I seem to have driven my brain to that point because I can’t get over how much things cost without resorting to the “that would be equivalent to X amount of yarn.” It’s terrible because even when I order a $7 burrito, I sit there thinking ‘Damn, is this worth 2-3 skeins of yarn?’ Yes, it was delicious and no I do not starve myself to buy yarn. (you’d think I would but I don’t skip meals. EVER. In fact, too much eating is how I ended up gaining a good 15 pounds in the last 3 months. sigh…)

This week, my hubby and I have been visiting furniture shops around town, in search of a coffee table. Our old one from IKEA (aka disposable particleboard crap furniture from China disguised to seem Swedish) totally fell apart on us in less than 3 years and guess what was underneath the particleboard: cardboard!!!! OMG, when’s the last time you saw cardboard used inside wooden tables? Talk about crap. With the exception of the Expedit bookcase unit that I recommended for organizing your yarn room, please don’t buy any furniture from IKEA. (all the dressers and drawer units we’ve bought from there have fallen apart. And I’m talking all 4-5 of them. In less than 3 years time.) What the heck was I doing buying crappy particleboard contraptions when I’m living right here in lumber country? (I live in Oregon in case you didn’t know. Our major league soccer team is called the Timbers and the now defunct Lacrosse team was called the Lumberjax. Yes, there’s a lot of wood sitting right here in our backyards.

I could buy this much yarn for that table.....

So, where was I. Oh, yes, the coffee table search! So we (that means I) went looking specifically for solid hardwood tables, which admittedly are pricier but whenever I look at the price tag that read $250 or $450, I’m thinking in my head, ‘wow, that’s a lot of yarn’ and ‘Wait a minute, didn’t I just spend that much last month on yarn? So why does this table seem so expensive to me?’

But all of it was a total waste of time because my rather uncooperative husband blurts out, “I’m not spending that on a coffee table!” This is after spending an entire week dropping by stores (and he insisting we go out to check out an upscale furniture showroom). So I asked, “How much were you thinking then?”

“$150.” Um…..WTF!!!!

I nearly chewed his face off today at the store. This is the same man who bought a $200 bottle of champagne last week and didn’t blink an eye, yet he has the balls to tell me he wouldn’t spend that on a table that the entire family (mainly him actually) would use everyday? Man, if I were a cartoon, you’d see steam coming out of my ears. (the worst part is that it’s not like we couldn’t afford it. It was him being a cheapskate. I mean, the man easily spends $250 a month on cigarettes alone.)

So what the heck does this all have to do with knitting? Well, for one, all this time wasted looking at tables that were way out of our budget could have been used to do something useful, like knitting!

And, I was going to knit him a nice pair of socks because I noticed he was borrowing my pink chenille socks but this whole table nonsense just made it clear I won’t be knitting him jack. I had picked out the yarn just this morning and had it set aside next to my craft table. So much for that! More for me and his feet can freeze for all I care. (You know what I should do; Buy $200 worth of yarn and charge it to his credit card. Muahahahahaha!)

$8 for the entire set!

Addi Turbos are like Starbucks. They jacked up the prices so high on their needles that now everyone has gotten into their heads that all circulars cost $10+. With the exception of the few, many needle manufacturers, including Chinese ones like Hiya Hiya and Chiaogoo can get away with much higher prices than they could have before.

I don’t have to tell you that these needles probably cost pennies to produce and only cost a few bucks where they are sold in their native lands. It’s just that North America as a whole have become a blatantly overpriced market for all things related to knitting.

Back to needle dilemma: as I mentioned before in one of my posts, if you skip Skacel and buy Addi needles direct from overseas sellers, those $15-$20 needles could be had for $6-7. That mad expensive Addi Click set? Buy it for $100. That’s including international shipping. Wooden DPNs? Buy all sizes from EBay for less than $1/set (5 needles). The cheap bamboo ones are no better or worse than the uber expensive Lantern Moon ones and in fact, I found some of the cheap Chinese ones to be of much higher quality than those that cost 5-8 times more. (so much for that old saying: you get what you pay for)

My recent find is a whole set of metal circular needles on Ebay from various sellers in China (don’t get me started on the whole “Buy USA” preaching. I don’t want to hear it)

Needles close up

If you type in “steel circular needles” or “stainless circular needles” into the ebay search box, you’ll see them in various lengths – 16″ 24″, 32″ and grouped into sets like the above picture. An added bonus is that each needle comes with a free darning needle! Yep, so if you buy the whole set, you get 11 pointy tipped embroidery needles to sew up seams til kingdom come. (I seem to have a habit of losing them every other month so this was especially useful)

Now for the review: the metal being stainless steel, have less of a gliding effect than that of nickel plated needles like Knit Picks or Addi but still feels pretty slick. The cable is coiled steel identical to the ones found in Chiaogoo Red circulars  (they are on the stiff side being steel).

Cables close up

The joins are fairly smooth an I didn’t have any problems with yarn snagging over that area. So far so good. But none of the needles have the sizes written anywhere on the needle (neither does Knit Picks for that matter so all is forgiven. And the Addi ones have the sizes printed on the cable which gets rubbed off fairly quickly so that’s moot) What did take me by surprise was that some of the sizes were in between U.S. sizes so I didn’t know how to categorize them. (I have all my needles organized by sizes in separate zipper pouches BTW. Yes, I’ve got knitting OCD on top of knitting ADD. Anyone got any knitter’s Ritalin?)

If you don’t have a needle size checker, you really should because you’ll have the darndest time trying to figure out which one is the size you’re looking for. I have a few of these size checkers but I like the good ole Susan Bates Knit Check available in most big box stores. (get it using Jo-Ann or Michael’s 50% off coupon for a mere $1. The all metal flat construction really comes in handy when everything is smooshed into a bag and beaten around like I typically do.) Plus it’s got a gauge checker and straight edge ruler so 3 in 1!

Despite my best intentions to believe that knitters (and crocheters) in general are honest, it is unfortunate that there are fraudsters on Ravelry who con folks out of money in destashes, skip out on a swap partner by not sending their package, and lastly beg for free stuff (pretending to be down-on-their-luck)

I have not encountered the first two types, yet (knock on wood) but the yarn beggars, as I’d like to call them, have gotten under my skin lately.

Despite what I claim to be (a selfish yarn hoarder), I have actually given away a fair amount of yarn to those whom, at the time, seemed to be in need. Hey, I’m not a cold-hearted bitch, so if someone seemed down-on-their-luck, I did what was charitable and sent them the yarn for free, often times footing the postage (or  just barely covering shipping).

Now, before all of you start sending me messages asking for free yarn (not gonna happen anymore so don’t even try it), I don’t trust ANYONE who solicit free yarn outright. You know, those types of ” Please give me any yarn you can” type of posts. I totally ignore them. So how and why did I give away the said yarn?

For one, the person must have some sort of record on Ravelry. (Must have some sort of postings for me to determine if there really is a need or not. It also helps to have the profile filled in. I wasn’t going to send stuff to someone who has something to hide. Not kosher.)

Mind you, the packages were never huge. 1-2lb at most. The shipping costs have crept up to a point that it’s not viable to send any yarn across the country. (Heck, I might as well send them $10 in cash and tell em to go buy some yarn from their local shop) But still, I don’t send people crappy yarn and they typically are valued at around $20-30.

Recently, I destashed some undyed sock yarn and a person kept hinting she couldn’t afford the yarn (“Gosh, I wish I could get some…” type of comments) In the beginning I ignored said person since my goal at the time was to raise some funds to pay off credit cards (thanks to the Black Friday madness, I kinda overspent. Typical of me, right?)

After I had gotten rid of a significant portion of the destash lot, I had gotten another cryptic message asking if I still had some left and once again wishing she can afford it. So I read through her old posts, her meager stash, and determined she could probably use a pick-me-up. I sent her the yarn and that was that.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I was casually browsing through some of the people who I sold/sent yarn to and who do we have here wishing “I had any sock yarn. I’ve only knit with 100% acrylic stuff from Walmart and can’t afford any sock yarns”

WTF? I just sent you close to a pound of sock yarn 2 weeks ago.

I went back to her stash page. Still holding at 1 (and this wasn’t even a yarn entry. Just a note saying Walmart acrylic or whatever I can buy really cheap since I’m broke)

I scrolled down her group list: a lot of SWAP, yarn destash, RAK (random acts of kindness), and contests groups. And it’s the same cryptic sob story. (she was smart because she never said outright she wanted people to send her free yarn)

This is sad. I’ve been burned once before by a person claiming to be knitting for charity (which is why I don’t send yarn to folks soliciting yarn) but this upgraded sort of fraud makes me lose faith in the knitting community.

I mean, that yarn was easily worth $30 (plus my $6 out of pocket costs for postage); money, I could have given to treat someone’s blindess via the Himalayan Cataract Project (This is the charity I support. If you’re interested in reading about treating operable blindess due to cataracts in Third World countries, please follow the link. The surgery costs only $20 to give one person the gift of sight. Something that’s much more valuable than a few meals… or yarn for that matter.)

Anyway, so much for my charitable knitting spirit. I’m hoarding everything for myself from now on. And to those few who conned me out of my hard earned yarn, fuck you and may all your house become infested with carpet beetle and moths.

Ok, so they’re small accessories, (mostly scarves/cowls) but still the overwhelming sense of accomplishment is like nothing else. And best of all, NO SEAMING!!! Simply awesome, I tell you.

I just started a beanie this morning with an old sock yarn that’s been lingering in my closet for the longest time. So far so good and I might just have to put garments on the backburner for awhile. (Truth: I gained a good 15 pounds in the last several months and don’t know exactly how I should go about sizing things like fitted pullovers. I do not want to start knitting a larger size just to end up losing the weight and having a ill-fitting top. And no, I will not accept my muffin top. That has to go, pronto!)

Next on my list: full size blanket for moi! Yep. HUGE yarn-suck project. Hello 60″ circular needles. I knew you’d come in handy one day.

Brand: Knit Picks

Yarn: City Tweed DK

Fiber Content: Merino, Alpaca, acrylic,

Rating: B+

Review: A very tweedy yarn from Knit Picks that mimics the look of several spendy yarns like Berroco Blackstone Tweed. Feels fairly soft but the alpaca content made me itch when I wore the scarf knitted with this yarn. (You know how I’m sensitive to not-so-soft yarn)

The colorways are a tad garish and the tweed specks are much to large for my liking. I couldn’t help but try to pick off the colorful slubs. Some more subdued/understated colors would be nice as well.

I think this would be good for a cardigan but with the recent price hikes that Knit Picks is instituting, I’m not sure if the price will be affordable anymore.

Ack! So much for that yarn diet!

But a quick recap of the last abbreviations quiz:
(were you able to guess most of them? If so, you’re speaking the yarn stashing lingo, my friend)
1. STR: Socks that Rock of Blue Moon Fiber Arts
2. LL: Lorna’s Laces
3. WM: Wollemeise
4. LB: Lion Brand
5. KP: Knit Picks (or Knit Pro for those of you in Asia and Europe)
6. DB: Debbie Bliss
7. KFI: Knitting Fever Inc. (U.S distributor of Noro, Debbie Bliss, and Ella Rae)
8. CEY: Classic Elite Yarns
9. DIC: Dream in Color

Anyway, my last year’s list of knitting resolutions was sadly short lived (just like all resolutions are) so no more of that non-sense, thank you very much. (and as many of you probably know, I am simply addicted to yarn stashing and cannot for the life of me stop. So I won’t. So there. Ha!)

But there are some things I do want to accomplish for this blog:
1. Write up the Interchangeable Needle Set Comparison Review I had promised eons ago
2. Redesign the look so it’s a bit more eye-friendly
3. Jazz things up with more photos (god knows I have an awful lot of them sitting in my memory cards)
4. Compile posts into categories for better navigation

Well, I better get crackin. See you at the next update! Knit on folks and happy new year!

Many if not most crocheted items look (Please forgive me if this offends you at all)….frumpy.
Perhaps it’s the granny squares that have planted a certain image in my head but I never found crocheted items to look classy/classic the way knitwear does. I think crochet is quite underrated in this country because I see that the Japanese (and Koreans and many other countries) have perfected this medium to a whole new level. None of the “quaint” look of granny squares there. Still, it was never enough to get me to the other side. Even with the flood of the amigurumi toys (cute but cuter when knitted) and the Tunisian crochet trend (what’s the point? Crochet that mimic the look of knitting? Why not just knit it then?) the allure wasn’t there.

Then there it was. The item that started it all: the simply Tawashi (aka scrubbies)

What, you thought it was going to be something gloriously complicated? Nope, a uber simple washcloth. Why? Well, out of sheer functionality really. I had run my soggy sponge to smithereens and had forgotten to pick up a new package at the grocery store for the umpteenth time and thought to myself, ‘I really ought to crank these babies out using some crappy acrylic I have’

So, there you have it. My rather disappointing array into the world of crochet. Funny thing is, unlike knittine which took me a full year to get up to speed with the knit and purls, I really got the hang of things quite quickly with the crochet hook and had cranked out circular scrubbies in no time. Yeah, they’re kinda wonky looking because my tension is off and I missed a stitch or two but who gives a crap when you’re washing dishes with these? For once I was looking forward to doing the dishes after dinner.

Can you believe I had to REALLY dig in my stash for 100% acrylic yarn? I had 3 small skeins out of 6000. Yeah, I’m a full on yarn snob and now I might actually have to go and buy a skein of RHSS. That’s Red Heart Super Saver for those of you not familiar with the yarn lingo. Speaking of yarn lingo, let me throw some out there and see if you can guess what they are.

1. STR
2. LL
3. WM
4. LB
5. KP
6. DB
7. KFI
8. CEY
9. DIC

(answers will be in the next post!)

2 of those pullovers are my hubby’s so this just proves that I should stop knitting him anything. But then again, what is it about knitting wives who must see their man in something handknit? The impulse cannot be tamed and I’ll probably continue to knit (ill-fitting) stuff for him.

I have no sentimental attachments to most items (probably why I lost my wedding band and the watch I got as a wedding present…) so despite the fact that it was the very first sweater I ever knit for him, I didn’t even bat an eye and just went right ahead to snipping and pulling. But boy did I do a good job of weaving in those ends! It’s taking me forever to rip back the thing.

The yarn had stretched out immensely and turned the sweater into a tent. Think ‘trapeze tunic’ Yeah, not the most flattering look for a guy. A thin guy at that.

Second sweater was much easier to rip back because I hadn’t finished it yet and I had knit the entire thing in the round. No seams to mess with. My gauge swatch lied and the whole thing turned out way too big. ACK!

And lastly, the cardigan of doom. It was the February Lady Cardigan, which looks awful on my figure (the pregnancy look doesn’t go well with me.) but my terrible yarn choice of holding double a DK weight alpaca yarn made the whole thing so friggin heavy. Not to mention the crazy splotchy handdyed color and the itchy-scratchy of the crappy alpaca. It was just screaming for a rip out.

I really ought to start another hobby because apparently, I suck at this.

But, there’s something called social norms and I’m not set out to become a pariah. If my kids’ school celebrates whatever holiday they proclaim it is, I’m giving their teachers X-mas gifts whether religion has anything to do with it or not. And as a devout knitter, all X-mas gifts will be handknit. No ifs, ands, or buts. (ok, maybe something else if I can’t finish knitting the damn thing on time)

I only need to knit one small scarf for my son’s teacher so this should be cakewalk. (the other teacher is getting a set of scissors because he just lost his and probably needs that more than a scarf) I even asked her what colors she likes so I’m all set to go. No stress. Here’s hoping I finish this in time (knowing my terrible track record of not finishing anything in less than a year, I’m leery about this one. LOL)

My gifts from family was nil (yeah, thanks for the love. Right back atcha!) so I guess it’s up to me to buy myself gifts. Oh, shucks. Yarn and needles it is!

I’ll show em off when they get here (ordered them online of course!)