100

Wow, Blogger is telling me this is my 100th Blog post. Wish I had something momentous to say but it's knitting as usual around here.

It took several tries but I figured out an edging for the cotton baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. (see February 29th post)


I-cord just wasn't working, it was just too heavy. Crochet was the answer;

an edging of single crochet in a variegated color made such a smooth even finish and tamed the roll.

My Cherry Tree Hill socks are finished but I'll wait to block them before their documentation shot. I was given a skein of a new cotton sock yarn to test drive, it's Saucon Sock by Kraemer Yarns. (44% cotton, 43% acrylic, 13% nylon). Younger Daughter is allergic to anything wool so she will get the wear and comfort test.


Cotton sock yarn has a history of getting baggy very quickly so doing a 6/3 rib for the body of the sock I'm hoping will help maintain elasticity through the day. That acrylic part of the yarn has made it a nice yarn to work with, not at all stringy like most cotton yarns without any wool component. I'll report back on the wear test.

As you can see in the picture I'm knitting these socks with two circs. When the 2 circ method first came out I tried it with 16" needles and hated it. Seemed very awkward! Come forward several years and I was working through Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters; the only circs the right size available were a 24" and a 32". Longer circulars have longer needles than the short needles attached to 16" circular needles!! (a real smack-yourself-in-the-forehead moment) I've been knitting all my socks on two 24" circs ever since.

So now I have an opinion on circular needle tips.


All the needle tips above are 24" fixed circulars:
Top is an Addi Turbo Lace
Middle is a Knit Picks Harmony Wood
Bottom is a Knit Picks Option

I like all three needles, all have nice tips and good joins to the cable and have the same length needle but I have a favorite. The Addi Turbo Lace is just nicer to use; it does have the sharpest point of the three. I'm not sure exactly why I like it best, the sharp point is nice but that's not all of it. Seems like the needles are a bit flexible (or is that just my dillusion) where the other two are rigid. I'll have to observe this needle for awhile longer. I wish Skacel would make these needles available in more sizes.