Saturday, January 22, 2011

Here We Go Again

Just as I said, as soon as I wore my sweater again Gary was reminded of the sweater that he wanted. He changed his mind about the previous sweater because two other people in our neighborhood had the same sweater, so he chose another one.

We placed the order and in just a view days this box arrived with all the goodies to make his new sweater.


This is a close up of the sweater. The color in real life is a navy blue and silvery cream. It is a much easier design pattern than the last one so, I don't for see any problems with this one. Another big difference is this one doesn't have a zipper. I simply need to sew two clasps at the neck. I think the most difficult thing about this sweater is the name. It's called "Eivindsplass". I can't even begin to sound it out. I will be starting it today.

Stay tuned for updates and progress.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Yes, These Can Be Used For Knitting

I've been looking for a way to organize my circular knitting needles for quite some time, and I finally found the perfect organizer. I didn't find it in my local yarn shop, but in a sporting goods store in the fishing department. Can you guess what it is? Yep, its a worm binder. You know the kind that fishermen use to store those plastic worms and lures.
It has 12 plastic zip lock pages that are attached by 3 rings. They are strong, see through, and are easy to open and close. I printed labels with the size of needles that are in each page so it makes it very easy to find the needles that I need.
It has two mesh pockets. One in the front and one in the back so I can store all my other small accessories like cable needles, crochet hooks, measuring tapes, stitch holder etc... Did I say how much I love this new tool. It is small and I can keep it with my knitting. No more having to run upstairs for different size needles or other tools. Yep, this is my new favorite knitting tool and it came from a sporting goods store.

Next new tool that I just love. This is a laundry spinner, but what it really comes in handy for is, after I wash fleeces or other fibers I simply put the newly washed fiber in a small pillow case and spin out all the water. The fiber comes out mostly dry and it take almost no time for it to finish drying. No more rolling fiber up in a towel to squeeze out the water.

The drain just goes into the sink and all the water that is spun out of the fiber goes right down the drain. Now, I don't only spin out fiber I also use it to spin out water from my hand knits and other delicate fiber article. Because there is no agitation there is no felting and everything comes out just wonderfully.

These two tools have really made things much quicker and easier, and that leaves me more time to do what I really enjoy doing with fiber.