Knitting notions

There was a Michaels flyer in with the newspaper this week with a 40% off coupon so I decided to pop in there and pick up a few things. I was hoping to find some aesthetically pleasing bamboo double pointed needles, but they only had a couple of sizes and of course they weren't the ones I wanted. I ended up getting two more 4mm sets of the pink aluminum needles, just like those I already use for all my sock knitting, so now I'll be able to have more than one sock on the go at a time.

I bought a couple of row counters - I probably don't really need two, but they were sold together for using with different needle thicknesses. I rarely use straight needles but quickly worked out that I could attach one to my cast-on yarn tail and keep track without a pen and pad.

And the final item was a ball of Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn from Lion Brand. I haven't seen this before, but it feels very soft, and I thought it would be useful for making a baby cardigan, the instructions for which are in Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti.



At first glance, this book (which I have borrowed from my local library) looks a little unexciting - it has no colourful pictures inside and I thought maybe it would be a little basic for me. However, I read it all - it's written by a knitting teacher who really knows her stuff - and even though I have been knitting for years, I did learn something new. I am intrigued by the class projects that she uses with her students - a "dumb baby cardigan", a "stupid baby bonnet" and some booties. If one makes these items, one will learn many of the techniques explained in the book. I had suggested to my friends that we all make one of the baby cardigans and learn how to knit a raglan sweater from the neck down, perhaps in preparation for making an adult sweater one day. However (sorry girls) I am too impatient and with yarn in hand I couldn't resist casting on for the baby cardigan tonight.

It's interesting that, even though the instructions for the cardigan are written out in simple English and abbreviated terms, I have found anomalies in the pattern in the first inch of knitting! I think once I have finished the project, I may be writing to the author to suggest some editing in the next printing!!!