Happy New Year! Ending 2009 and Beginning 2010

Happy New Year, Everyone! It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? Many changes, many happenings. As always, some good, some okay, and some not so good. I am fortunate that most things that happened for me in 2009 were good. And I look forward to new beginnings in 2010.

2009 ended with the Christmas Blizzard of 2009 – where we received somewhere between 12 and 14 inches of snow along with high winds and drifting. This caused a number of changes to our traditional Christmas plans and meant going to plan B & C when it came to celebrating with family members. I’m sure it will be a Christmas we all remember – because, in spite of the weather, we managed to celebrate and share the holiday with family.

On December 28, my daughter and I embarked upon a cross-country road trip from Omaha to Boston. (That’s approximately 1500 miles, give or take a few.) We did this so she could take her new car back to Boston. We started out at 6:30 AM – and after being momentarily stuck in the snow just past our driveway, had clear roads all the way into Ohio – where we spent the night. We pushed to make it a distance of 846 miles (14 hours of driving with just a few short stops). I thought I’d get a lot of knitting done on this trip, but it didn’t happen.

The next morning, we hit the road at 6:30 AM. It was snowing lightly when we left, but we soon drove out of it and headed for Pennsylvania. Daughter was driving and about 30 minutes into Pennsylvania we came around curve and drove straight into white-out, blizzard conditions, with traffic moving cautiously at less than 40 mph. Luckily, conditions improved rapidly and by the time we reached the next exit, road was improved enough for us to continue our journey. After a coffee-break/potty break in Clearfield, PA, I took over driving and drove all the way to Danbury, CT, where we stopped to eat and change drivers. We made into Boston around 6:00 PM.

That’s an exhausting 2-day drive, to say the least. But we had each other’s company, saw some beautiful country and arrived safely at our destination. Plus, I had another day to enjoy with my daughter in Boston.

I flew home yesterday, dealing with a delay out of Boston that left me only 10 minutes to catch my connecting flight to Omaha. Fortunately, the airline held the flight so that all of us on the flight going to Omaha could make it. (Thank-you, Midwest Airlines). After arriving back in Omaha, DH and I went to see “Sherlock Holmes” at the local movie theater, then went home and I fixed a late supper, then crashed around 10:00 PM. We ended 2009 by sleeping through all the hoopla… 🙂

So we are now at the beginning of 2010. Today, I plan to finalize my 10 in 2010 list (Ravelry Group), relax and just enjoy a quiet day at home. Now where did I leave my knitting? ….

Related Post

Ravelry – a community for knitters and crochetersRavelry – a community for knitters and crocheters

Are you on Ravelry? If so, you know about this marvelous site on the web for interacting with other knitters/crocheters with like interests. If you haven’t heard of it or looked it over – I recommend you check it out: www. Ravelry.com. In order to get the full benefit of the site, you need to join and it takes a while to get your Ravelry ID, but it is worth the wait. There are groups to join, forums to participate in, and your own area for listing projects, keeping track of your stash, inventorying your books and much more. There are also places to locate patterns – with the ability to purchase if you want or you can contribute a pattern to the site. And of course, there are many other knitters and crocheters who participate on the site and are willing to help with questions and solving technical problems. Warning: you can find yourself spending a lot of time on this site!

P.S. My Ravelry ID is “LindyBeir” if you want to find me there.

Some observations while waiting in line the day after Thanksgiving.Some observations while waiting in line the day after Thanksgiving.

I went to the fabric store yesterday. I didn’t go because there was a super sale going on. (There was, but I wasn’t aware that it was.) I went to buy buttons. Just buttons.

So when I went to check-out with my single-minded purchase, I was directed to the Express Line (5 items or less. Returns & Exchanges). Now the store was packed with eager shoppers getting great bargains on fabric, notions, Christmas items — you name it. They were having a great sale. The store’s staff was well-organized. They had set up a number system to handle the many shoppers needing fabric cut and it seemed to be working efficiently. They had enough staff on hand to handle both the fabric cutting duties and they cash registers. And they had all of their cash registers staffed and there was that staff member who was directing traffic. So while there were lines and everyone had to wait their turn, I thought things were being managed well and efficiently. My compliments to this store. This time of year, handling the crowds for an “After Thanksgiving” sale is an art form.

While standing in line, waiting my turn to pay for my purchase, this young woman came into the store and promptly through a hissy fit. She loudly grumbled as she made her way to stand behind me in line that she “didn’t know why SHE had to wait in line to just do an exchange!” The staff person directing traffic attempted to calm her down — but she was not willing to do so. So she continued to grumble loudly while standing in line behind me. Now the line was moving fairly quickly, but there were six customers ahead of me. This unpleasant young woman was rude and obnoxious to everyone around her and seemed to think that she deserved special consideration and was not happy that the store was not willing to give it to her.

While I ignored her as much as possible — I really try not to take on another person’s bad moods — I kept thinking that this young woman was selfish and terribly self-centered. I have tried to make excuses for her — maybe she was running very late for an appointment, maybe she was super stressed out, etc. But the bottom line is, everyone standing in those lines could have been running late or been super stressed — but no one else was making a scene and behaving like a spoiled brat. Yes, I felt that she was acting like a spoiled brat who wasn’t getting her way. After I completed my purchase — she slammed her item on the counter in front of the store clerk. I felt sorry for the clerk, who had been nothing but polite to me.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we will admit that we’ve all had times when we weren’t at our best in public. I hope that young woman has a better day than she did yesterday. I know she will come in to mind for me the next time I find myself losing patience while standing in line. This time of year, with the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season upon us — please take a deep breath, find peace within yourself and act kindly to those around you.

Tips for Selecting Knitting Needles – Part 1: Needle Materials & OptionsTips for Selecting Knitting Needles – Part 1: Needle Materials & Options

The type of material used to make a set of knitting needles ranges from aluminum, acrylic (plastic), nickel, stainless steel to different woods such as bamboo, birch, and rosewood. Each type has properties that may affect your knitting. For instance, wood needles are “grippier” and work well with slippery yarns. Needles made from metals are often slicker and work well with “sticky” yarns because the stitches can glide more easily across the needle.

Here’s a fact that I stumbled across when I was struggling to knit with a laceweight yarn:

“Not all yarns work with all needles”

I had this lovely, but very fine laceweight yarn that I tried using for a lace shawl, but I became so frustrated with knitting it because it just wouldn’t knit up properly. The shawl pattern was part of a knit along (KAL) and so I posted a question to the group asking for suggestions on how to address my issue. One knitter told me to try a different type of needle because the needle I was using with the yarn might be the problem. This was a new concept for me at the time – it had never occurred to me that the knitting needles I used might not work with a yarn. So, I went to my LYS and purchased a set of Addi lace circular needles. These needles are made of brass, but they have a coating on them that makes them grippier. The difference in the way the yarn knit up on these needles was amazing! No more struggles with how the stitches formed or moved on the needles.

Lesson Learned. When selecting knitting needles, you should consider what you plan to knit and what type of yarn you plan to use. For this reason, I recommend that as you build your collection of knitting needles, you buy needles of different materials and try them out. If the project you are planning to knit uses a slicker yarn and you need to purchase a new needle for this project, consider buying a bamboo or birch needle. If the yarn is sticky – consider buying a needle made of nickel or stainless steel. You will find that over time, you will need a mix of needles made of various materials.

Types of materials that needles are made of include:

Metal – Needles can be made of Aluminum, Brass, Nickel, or Stainless Steel. All these metals make needles that are strong and smooth. Metal needles work well with most yarns, but if you have a slick yarn, you may find that the stitches slip too easily off the needles. Addi Lace needles are made of brass but have been coated to make them less slick. This helps when knitting lace patterns with very fine weight yarns. Some knitters find that they are allergic to Nickel. Others report that Brass needles stain their fingers. Aluminum and Stainless Steel are less reactive and may be a better choice if you are one who does react to Brass or Nickel.

Wood – There are many companies that make knitting needles of Bamboo, Birch, or Rosewood. Wood needles are less slick than metal needles and work well with slicker yarns such as rayon or silk. One issue with wood needles is that they can break if put under a lot of pressure. This is especially true with the smaller sizes.

Synthetic – These needles can be made of plastic, acrylic, or carbon fiber. Plastic and acrylic needles come in a wide variety of colors. These needles are also smoother than wood needles and are less expensive. Needles made of carbon fiber are quite strong and work well slick yarns. These needles are more expensive.

Needle Options:

  • Straight Needles are single point needles with a cap on the other end. They are available in several different lengths ranging from 7 inches (for kids) to 14 inches. Single point straight needles work well for knitting items flat, but they do not work for knitting circular (or in-the-round). As I said in my last post, these are the needles on which I learned to knit. I knit my first sweater using a pair of 14-inch needles.
  • Double Point Needles (DPNs) are exactly what the name says: needles with a point on each end. These are probably the earliest type of knitting needles, and they are used to knit circular. According to historians, early depictions of knitters using DPNs have been dated to the 14th century. DPNs are sold in sets or 4 or 5. You have stitches divided over 3 or 4 needles and knit with the remaining needle. These needles also come in a variety of lengths.
  • Circular Needles have a single point needle on each end with a thin cable in between. The cables are made of a flexible synthetic material and come lengths ranging from 9 inches to 60 inches. While these are used to knit in-the-round, they can also be used to knit flat.

There are two options for circular needles: Fixed lengths and Interchangeable. Fixed length needles are just that – they have a fixed length. 9-inch circular needles can be used to knit socks, and 16-inch needles work well to knit hats. For general purpose knitting, a 24-inch fixed circular is a good choice for length. If using “magic loop” technique, lengths between 32” to 60” work well. The longer lengths also work when knitting items with large numbers of stitches.

Interchangeable Circular Needles are needles that have needle tips that either screw or click into the ends of a cable. They are sold in sets with a number of different sizes of tips plus different lengths of cables. Such sets offer a lot of flexibility because you can easily change the length of your needles by switching cables. Interchangeable sets can be somewhat expensive depending on the type of materials used and the brand. Interchangeable needle tips and cables can also be purchased in single sizes and lengths, so it is possible to build a set over time. This is also a good way to expand your set of interchangeables.

I use my interchangeable needles the most. Over time I have added a variety of needle tips in different materials to my first set, so now I have the option of using either nickel or wood tips. I also have added extra cables in different lengths. I usually have more than one project on needles at any given time, so it’s great to have duplicates of sizes and cables available. I recently received a second interchangeable set of needles that has stainless steel tips. I find that enjoy using these, so I will be purchasing some duplicate tips in the sizes I use the most.

Recommendations to New Knitters:

  1. Try out different types of needle materials so that you learn what works best for you. If you are planning a project with a slicker yarn and need a new set of needles for it – consider buying one made of bamboo or birch wood. Likewise, if your project uses a sticky yarn, go for a metal set, and if possible, select a metal than you haven’t used before.
  2. If you belong to a knitting group, you might find some members that will be willing to let you try out one of their needles on a swatch.
  3. If you haven’t used circular needles before – consider buying circulars instead of straight needles for your next project.
  4. Big box stores sell knitting needles and supplies but if you have a local yarn shop near you, consider buying from it. Some local yarn shops may also offer you the chance to try a type of needle before you buy. It doesn’t hurt to ask.