Poor Old Merlin

We've had heavy rains, thunder, lightning over the past couple of days and poor Merlin has been having a hard time. He's the first cat we've had who even seems to notice weather drama, and he notices it a lot, starting and flinching with every crash. Bob the Mellow, on the other hand, appears totally unconcerned.

The daffodils are a bit beaten down at this point, but I notice that some of the tulips have flower buds and will be open soon.

The grass will need mowing once the ground dries out.

Walk Before You Run

I decided that it would be a good idea to just practice the double knitting basic motions until my fingers got used to it and it becomes, if not automatic, at least moderately smooth - and to do this for now with a larger yarn - and to do it without any very complicated color pattern. I also realized that if I knit in the round I wouldn't have to mentally reverse foreground and background colors every other row for any minimal color patterns I do use.

And I thought that it would be nice to have some sort of finished object at the end, instead of just a long strip of swatch.




Hence the double knit swatch hat. It may or may not end up being pretty when it's done, but it sure as heck is going to be be warm.

I Like Bright Socks

They are cheerful, especially in the winter. And I think I like these,



but they are getting pretty close to even my limit for eye-popping-ness. I may go for solid red heels and toes.

That's stash yarn: "Sock It To Me" from Elann. They don't carry that colorway any more. Must not have been a huge seller.

Since you asked...

Kmkat wondered about the sharpness of the Hiya Hiya needles compared to Knit Picks Options. I haven't yet had a chance to compare them side by side, but based on the catalog pictures, I'm guessing the Knit Picks are a bit sharper.

I also should mention that the needle tips are relatively short (about 3 1/2 "). This is not a problem for me, but might be for some depending on how you hold your needles.

Betsy asked for a "down the road a ways" review. Good idea. Remind me if I forget.

Self Indulgences

One on impulse, the other after some thought.

The impulse buy was that cute little tin with a hinged lid at the upper right. I was in The Sow's Ear yesterday, and they had a small basket full of these in different designs. It could hold stitch markers, tapestry needles, even a little folding embroidery scissors. I don't really need it for this purpose, but it was only $1.99, and so cute.



I thought longer before ordering the larger indulgence. It's a Hiya Hiya convertible circular needle set. These had been calling to me for a while, but I'd put off ordering because I already have a set of Denises and a Boye Needlemaster. I like my Denise set a lot, but 1) the needle sizes don't go any smaller than US #5, and 2) the cable lengths don't go down 16". I'd like the Needlemaster just fine if it weren' for the really, really stiff cables (and I think the shortest one is longer than 16" though I would have to go check for sure).

So I went back and forth in my mind for several months, then finally splurged. I was a little hesitant to order these without every having actually handled a set, but so far I am very happy with them. The super thin cables (like heavy fishing line) are lightweight and flexible. The needle sizes range from 2 - 8, with a very slick finish. The joins seem extremely smooth. The tips are not stiletto sharp, but aren't bad. I haven't given them a a real heavy workout yet, but so far I haven't had a problem with the connections loosening up in use.

I rarely use a needle larger than a size 8, so the size range is sufficient on the upper end.* If anything, I wish they could go down to 0, but that would be smaller than the connector. I would like to have some stoppers for the ends of the cables, so I hope the Hiya Hiya folks come out with those. I might like to have connectors to join two cables together, though as the longest one is 40", that really might not ever be necessary. A person can cram quite a lot of stitches onto 40"

I didn't find a lot of sources for this set online, but the wonderful Little Knits has them. The only problem with shopping there is the temptation to stock up on sale yarn at the same time. Aside from a ball of Opal (kinda bright color, but 70% off) I resisted.

*According to the Hiya Hiya website, larger needle tips are available, but it looks as though they require a different set of cables, presumably because the connector size is different.

Standing Up to the Snow