! Guess I will just have to make the “got any blacker’ commission scarf my new tour project. And really, cashmere in a man’s scarf – that’s very European, dare I say it, Parisienne!

-----

My new spindle I flaunted last week is a ringspindle from Golding Fibre Tools – these are like the Lantern Moon for Spinners. The make gorgeous objects that can be displayed as works of art by themselves, yet are also beautiful, well-functioning tools. Go check them out at www.dropspindle.info

-----

And Pierre is still alive and well – to cope with the wet and cold weather down here I made him a doggie-sweater. I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago, but completely forgot to post it.

------

Also, someone asked me what EZ book I would recommend reading first – I think that you can’t go wrong with “Knitting Without Tears” – it covers all the basic EZ concepts and has patterns to keep you warm from head to toe.

-----

I think that’s the lot – I’ll try to avoid the monster posts in the future!

ravelling

Hey everyone, I got my invite to ravelry last week, but only really getting around to playing with it now. Its AWE-SUM!

If your looking for me over there I go by gingernut (no underscore - they wouldn't allow it)

It meant that I had to (finally) learn how to use flickr as well. Needless to say - since I have been playing so much with these new sites my bright socks have become a little stunted.

I took the oppotunity today to snap a FO picture of the striped socks that began my downhill spiral to the 2-circs camp. Originally they were for Dad, but the cuff was a little small. No problem "Mum, would you like some stripey handknit socks?" I think she was hanging out for this offer because these sock have been on a constant feet, laundry basket, washing line cycle since they were finished. I don't think they have once made it into Mum's sock drawer!

I picked up the Lion Brand magic striped for $6.99 a ball at spotlight - again it is the standard 75/25 wool/polyamid blend and feels somewhere between the online and opal 4 and 6 plys (hehe, a 5ply sock yarn??) It was recommended to be knit on 3.5mm needles, but even though I am a tight knitter, it was way too loose for socks. I jumped down to the 3mm and only just got a comfortable pair of womens size 8.5 socks out of the ball. I mean just - there is about 3 yarns of yarn left - kinda makes me feel better I didn't make these for dad because he would have had very cold toes..

Yes, the socks are fraternal twins because I worked one from the inside and one from the outside of the ball. It certainly doesn't worry Mum (she wears them with her ankle boots) and I kinda like the contrast - these are handknit quality, and although different, definately a pair (besides, I may have run out of yarn if I tried to match colour repeats). I have two more balls of this yarn (in different colours) and am very happy with it - considering its about a third of the price of the Opal/Online stuff.

Onto bigger things....

This is the sea-wool yoke sweater so far. Yes, miles of stockinette! This replaced mindless DPN sock knitting for a while and made it too Shrek the Third with me last week - knit, knit, knit in the dark. I was very good and made no annoying clicking noises with my knitpicks! I was worried I was going to end up with something a bit too short, so when I got to the length I thought it needed to be decided I needed to knit for an extra inch or two just so I didn't end up with a ridiculous looking article - same for the ribbing. Now I just need to get the arms the same lenght :S Oh - and the body is a solid black, it has just picked up some Pierre hair.

And speaking P, he has become incredibly fixated with Mum's biiig fishtank. It is quite cute to watch him watch the fishies, flinching when they swim right past his nose!

And finally - just in reply to the comments:-

A photo of my recent, ahem, stash additions is coming.

and,

Doni mentioned that she is offering 10% discount on knitpicks to all bloggers, and will cover postage in June and July for orders over a certain value???? I may have got the details wrong, so don't take my word and get in touch with her if your looking to get some shiny new tools. This is a pretty good deal - Tapestry Craft had (has?) 20% off for their midyear sale, but unless your in Sydney you probably lose the difference with your postage (oh - and they may go via an indirect route, I put in a big order and only half was in stock, they came to me no problem, but when the other half got sent out it went to my old Sydney address - only a 1000 odd miles from where my home is these days. I believe (hope) they are on their way to me now...) Anyway - it's a good chance to help strengthen the knit-blog community!

some WIPs and more knitpicks!

I have been having some real issues trying to post recently - I thought it was Blogger having issues, but after trying a different browser, I think it may be iexplorer that is a bit retarded.

Anyway - lots of knitting has been getting done - I have finished the body of my sea-wool yoke sweater, and think I may complete the collar while waiting for my 40cm fixed circular 3.5mm knitpicks needle from Doni. Seeing as the smallest cable in the options set is 60cm, I was tossing up whether to use DPNs or magic loop for the arms, when Doni announced the new knitpicks sizes that are now available here. And you can see that I have also started another pair of socks - in crazy colours. I went a little crazy when littleknits.com had a big special on whole bags of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky (I bought 6 different colours*) and saw this yarn for US$2 a ball (I think it may be still on special). Its a 6ply self-striping regia in very bright colours! Its the standard 75/25 wool/polyamid blend, but feels a tad bit cushier and softer than the ONline and Opal 6plys I have used in the past. I am becoming a handknit sock convert and decided I must have more NOW, hence again on the two circs (to avoid second sock syndrome) and yup - you guessed right, more knitpicks. I didn't get around to reviewing the fixed circular, but they are da-Bomb! Just like Addi-turbos but with that nice sharp point.

Oh, and I also got some feedback from Prestige Yarns (the distributors for Knitpicks in Oz) thanking me for the positive review of the needles. You may remember in the review, after doing a little math, I pointed out that the smaller needle sets weren't good value for money - it appears that someone else also played the numbers game because these sets have been repriced so it is more cost-effective to purchase needles that way now.


*yes, for those of you playing at home that is 60 balls of designer yarn... but it was US$65 (approx AU$80) a bag, compared with AU$22 a ball (or AU$220 a bag) here, so I couldn't resist. And yes, it was also over 6kg of yarn that I have been waiting nearly 3months for - I went surface over air mail to keep the costs down! I'll think about getting off my butt and taking a piccie for you all.

unfaithful?

As you may be able to tell from my last couple of posts, I have been branching out to the two socks on two circs world. I also have made a couple of socks *gasp* cuff down... what would cause such a departure from my norm of toe-up on 5dpns????

I think it is very obvious that I am not a monogamous knitter - I like to have many projects on the go at once. This causes problems when you want to use your 3mm DPNs and they already have a project attached... what to do? what to do?

Well, luckily, I took advantage of the Tapestry Craft sale to broaden my knitpicks range to include their small diametre circulars in a range of lengths (I have bohus dreams and thought if I had the right tools, perhaps, one day...) I figured at 20% I wouldn't get them much cheaper. I was going to magic loop socks, but seeing as I had two 3mm circulars, would give the two socks at a time a go. After getting rather irate with the figure8/ turkish cast-on, I decided to go top down.

It's rather more fiddly than dpns, and not quite as mindless, but I have finished two pairs of socks in 8 days. Of course, that meant that I haven't done any other knitting at all! Socks are usually travel knitting - but I have dedicated tv knitting time, usually set aside for big projects, to socks this week.

Worth it? You betcha - but I'm not ready to throw away my dpns just yet... They feel so much more comfortable to knit with.

And finally - I wasn't a big fan of the monkey pattern at first, but with the perfect yarn I absolutely adore it. And, oh, my feet are so warm!

Here's a picture of how fantastic my feet looked all day today while I was out and about!

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!

Hoo-ray for Albert!

(quick note - thanks to anyone who has clicked on the skull-candy banner. If you haven't yet, it's over on the top of my sidebar! I've answered Q's about my headphones at the bottom of the post.

Also - thanks for the links to Vic knitting groups. I will check them out after I finish this post)

Eager to extend my knit-picks-bits, and use my $50 tapestry craft voucher, I have been calling Tapestry Craft regularly to find out if they had gotten in their extra shipment of knit-picks-bits.

Yesterday I called at about 4pm, spoke to the owner, Albert, and he told me that he was just opening the box with all the extra bits in it as he was talking to him, and if I went in-store today, I would be able to pick-up the bits I wanted.

Tapestry craft today was a bit hectic. There was a beginners crochet tutorial happening, and 3 sales attendants on the floor inundated with customers all asking difficult questions, looking for certain patterns and dye-lots.

To begin with I was a bit concerned as I didn't see any knit-picks paraphernalia anywhere - however, once I asked Albert rushed downstairs and ushered me into the back room where he then started to pull stock out of a cardboard box...

due to the busy morning the knit-picks stock hadn't yet been checked off against the invoice or put into their sales system....

but - SQUEE! - Albert let me pick what I wanted to take, and then found his price list and calculated whether it would be worth buying separate tips and cords, or the "chunky" set with some items I already had (and didn't need more of). Of course, this took some time - and was very nice of him to do it, as I was only going to buy the option that was cheaper for me.

I also grabbed the 15cm DPNs as well as some extra pockets. I came home with the following loot...
Of course, Albert was fantastic. He had to work out the retail price for each item (not in the system yet!) And then he had to figure out how to put the purchase through the til (again, not in the system) - and while this was going on he managed to answer the phone to get details of a dyelot someone was trying to match, and get the ball rolling on a special order for another instore customer without neglecting me.

Of course, what I was really happy with is that the prices for the knit-picks-bits were exactly the same as I have seen elsewhere - and I now have all of the interchangeable tip sizes, extra cords in the two smaller sizes, and DPNs in 2.0 - 3.25mm - and they all fit in the folder with the extra pockets I bought today. Nice and neat - I need all the help I can get to be tidy, so hopefully this system works!

I bought all the DPNs as I have a feeling I may be needing them to make my rockin' sock club socks. Now that I have the right sizes I will be starting on the Monsoon sock - and once I have used the DPNs I will be sharing my long-awaited review of the knit-picks.

The smaller circulars (that aren't available as interchangeable) and larger DPNs (in the 20cm size) I will probably purchase as I require them.

Oh - and because the knit-picks-bits aren't in the system yet, they won't show up on the website. If you're keen and unable to get to the store, I'd suggest giving them a call - I'm sure they would be keen to help you out, just as I was today.

A very weird moment...

I caught the bus home today and got quite a shock... this add was up in the bus 4 times...

What's so shocking about this add? well, see that tall figure on the right? She has my head...

And my name... She used to have my date of birth (but different year) but they seemed to have changed that a bit - they tend to keep me about 21! I'm not sure I really needed a body double though, I am rather proud of my figure...

So there was really 5 of me (or my head, really) catching the same bus home...

And what really cracked me up is this bit....

Have you got what it takes???? Well, I was medically discharged from the Navy, so I guess I didn't really have what it takes after all. Oh well... at least I can say I'm a model for a national advertising campaign....

And more free advertising for skullcandy

To answer Jejune's question's about how comfortable teh skull-candy earbuds are - I hate laying awake at night when I can't sleep, and Tuffer's hated it when I put the light on to read. I found these earbuds so comfortable that I could listen to audiobooks, lie on my side, and even fall asleep and when I woke up I didn't have any discomfort (except I missed quite a few chapters of my book) - I could never do that with my other ipod headphones.

Also to cater to different sized ears -

The include different sized rubber comfort plugs to go over the tip of buds. Like goldilocks, I find the small ones too small, the large ones too large, but the mediums ones just right. They stay in my ears while I'm running to catch a bus, but remain very comfy.

A couple of other features I like - you get a cute travel case for the earbuds, and there is a volume control on the cord, so you don't have to go fumbling in your bag for your ipod if you want to adjust the volume.

It's my party and I'll brag if I want too...

I had so much fun last night at Mandy and my joint birthday party that I forgot to take pictures, but luckily, Lara had the camera out and there are some photos up on her blog..

Unexpectedly, presents were given, and I just have to show them off...

From Candy - who not only knits, but also bakes (she supplied the yummy fudgilious gluten free cupcakes last night - oh, and also the live entertainment in the form of her 6yo son!) and quilts, I got this gorgeous handmade needle roll - in my colours, and also to suit DPNs and circulars, as Candy has noticed that I don't often use straights.

This folds in half and rolls up to about the size of a paperback. I'll have to hunt through the stash and notions to find the DPNs and fill 'er up!

Lara (and, I guess, Mark as well) gifted me this gorgeous swishy yarny goodness from her recent trip from New Zealand (hence the guys with the face paint and the tongues out on the card!)

There was also a bamboo crochet hook and a "sock knitter travel bag" - both from a 100-yen shop (aka- $2shop) Lara found in kiwi-land.

The soon-to-be-joining the ranks of bloggers, Sally (who was there with hubby David) gave me a little tools and notions bag with a couple of extra goodies inside - a metal needle sizer with a gauge square, and a touch of luxury - a skein of caramelly coloured cracksilk haze. I think I can understand why this might be addictive!

Kate gave me this cute little silky bag with some rowan botany and some yummy eucalypti dyed yarns, which I think she said was done by some clever member of the Blue Mountains Knitting Guild.

The card is by one of her favourite artists, and I love the way it co-ordinates with the rest of the gift.

Mandy was so excited to have a party, she made some cute little goodie bags to take home - these were plastic noodle boxes with easter eggs, bubble blowers, balloons - and toothpaste sample :)

We all got so excited about the goodie bags that we wish we had gone with a few more good memories from kiddie parties such as preparing some ubiquitous fairy bread!

Ness was also in attendance last night - and I'll use this opportunity to show off the book I received while at dinner the evening previous.

Knowing my love of books, Ness spent quite a bit of time at Borders, and decided that it was near impossible to get me a knitting book I didn't already have and grabbed this one instead.

All is good because I fancy myself a bit of a bossy boots!

Now - I have mentioned by fancy-smance knit-picks, but not that they were also a gift (albeit one I got early!)

Originally, these were to be my gift to myself, but Tuffers needed inspiration so he ended up paying for them over the phone for me to pick up. When I got to the shop he also had organised a $50 voucher for Tapestry Craft. I have decided to spend this on extra bits and peices to expand my knit-picks set - which hopefully will come in rather soon...

I did spend a bit of time looking at the yarns at Tapestry craft and fell in love with Jo Sharps Alpaca Kid Lustre - but because there is a slightly higher mark-up due to the store location etc etc... it was rather expensive and in order to make a garment I would have to add a substantial about of my own moollah to the voucher. I did a bit of searching on the net and found out the knittery.com is having a sale on all their Jo Sharp range, so bought all they had - each ball being just shy of half the price of the same yarn in Tapestry Craft. This was my present to myself and I am using the yarn to play around with colour - my holey argyle is coming along nicely, but working from nine (yes, 9) balls of yarn at once makes it a stay at home project. I have taped a whole bunch of zip-lock baggies together to try and stop some of the inevitable tangling...

all in all - not a bad haul for this chickadee!