I worked on the Silver Pine Campfire Socks last night.
So they now have a gusset. I could probably get the first sock finished tonight but I think I'll work on my sisters tank instead.
Another dishcloth on the needles.
I'm still working on getting rid of all the scraps. I'm slowly making progress and I have tons of dishcloths for our house in Montana.
I swapped over from circs to straight needles....wow the picture a lot easier to take! These needles were some cheapo bamboo needles I bought off of an ebay seller. I got sizes US3-US11 for like $20. As a newbie knitter I thought this was a wonderful deal. Now I never used them much because since they are unfinished you have to use them over and over and over again to make them smooth. The non smoothness aggravated me and slowed me down.
So I got to thinking it was a horrible deal and now I have a bunch of needles that suck! Ha, I figured a way to make those needles feel like they've been used for years. The Loopy Ewe sells a wonderful product called Bee Bar. The stuff works great on your hands and smells yummy...though it also comes in unscented for anyone who is sensitive to dyes and perfumes. I just noticed that Sheri now has Lavender sent bars....damn! Guess I'll have to snag one the next time I buy something. What makes this stuff even more wonderful is that you can rub it onto your bamboo needles and woohoo they smooth out and they feel smooth like you've been using them for years and they stay like that.
Now obviously you wouldn't want to use this on bamboo needles like Crystal Palaces needles which are already super smooth and I'm not sure how these work on wood needles like Brittany Birch. But it definitely works wonders on cheapo bamboo needles.
Well I'm outta here for now. For some reason the family thinks they need to eat! So I'm off to cook dinner. I'm still looking for that maid/cook/house cleaner that is willing to work for hand knit stuff. Everyone wants cash!
Oh, I do love those socks. I have Cider Moon bookmarked. One thing you can do with rough needles is take somevery fine gauge sandpaper to them. I've done that before with snags and roughness. Actually, I prefer Takumi (Clover) bamboo to Crystal Palace. Fewer snags.
ReplyDeleteYummy sock yarn you have there .....
ReplyDeleteFor your needles try sanding with very find sandpaper and then using wax paper to give them a coating of wax. Nothing worse than knitting with terrible needles.
The sock is lookin' real nifty. :) I think I need to look into making a dishcloth since I now have some sugar' n cream, any pattern recommendations for a dishcloth newbie?
ReplyDeleteGood tip, and I've heard of using wax paper, too. You are seriously the fastest sock knitter I've every met!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean with those pesky interruptions of our valuable knitting time with things like cooking. Don't they know a canopener and a microwave? And then it has to be a gourmet dinner made in seconds. Go figure.
ReplyDelete