Not much of my knitting is very photogenic at the moment, but I do have a few lovely little things to share.
In November, Julie and I went to Vogue Knitting Live when it came to Chicago. We didn't go to any classes. Instead we went looking through the vendor section to see what interesting things we might turn up. One of those interesting things turned out to be handcrafted hexagonal needles.
I am always interested in "new" knitting needle technology and I'm a sucker for handmade things, especially when they come from my home state of Michigan. Indian Lake Artisans makes handcrafted hexagonal knitting needles (it's a lot easier to see that hexagon shaping on their website... these needles were just too tiny to get a good picture of that). I took them for a spin and really enjoyed the feel and liked how the hexagon provided a bit of extra grip. Even better, they will make them out of a variety of hardwoods, all sourced from Michigan. I don't truly "need" any more knitting needles, but I do enjoy adding special sets into my collection when I find them. I love black walnut and I placed an order with them for US 3 (3.25 mm) needles -- it's so hard to find hand crafted lace weight needles in small sizes! They arrived this week (along with a handwritten explanation for why it had taken a little while for them to get to me) and they are beautiful. They are smooth and the joins are almost undetectable when you run your fingers over them. The size of the needle is branded into one of the points, so I'll always be able to tell what size they are (they also can be sized with a conventional needle sizer). The cable will have to be warmed and relaxed, but that is fine by me.
I have a lace weight cowl pattern all ready to test them out on. So as soon as I finish up another project I'm working on these needle will get a work out. I will probably invest in a US 4 and US 5 soon as well.
The next set of acquisitions occurred after I realized all of my little stitch markers were sitting in ongoing projects (note to self: time to get knitting...). So I headed on over to Etsy and treated myself to a few new sets. Etsy is one of my favorite places to find stitch markers since there are so many vendors and so many different markers to be found.
The markers on the top left are from Exchanging Fire. They are markers with "mood ring" inserts -- now I will always be able to tell what mood my knitting is in!
The markers on the top right are from The Twice Sheared Sheep. They are amethyst beads with a "moebius" ring that will fit needles up to a US 4 -- perfect for the fingering weight projects. Amethyst is my birthstone (and I love me some purple anyway) and with my birthday coming up, I thought they would be a nice little treat.
The bottom markers are from Strawberry Lane. Ms. Z and I both love butterflies, so these were hard to resist (clearly I didn't!). I may have to start a project with these soon, if only to prevent them from flying off to some place in my daughter's room....
I consider pretty knitting tools, like nice workout wear, motivation to knit and create. While the standard jump rings work well, I love the little treat I get that comes from knitting along and encountering a special marker or running my fingers over beautifully made needles.
What are your favorite knitting tool treats?
Ooh! Pretty!
I got a set of the blackthorn dpns for Christmas. I love how smooth they are, though it is a little weird that one needle out of the set is much sharper than the other. It also takes a little time to get used to the sound from using those needles. It sounds like writing with a pencil (not a surprise).
I found a great gift for my daugher's Christmas stocking - a "Tardis" needle gauge. She is both a new knitter and a Dr. Who fan.
I have several crafty friends who have made me beautiful sets of stitch markers, but I always seemed to use multicolored Goody elastic bands (for tiny pony tails- about as big around as the end of my pinky) since they are cheap, colorful, and I don't care if I lose one. I have been making an effort to use my gift markers for larger projects lately. I decided that they deserved to be used and shown off (especially the set with my name, Rav name and fave swearword spelled out in tiny square alphabet beads!). Maybe Miss Z could wear a butterfly marker on a silver chain for special occasions, like a charm necklace.