I am trying very hard to be productive and do my homework today, but there just seems to be so many things that I could be doing instead... good thing its just a little bit of Greek translation that I'm working on, so I can easily pick it up and put it down again without totally losing my train of thought.
Lots of knitting happened this week, but you don't get to see any pics of it cause I've already finished and frogged it! The item in question was my one skein wonder, which was very quick and relatively easy to knit. I never did find the 3.5mm needle, and I'm now wondering if such a thing exists - the only time I've heard mention of it is in american patterns, which list it as an equivalent to the US5 needle... well according to my little (Canadian) needle sizer (that thing with the holes in, and whatever hole fits the needle gives you its size), a US5 is equivalent to a 3.75mm. So that's what i used, cause that's what i have several of. Besides, I figured, its only for the edgings and it won't hurt to have those just a little too big anyway... So, after measuring my back, I knit merrily away on the 14-inch back size (2nd smallest)... I finished the main part quickly, and then did the sleeves. and then had to tink my cast off and try it on a bigger needle, cause the sleeve was way too tight... and then i had to do it again... I think i cast off too tightly in general, but this was ridiculous - i was knitting with a 3.75mm but had to cast off with a 6mm!
but it eventually turned out okay, and I moved on to the ribbed edging... again with a 3.75mm, and again cast off with a 6mm. Then ta da, it was done and I tried it on... ummm... yeah.... the back was fine, not too snug and not too stretched looking. but the sleeves? no way - i could barely get the darn thing off, and when I finally did, by stretching in all kinds of crazy directions, the sleeves cut into my arms so badly that they left red marks! So that's why i immediately vented my frustrations by ripping the whole thing out. I did like it though, so I think I'll just remeasure my back and cast on 1 or maybe even 2 sizes bigger. keep your fingers crossed!
Thanks to purlpower and Impressionist for the tips on where to find little-person friendly yarns here in Newcastle... although I think I still might just get something sent over from Canada... I like using cottons for kid stuff, casuse its so easy to clean, but most of what's available here is just too thin to use in a blanket. I need to be able to finish this project a month or two after I start it, or it will just end up as another UFO hidden in my yarn stash.
1 comment:
This might help. I think you might find that the 3.5mm needle has no equivalent in traditional British sizes (is that the same as Canadian?) and so although you might get it on the continent, you probably won't find it here.....interesting eh?
[yes if you are a knitting spod like me!]
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