Needle Inventory

I finally got around to doing an inventory of my Circular Needles. I didn't realize how many US1 needles I had! Looks like I could really use a US9 needle. The reason for so many duplicate sizes is that I need pairs of circs for knitting in the round (hats, socks), and I always have needles in use stuck on WIPs. Here's an enumeration of my Circular Needle collection (sorry, I can't figuure out how to get it to line up):

US Size mm Size Length inch Length cm
0 2 (1 of 2) 40 100
0 2 (2 of 2) 40 100
1 2.25 (1 of 2) 16 40.5
1 2.25 (2 of 2) 16 40.5
1 2.25 (1 of 5) 24 61
1 2.25 (2 of 5) 24 61
1 2.25 (3 of 5) 24 61
1 2.25 (4 of 5) 24 61
1 2.25 (5 of 5) 24 61
1 2.25 29 80
1 2.25 (1 of 5) 29 80
1 2.25 (2 of 5) 29 80
1 2.25 (3 of 5) 29 80
1 2.25 (4 of 5) 29 80
1 2.25 (5 of 5) 29 80
2 2.75 12
2 2.75 (1 of 2) 24 61
2 2.75 (2 of 2) 24 61
2 2.75 (1 of 4) 29 73.5
2 2.75 (2 of 4) 29 73.5
2 2.75 (3 of 4) 29 73.5
2 2.75 (4 of 4) 29 73.5
2 2.75 32 80
3 3.25 24 61
3 3.25 (1 of 2) 24 61
3 3.25 (2 of 2) 24 61
3 3.25 (1 of 4) 29 73.5
3 3.25 (2 of 4) 29 73.5
3 3.25 (3 of 4) 29 73.5
3 3.25 (4 of 4) 29 73.5
3 3.25 (1 of 4) 32 81
3 3.25 (2 of 4) 32 81
3 3.25 (3 of 4) 32 81
3 3.25 (4 of 4) 32 81
4 3.5 16 40.5
4 3.5 24 61
4 3.5 (1 of 3) 29 73.5
4 3.5 (2 of 3) 29 73.5
4 3.5 (3 of 3) 29 73.5
4 3.5 (1 of 3) 32 81
4 3.5 (2 of 3) 32 81
4 3.5 (3 of 3) 32 81
5 3.75 29 73.5
5 3.75 32 81
6 4 29 73.5
6 4 29 73.5
6 4 32 80
6 4 32 81
6 4 36 91.5
7 4.5 32 80
7 4.5 40 100
8 5 29 73.5
8 5 30
8 5 32 80
8 5 32 80
10 6 24 61
10 6 36
10.5 6.5 29 73.5
10.5 6.5 36
15 10 29 73.5

Started my first shawl

Here is the beginning of my Flower Basket Shawl. I have completed about 2 repeats. Unfortunately this picture doesn't really show off the pattern; I didn't have anyone handy to stretch out & hold the kniting while I took the picture. It's coming along nicely so far, except for that odd brobdingnagian YO hole ... it's the one along the top edge, about 3 baskets to the right of the Center Stitch. I have no idea how this YO became so much larger than all the rest. I'm hoping that this gaping hole will sort itself out when I wash & block the shawl. I am using Baby Cashmere yarn in Peacock color.

This is my largest & most complex project so far. It requires a lot of uninterrupted time so I can concentrate on it, so I'm making very slow progress. I'm hoping to finish this before the end of the year. I can't get over how this shawl is worked upside-down. I always have to turn it around to look at the pattern. And I think this upside-down-ness makes it more difficult for me to "read" and anticipate the next patteern stitches while I'm knitting it.

I have found that using stitch markers and lifelines have saved my sanity. I have not had to rip back as frequently since implementing these two aids. It is a tremendous help to put markers between each 10-stitch repeat. All I need to do is count the stitches at the end of each repeat & fix any probs before moving on to the next repeat. I also count my stitches when I reach the end of the row, making sure there are the same number of stitches on either side of the Center Stitch. And I have since learned to pick up missed YOs while purling across the next row; that is such a neato mosquito trick! Would you believe I used to knit backwards to the point where I made my boo boo? I am also no longer getting my knitting caught up through my stitch markers. Switching to split-ring markers has helped. :)

My first dishcloth

I completed my very first dishcloth a couple weeks ago using Grandmother's Favorite dishcloth pattern. I used Lily Sugar & Cream cotton yarn in strawberry color (I think that's what it was called).

There seems to be something wrong with my knitting. I started on the lower left corner and ended at the upper right corner. It looks like YO holes in the first half of the dish cloth (left & bottom sides) are smaller than the YO holes in the second half of the dish cloth (top & right sides). Hmm...

Ring marker woes

I can't believe I've done this TWICE! I've somehow managed to get my yarn knit "through" my closed-ring marker. I thought I was careless the first time around. Now I've discovered that I've done it AGAIN! And this time I was very careful too. How did this happen?

I'm working on the Flower Basket Shawl and have a closed-ring marker before and after the Center Stitch. There is a YO before the first marker and a YO after the second marker. So it looks like this: YO - Marker - Center Stitch - Marker - YO. I suspect that there's something about those YOs that caused the yarn to go THROUGH the Marker while I was knitting the next row above (purl across). I just can't figure how it happened though. :( Any ideas?

You can see two strands of yarn going through the ring marker on the right side.