My aunt gave me the gift of sanity this weekend by donating her old metal straights to the Adventure Sweater effort. I mean, check out this pic!
They look so unglamorous here but let me tell you, they are an awesome present. Unlike the plastic needles I had in my own collection and was stuck using, these babies don't bend.
They're strong enough to support the weight of the sweater and they're soooo smooth, and they are 14" long, exactly what I needed! What are the odds of that?
and - get this - not only did she have 3mm needles to give me, plus 3mm and 3.25mm in 10" lengths, she had 14" 2.75 mm needles. I can make sweaters out of fingering yarn with them, which I realize sounds insane, but would be awesome for slim layering, don't you think? And almost as useful for endless portable knitting as a sock, what with the 4,386 stitches per inch you'd be averaging.
None of this is sarcasm, by the way. I've been looking everywhere for teeny tiny straights and nobody near me seems to sell them any more. What gives?
In other needle-related news, Binnie sent me a sweet little care package last week all tied up with string. Except it wasn't string, it was yarn. And even though I could tell it was really really nice yarn, I also noticed it was exactly the right size to serve as a stitch holder for the neck on the Adventure Sweater. And shoulders, come to that.
So I bit my lip, because I hate using beautiful yarn for unbeautiful purposes, and trimmed off the two bits for those. Then I used the rest for the remaining stitches and then I read an e-mail from Binnie confirming it was a Fleece Artist remnant. Ouch. But it will serve me well as a 3.5mm stitch holder for many years to come. Thank you Binnie!
2 comments:
Those needles will be perfect for a Fair Isle sweater. You know that comes next, don't you....
You are so BAD! Yes, I know all about the looming Fair Isle addiction... I remember all too well launching into those to use up scraps left over from other projects. In fact I have an unfinished one from approximately 12 years ago still on a pair of bamboo needles (which, now that I think of it, are probably 3mm!! curses!)
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