Oh knitting needles!

in

A little present arrived for me from Porkchop, a skein of yarn so randomly cool that I had to cast on right away!

This is called Lollipop Yarns, she sells on etsy & updates every other Sunday. And OMG it sells fast. Like 3 minutes and the shop is empty kind-of-fast. I love it, it's like piranha sock yarn buying. You have to chomp before anyone else does.

The colorway is called Life is Beautiful and it'll have 5 rows of 8 colors. That's so neat right?

Typically as soon as I decide on yarn for socks, I weigh it on my kitchen scale in grams. Then I ball it into one center pull ball (actually: I don't own a swift, so I hold it and Chop uses the ball winder). Next I divide the ball in half, one for each sock. I like to knit my socks two at a time for many reasons like:

  • They come out identical.
  • Once you finish, you are totally finished!
  • It's just fun!

Here is what I don't like about two at a time socks:

  • People ask if you are knitting a bikini. 
  • Sometimes when you are knitting, you only have time to knit just one of the socks and not the other and your needles get tangled. I'm constantly knitting in waiting rooms or the car (I have "purse socks" that I carry in the car/my bag) and sometimes you just have to smash your knitting into your bag ASAP.

SO when I opened the box and saw this sweet little yarn, I about died.

How does she ball the yarn like that? IDK but it's gorgeous! I'd honestly feel so guilty re-skeining it. It's beautiful. And so I decided...one at a time sock knitting.

YAY! Except my sock rockets are currently being used on Ginny's Socks!

I thought I'd give my Signature Needles a second shot. I have mixed feelings on these and I want to love them. I don't consider myself a "Knitter", just someone who enjoys sock knitting so I feel like maybe I'm missing something, like I just am not hip enough? I'm not sure. But when I took them out of the pouch:

CRINKLED MESS! The cord was literally 3D, hopping off the table, being out of control! It was stiff and standing up on it's own. Can sock needles be possessed? Because these are. Night of the Living Dead Status!!! I assumed with knitting it would flex and work the crinkles out. WRONG! SO WRONG! I cast on and got a few rows in and couldn't take it anymore.

I remembered when I bought a pair of Denise Interchangeable Needles a hundred years ago, so many people said warm water made the cables smoother. I thought I'd give this a try!

I duck taped the needle tips to our kitchen counter. Yes, duck taped. These needles truly have a life of their own, both washi & packing tape just lifted up. Working from needle to the end of the cord, I smoothed the cords out and wrapped twist ties around them. I'm not going to lie, this took me 10 minutes because as soon as they'd behave and lay flat, one would move and stand back up. Zombies!!!!

Once the cords were twist tied all smooth, I pushed the knitting to the needles and stuck the cords into a mason jar of hot water. I let it sit for maybe 4 minutes?! I obviously didn't want to hurt them but I wanted them to get warm enough to actually change shape.

AND IT WORKED. The cords are still super stiff (obviously) but now they aren't stuck in the strange shape they previously had been! The above photo shows before and after, I didn't take a before photo with this particular pair because I honestly didn't think it would work. Plus, this isn't rocket science, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows how to do this. But you can see how the pair with the knitting on them lays flat, whereas the other pair is sticking up all over the place. It's hard to tell but they are literally standing 4 inches up the air. Crazy!

I forgot two things that I *love* about these needles:

  • Sharp sharp sharp!!!!!! so stabby awesome!!!!
  • They are LIGHT. I'm pretty sure I'm over compensating for how light they are by gripping tighter but omg. I love it.
  • How smooth they are, from editing photos to writing this blog post I've almost finished the toe, I feel like with these needles and sock rockets, once you get going, it's such smooth sailing. I *am* tempted to try and knit these Continental just to practice my tension. Usually I knit a few rows this way on my color affection and wuss out because the tension is a little off but for some reason these needles are just asking me to try it that way!

Now this weekend I can mindlessly knit & read on the couch while Chop studies for an upcoming exam. It does feel funny knitting just one sock but I think watching the yarn come off the ball and change colors will keep me focused and wanting to make the second sock. I totally want mismatching socks because I think that's crazy cute and cozy looking. I am however, the WORST at after thought heels, no matter how many stitches I pick up the corners, I end up with little gaps. So my goal with these is to be NEATER. But in case your wondering, I've found the heel directions for Merripog are the easiest to understand.

Also, here is something inspiring I found last night via Brenda on pinterest!!! WORSTED WEIGHT SOCKS! I saw Virginia cast on for a pair on instagram and couldn't get it out of my head. I'd never seen Susan's blog before and holyyyy awesome! I love seeing her knit so many pairs of socks- totally inspiring!!! She has a video a few pages into her blog that is of her knitting and WOW. She is smooth! I want to try DPNs again. Also, I love how much she loves Cakewalk Yarn, because I love Rose SO much.

ANYWAYS! Now I need worsted weight yarn for socks!!! Anyone have a favorite?!

One more thing! Speaking of sock knitting, want to see something that will make your jaw drop? Jeannie won our Speedy Stitcher contest for Summer Sampler and I found her on instagram. Imagine my surprise when I saw just PART of her sock collection!  I fell over! For real though, I love love love love love looking at photos of hand knit socks so much. I created a pinterest board just so I can look at hand knit socks. I sometimes think it would be cool to do a blog post once a week of sock photos and sock yarns that I'm inspired by but I don't think I'm a knowledgeable enough knitter to do that. Maybe some day!

See you soon friends! <3