Monday, April 04, 2005
Tools for Knitting
I hope everyone had a lovely weekend--I did.Daphne reminded me that I forgot to explain one of my little purchases at our LYS. In the picture you see something called a place holder--it is a little metal piece that holds your book open so that you can read while you knit. It is perfect for those like myself that try to read, scan blogs, watch my kid, and knit all at the same time!
I'm glad to hear that others, like Maureen, have liked Opal sock yarn. It isn't the cheapest, but I was hoping it would prove to be really nice yarn.
I did receive a package in the mail that I bought on ebay: 4 nostepinder! How exciting!
So, what is this noste or nystepinne or nostepinne thing? I read about the Nostepinde in the Fall 97 Interweave Knits and really wanted to try one. They are basically an old fashioned ball winder (cheap too!). Here's a good written definition that explains what a nostepinne is and how to use it: Hatchtown Farm. And for those you who, like me, need a picture: Grafton Fibers.
I didn't really love the ball winders that I have used--they always made ugly noises and whipped along so fast that I didn't get a feel for the yarn--which tells me about how it will knit up. The Nostepinde solves that. It produces a great center pull ball, will never break, and lets me really know about how the yarn will perform.
Here's my first attempt:
This is a Jaeger mercerized cotton, so I figured if it works (slippy!) then wool will be easy to wind.
Not too bad for a first try. I went ahead and wound two other balls:
Notice that I am half finished my second Coquette sleeve? I really liked the third ball that I wound--it was a skein of Rowan that felt very sheepy. It was a little knotty to wind, so I am thrilled to have a tight ball that won't unwind, which wouldn't have happened with my handwound ball.
Ok. Sorry for geeking out on you. This was a fun diversion.
