Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Making assumptions...

The nuggets of contemplation and knowledge discovered during the course of knitting are personal ones that can only be acquired through experience and then confirmed by the stories of others..

With a limitless budget, there is no dichotomy in choosing yarn based on color or texture. A really good LYS would also likely prove this struggle to be moot .

Right now in the stash there are several (purchased on sale) really great feeling fibers in colors I may or may not have ever purchased if they weren’t such a “good deal.”

There are an equal number of beautiful colors that leave me wondering why I didn’t just go to a haystack and work that “natural fiber.”

Visits to really good YS’s are few and far between and accompanied by convincing clerks/owners whose opinions aren’t necessarily my own or who agree with every ridiculous thought I may have in order to sell their merchandise.

Nugget Number One: When spending money on yarn, it should both feel good and look good. Seems obvious- but when caught up in the heady experience of a yarn shop, it’s not often the first thing on my mind. I have a friend who also believes that in addition to the nugget above, there must be a project in mind in order to commit to the yarn. I can’t go that far. If it feels right and looks right, the project will come.

Nugget Number Two: Wood (bamboo) or Metal- One is not better than the other.

Early on I filled my needle holders with every size of bamboo. I love the way they feel in my hand. I thought I was a really cool “sophisticated” knitter.

I read some from the Yarn Harlot and realized metal might be clicky and not a favorite texture BUT they GO FASTER!

I experimented with this nugget- I took some fabulously textured silk (in a completely not me color) and put it on some metal needles. It was all a fabulous whirring clicking blur. No more digging in for stitches.

Having purchased the Denise interchangeable circular needles set (plastic) for $70 I am now wondering why I didn’t just get the metal ones. (oh… for the airplane- that’s it) but I’m now setting aside dollar bills for the metal circular interchangeable needles.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I’ve not tried metal dpns-I’m not sure I want socks sliding off the needles BUT would that I could make those socks go faster…

From this point on I will follow Miguel Ruiz’s Agreement Number Three (is it Two?) Don’t Make Assumptions. The trick is that making an assumption often comes so naturally, it takes a little time to realize that you’re doing it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i loved my denise needle set when i got them and used them for at least a year. they were so versatile and i never needed to buy another circular needle again until i begged for some nice guy to buy me the knit picks options circular set for a surprise xmass gift and i love htes and have banished the denises to the back of the shelf swearing i would never use them again! go for it get the needles you will love!