Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Stitch Markers

Hi, my name is Kim, and I may have a stitch marker problem.  This is not to be confused with my hay problem (yes I have more than my goats will eat in three years, leave me alone), or my yarn problem (it is not too much yarn it fits in it's bins!... all six of them!).  No, this is the kind of problem where I have a bazillion stitch markers and cannot for the life of me find the right kind.

I love split ring markers for crochet, but they get caught on my knitting, or worse, pop off the cable of my circular needle.  I have teeny tiny danglies, which are great for socks but won't fit bigger than a US2.  I have big giant danglies that always get caught in my yarn.  And I have plain metal rings that, well, also always get caught on my yarn.  I'm not sure how I manage that but I always do.  I even once tried to make stitch markers where a bead covered the tiny gap in the metal ring.  Let us just say that beads went everywhere and I didn't end up with very many stitch markers.  Which mostly then got broken.

But today I found these.


Ring stitch markers that have a bead over the tiny gap!  And look: there's even one with an extra bead on it to be the start of round!  It can be done after all!  And best of all, they even work up to at least US8 (which is as big as I typically knit).  They might even fit on a 9.

So if any of you know where to find Two Ewes Stitch Markers, please let me know.  All I know is that these things are freaking perfect, and they were at my LYS yesterday.  I need to know where they are in case the couch eats these ones (like it always does).

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Yarn Review: All for Love of Yarn Seella

You may have noticed something new on Knitty.


I designed those socks!  And they are in Knitty, and this is super exciting!  (Hi everybody from Knitty!)  They also happen to be made out of one of my very favorite yarns, All for Love of Yarn Seella.  "Seella" apparently means "strong" in Russian, and at 75% BFL (strong!) and 25% nylon (strong!), this yarn earns it.  I have another pair in this same yarn that I have dried in the dryer, and they come out looking brand new.  I can frog it as many times as I like and it has never gotten ratty on me.  This is seriously yarn of steel.  But it does not feel like steel - it is still luscious and soft on the toes.  And of course it comes in Angela's special non-pooling variegated colorways, for added awesome.

My pattern is socks knit sideways - so the cables run the other way.  I love non-standard sock construction, but I won't just do it for fun, I need a good reason (because there are reasons that toe up and cuff down are standard!).  I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and the cables were interesting to make.  Plus they look awesome with my Sunday shoes.  So they are called Socks of Angst but I don't think they caused me any, what do you know.