LoopyKnits

This is my just-for-fun running list of likes and dislikes about the knitting process, patterns, yarns, and other related mini-rants.

Likes:

• Knitting with bamboo DPNs; they just LOOK complex. (Hey, I’ve got to find some points of success when wrestling with the process of knitting socks for the first time.)
• Knitting with my Addi Turbo circulars. Mmm, they are so slick and have just the right heft. Makes me feel like a pro. I only have the one set but more are on my wish list!
• All the soft, new yarns that I didn’t know about the last time I took up knitting needles.
• My new Denise needles! It’s great to have such a variety of circs handy for any project I might want to tackle.
• Using some of the knitting needles and crochet hooks handed down in my family. They’re not “heirloom quality,” but it’s nice to remember the other hands that have held them.

Loathing

• The breakability of thin bamboo DPNs, especially after the stores close and you’ve got a long night ahead with NOTHING TO KNIT.
  The fuzziness and snagability of acrylic yarns (I’m tried using up my mom’s old acrylic stash and some mistake purchases of my own — what can I say?)
• Knitting nazis in some yarn stores who act as if inexperienced knitters have an unpleasant odor about them — or who say things like, “Oh, you shouldn’t be trying socks — it’s too hard. What about a nice scarf in garter stitch and this cute new eyelash yarn?” (Um, no — that’s nice but just not me. I’d rather struggle with something I love than zip through something I’d never look at again once I’m finished. Even when I find myself swearing at a challenging pattern in the wee hours of the night. But thanks. And since we’re handing out unsolicited advice, have you considered softening your approach instead of discouraging your customers?) Okay, the stuff in parentheses is usually just the thought-balloon over my head.
• Gauge swatches. (It’s no mystery why the word “gag” can be found in “gauge.”) I usually knit very loosely but apparently tighten up when I’m knitting a gauge swatch, because garments whose stitches look just fine on my swatch still tend to come out l-a-r-g-e. It amazes me how much difference a stitch per inch will make in the overall size. (Granted, there are plenty of inches in my garments!) If I’m really ‘fessing up, I guess I do tend to shortchange this step and not do a very large swatch. Man, it’s hard to be patient when there’s a pile of new yarn and a new pattern just waiting there in front of me.