A book review: The Knitters Curiosity Cabinet

After loving everything in Silk Road Socks by Hunter Hammersen and really enjoying knitting two of the patterns already, of course I had to get her newest volume of patterns, The Knitters Curiosity Cabinet in spite of not being even close to finishing the patterns in her first book.  Taking her inspiration from the collections of the Victorian era middle class that inspired vintage botanical prints, she created 10 different paired patterns for socks and a coordinating accessory piece.  As of right now all I have is the e-book, with the physical book due to arrive in another month or two, but what I have is beautiful and impressive in and of itself.

I love how she begins the book with a history of curiosity cabinets detailing their evolution along with photographic examples of them.  It serves as giving a sense of how she came about with the creation of the patterns and explains how the patterns in the book relate to one another resulting in a very cohesive selection of knitting patterns.  The photos of the patterns are all charmingly taken in the location a library from the looks of it.  Each pattern is photographed beautifully with both close up images of the stitch pattern and a full shot of the knitted piece being worn.

As to the patterns themselves, they are well laid out and easy to follow.  Each pair of patterns are accompanied by an inspirational botanical print and a brief description of the plant in the image along with describing what exactly served as the inspiration for the stitch patterns created.  The patterns are charted, which I prefer, and if you don't know how to follow charts I strongly suggest you learn as it is so much easier to work then following written instructions!  An improvement over Silk Road Socks layout was that as opposed to just having a a master stitch key at the beginning of the book, there is also a stitch key included with each pattern listing just the stitches used for that pattern.  This will make using the book while knitting each pattern much easier as all relevant information is right there on one page, instead of forcing the knitter to flip back and forth to check the chart symbols.

In closing, I am delighted with this book as not only does it have a wide selection of patterns I can't wait to cast on, but it is a lovely book in and of itself.  Available in e-book form now through Ravelry.com or it's own site The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, available in print form late spring or summer of this year, 2012.  There will also be Knit-A-Longs for the book in her group on Ravelry beginning in July 2012.

I discover the delights of Skinny Bugga!

I admit, I am late to the indie dyer party, but I finally ordered my first skeins from Cephalopod Yarns, and wowzers, I am hooked!  Not only does the yarn come wrapped in the most lucious color of teal tissue paper but it is very soft and smooth in the skein (I can only imagine what it will feel like after washing, swoon), but it even smells good!  Kind of like when you got a new textbook in school and the first thing you;d do after getting it was to crack it open and sniff...wait, that was just me?!  How about mimeographs (oh dear lord, did I just show my age?!)?

I got only 2 skeins, but yum, the first is one of their regular line of colors called Oleander Nymph, a truly lovely shade of buttery yellow.  The second skein is a new color that will only be available for a limited time called Leafy Seadragon (although after another Raveler posted a photo of Sully from Monster's Inc. as being what the colorway looked like that is what I will always think of when I see it).  I am not sure what I will make with these skeins, although the yellow in all likelihood will make a pair of socks from the soon to be released Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, but regardless they will be something for me, me, me!

Now that I have seen the quality of their products I am really wanting some of the Traveller line of yarn they sell, a dk weight, in another limited edition color, Blue Ringed Octopus, so pretty!  Wouldn't a Drambuie pullover look fabulous in that?!

Here's my 15 seconds...

Check it out, my Straightforward Mitts got mentioned on the WEBS blog today!  Apparently they liked them so much they asked me if they could include my picture in their feature on socks and mitts using the Valley Yarns Charlemont yarn.  They also did features on Charlemont for sweaters and for shawls over the weekend, check those posts out too for some great ideas.

I will say it is a great yarn, very soft and easy to work with.  It is a little splitty, but what yarn isn't that has silk content?  That silk content gives it a really beautiful sheen too.  After a good wash and block the yarn really softens up and develops a nice soft sproingyness (is that even a word?).  I do wish there was a greater range of colors, they are all in the dark jewel tone range and I am more of a spring colors girl.  But at 439 yards for $12.99 this is as really affordable merino/silk fingering weight yarn.

As for the mitts, a great pattern with lovely results.  It does require some concentration at first to get the angled ribbing set up but I found once I understood the pattern it was really easy to work along.  I loved having a chart to follow but the pattern is also written out for those who don't work with charts.

Needle Love

I'll admit it, I've been a wooden needle snob, I turned up my nose at needles made out of any other material.  I used to prefer wood or bamboo to anything else but after discovering the harmony interchangeable needles from Knit Picks I hardly ever touched my collection of straight needles.  Then a few weeks ago I got my first nickle plated interchangeables with my Knit Picks order.  I must say that I am hooked!

They are fantastic with stickier yarns, so much easier to knit the Lion Brand fisherman's wool I was working with than my wood needles.  Don't get me wrong, I still love my wood needles, but after fight5ing with the wool yarn it was a real relief to have it just slide pleasantly along my needles. They probably won't be all that great with slippery silk or cotton yarns but for those stickier yarns like wool or acrylic they are perfect.

I have also found they don't hurt my hands as the metal straights I have used will, I have always felt that wood just warms nicer to my hands and the flexibility is more comfortable but I must say the nickle plated needles are just as great to use as wood.  I have had problems in the past with fatigue from using metal crochet hooks, but I can say I definitely did not have that problem with these nickle needles.  They are nice and light and don't make that annoying clicking that drives me crazy with the aluminum straights, I don't like to hear my knitting, I much prefer to feel it.

I guess I'll have to make myself a new interchangeable knitting case to make room for a whole new set of needles.  One row for harmonies and one row for nickle plated!  Because of course now that I have tried them I must have a full set of both. I foresee lots of little orders from Knit Picks to fill out my collection!

Easily pleased

That would be me.  I find it rather sad in a way that at 37 I am so excited to be able to finally ditch our motley collection of tupperware* that was given to us by my Pops in law when Mister Vonkysmeed and I set up housekeeping almost 10 years ago.  The lids had finally begun to crack from use so I decided we needed a nice new set.  Now mind you, I have wanted a new set for quite awhile now.

After doing a lot of research online I settled on the Premier line by Rubbermaid.  The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and the few complaints I found were for things like the swirly pattern on the containers (which I happen to like), and that the lids recess into the container when put on (I think I can learn how full to fill them after the first spill).  They are microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe, but best of all they are supposedly stain resistant.  I am also quite happy that they are BPA free, having recently retired our collection on Avent baby bottles I am aware of the dangers of this chemical.  If glass didn't break I'd probably just get glass containers instead of the plastic, but with two little ones around it just seems to be asking for trouble.

Now, just to clarify, our old containers did NOT go straight to a landfill.  First they will traverse through the garage for Mister Vonkysmeed to see if he can use any for storing various nuts, bolts, screws, etc.  After that they will go over to the local thrift shop to do service in another home.  Hopefully once they break they will be recycled to begin life anew, but it's kind of out of my hands by that point!

So far I am loving these new containers, they do everything they promised and look cute to boot.  Best of all my cabinet where they live is no longer a huge mess!  We don't have many yet, but what we do have are stacked up nice and neat.  I plan on getting more, but only as we need them so we can get the sizes that will work best for our needs. 

*I know that's the brand name not the product name, but like Kleenex gets used to describe all facial tissue, around my house tupperware has always been how we refer to food storage containers whether they were made by tupperware or not.

Slice: upgraded

I don't post about it too often but I do scrapbook and recently was able to upgrade my original Slice machine to the new Slice Elite.  I invested in a Slice die cut machine made by Making Memories a few years ago to make my scrapping time a bit more productive.  I chose it because compared to the competition it was the most affordable by far (only $150 compared to $300-600 for the competition), seemed to have the best ability to change the size of the cuts and was compact in size.  Unhappily all did not go as well as I hoped.  I do agree with many comments I have read on various scrapbooking forums, that the original Slice was rushed to market before it was ready so Making Memories had something to compete with the other electronic die cut machines for sale, Cricut, Xyron, Quickcutz are a few, then there are a slew of manual machines also (but with those you can't change the size of the diecut and then there is a lot storage required for them).

It worked fairly well at first, and then the problems started.  It seemed to rather often have problems with retracting the blade all the way up.  The result of this little bug was that I ended up with lots of tiny pieces of paper as the blade continued to cut even when it was supposed to just be moving to make the next actual cut.  I don't know exactly why it did this but I found ways to work around it, letting it charge for awhile, only using it while plugged in, changing blades, constantly having it 'home' the blade, etc.  Finally about 2 months ago I absolutely could not get the darn thing to cut out the word 'birthday', everytime I tried the blade wouldn't retract all the way and would cut the word into pieces.  After I had ruined a considerable amount of paper, time, and patience trying all my tricks to get the Slice to work I finally gave up and emailed customer service.

I will report that I was very pleased with the response I got, it was quick and the customer service rep, Valerie, really seemed interested in resolving my problem.  We ran through quite a few steps at first, making sure the machine was charged, that it wasn't overheating, that there was a fresh blade, etc.  Then she had me add some oil in the bottom to see if lubricant would help, nope, it didn't help at all.  Next she sent me a new blade housing unit to see if that would resolve the problem.  After receiving it in a few days I installed it with high hopes, but sadly it didn't work either.

Since nothing we tried seemed to fix my machine and it was out of warranty I was given two options, I could send in my non-working machine (at my cost for shipping the whole thing in, ugh!) and they would assess what the problem was, for a small fee of course and then I would be advised what it would cost to fix it, or I could take advantage of the Slice upgrade program for current Slice owners.  The upgrade program would require me to send in a piece of my current Slice, making it inoperable, and then I would be able to purchase the new machine for $75.  Hmm, let me think about this, pay to have my old Slice fixed, which although I liked just did not perform as I hoped, or pay for a new machine at 50% off?  Yup, where do I send in the piece of my Slice, and how do I pay?

I will admit, it's not the best solution as I now have a paperweight and a new machine that I essentially paid a premium for if you count in the cost of my original unit, but at least I now have one that works.  And wow does it work!  Of course the first thing I cut out was 'birthday' and it did it with no problem at all.  I was able to use it unplugged and everything I had it cut out it did so without any problems.  Lil' Miss was very happy as we also used it for a school project of hers.  The new Slice Elite is also much quieter and faster, I am loving that!

Elite on the left, the poor cousin on the right

Visually the biggest difference is that the part of the machine housing the blade is larger on the Elite and seems to have some sort of gear inside, otherwise they appear identical.  We'll see how it works as I continue to use it, but as of now I am one happy customer.  Now maybe I can finally get caught up on my scrapbooks, right now I am still finishing up Fall of 2010, wow, how did I get so behind again!

Impeccable is not flawless

As a matter of fact this yarn has made me veer directly into yarn snob territory.  The yarn I speak of is the newish Impeccable line by Michael's craft stores sold under their Loops & Threads label.  I am using this crap yarn to make a Fresh Picked Color cardigan for Lil' Miss to have for her first day of school in a few weeks.  We picked this yarn (I say we meaning I pointed out colors I liked and she hugged those she liked as well) because it was the best color in a worsted weight yarn that Michael's had in stock the day we went shopping.  I don't think I can quite find the words to express my dismay at using this to make an actual garment but I shall try.  Don't get me wrong, each yarn has it's purpose in life, I have used it successfully for a hat and a few amigurumi toys (most notably my crochet fortune cookies), I just don't think this yarn is a good match for clothing.

the buttons are my favorite part of the sweater

It is so stiff and unyielding it is like knitting with crafters cotton which I normally only use for crochet work as it is just so hard on my hands.  There is no give to it as there is with wools, blends, or even the nicer cottons I have used, it doesn't seem to stretch at all when you hold the yarn between your fingers and give a little pull.  Thankfully it isn't 'squeaky' for me as other Raveler's have complained of, I think because I use only wood needles (the clicking of metal needles is kinds like nails on a chalkboard to me, not soothing at all!).  The fabric coming off of my needles seems rather stiff as well, not the soft, flowy feel of a little girl cardigan I was going for.  Here is to hoping this softens up a LOT after washing.  One positive thing I can say about this yarn is that the stitch definition is quite nice so far.

Someone is happy with it at least!

 After getting only about 2 inches knit over a few days (I kept abandoning it in favor of other wips just so I didn't have to touch that yarn) I decided to put on my big girl panties and just work on the darn thing to get the misery over with.  Lil' Miss wanted her sweater done in time for school so I better get cracking right?  Much to my surprise I got it done in just a few more days, apparently using yarn I don't like makes me work faster, who would have guessed?  Happily after being run through the washer and dryer it has softened up considerably, I am actually rather surprised at how soft it came out.  Now the garment flows and moves like I had imagined the fabric for her finished cardigan should.  I still will not use it again for garments due to the experience of knitting with it.  I knit to relax, so I don't kill people or yell at my rugrats so using distasteful yarn doesn't really augment the experience of knitting for me.

Working with it did convince me of one thing, the act of knitting should be fun and enjoyable for me so even if I am making something for the kids I will no longer buy the cheapest stuff I can find.  I realized that my favorite sweater for Lil' Miss cost $25 from Carters three years ago, so it would make sense for that to be a guideline for the cost of the yarn to make them something (we won't even go into labor costs as that would just be silly!).  Thus I won't get the uber fancy stuff like say, Madelinetosh Tosh dk (will drool damage my keyboard?) but I can afford to purchase good quality yarns from Knit Picks or fancier yarns that are on sale or clearance instead of the bargain yarns at the local craft superstore.  The best part of this decision is that Mister Vonkysmeed is on board with the idea and already approved my recent spending spree at WEBS (ooh, can a virtual credit card melt!?).

A case for Options

I have become addicted to the interchangeable Options knitting needles offered by Knit Picks, specifically the harmony needles.  I love these things, you can change needle sizes or cable lengths easily and quickly, the cables in combination with the little end caps work great for holding your stitches for you as you finish off another part of the project.  It is also very easy to try a garment on using these as I discovered while knitting my hell-sweater.  I am also quite happy with the fact that I can fold them up rather easily to fit into a little project bag to take with me just like fixed circulars.  The needles are constructed of laminated pieces of birch wood that have been stained different rainbow colors, really quite beautiful to work with; and if I am going to be spending that much time creating something shouldn't my tools be just as beautiful as the finished object?

They have just enough grip to hold my yarn without it falling off but are slick enough that the yarn will slide off when you need it to.  Plus they are nice and quiet, I hate the click-clacking of metal knitting needles, drives me absolutely batty!  A number of ravelers have complained of the needle tips coming out of the metal sleeve that attaches to the cable or of the whole needle unscrewing from the cable whilst knitting but I have had none of these difficulties.  I use the tightening key every time I attach the needles to a cable and make sure it is nice and tight thus eliminating any loosening problems;  and I suspect the metal sleeve issue arises from holding the wood while twisting the needle onto the cable rather than holding onto the metal sleeve itself.  I really can't say enough nice things about these needles, except that I want one in every size and I don't have them all yet!

Recently I have found that a way is needed to store my rapidly growing collection of these suckers and with Mister Vonkysmeed being currently out of work we really don't have the funds for me to go out and buy a mass produced case for my lovelies.  Also, I like to try to create for myself if at all possible and since I made my own knitting bag, accessory pouch, knitting needle roll, and assorted project bags I decided to use what I already have and make my own case for the options needles, can't be that hard can it?  After looking at many, many images of cases for interchangeable needles online I had a design in mind, a trifold case with the needles in the center portion, the cables at one end, and a zippered pocket on the final flap to store the tightening keys and cable caps. I assembled it roughly the same way a needle case is constructed (sorry for the minimal pics of it in progress, promise to do better next time!), layering together outside fabric, then interfacing and light batting, than the inner fabric, than the pouch pieces.

First I made prepared the fabric I would be using to make the pockets for the needles and cables by sewing a 9.5" x 11.5" piece of fabric in half (I basically made a tube), pulling the right side out and then sewing the tube to the lining fabric and the interfacing {measuring 11.5" x 18.5"} along the bottom of the future pocket.  I then made the little pockets to hold the needles by sewing straight lines about every inch along the strip of fabric I just sewed onto the lining (I sewed these lines only along the pocket fabric, lining, & interfacing, this way the seams would not be visible from the outside of the case).