DPN distress

Well, I'm not sure if I like knitting with dpn's or not. The first two rounds felt so awkward. But I was determined not to give up. Plus, I think I need to find some shorter needles. All the "extra" needles feels like I'm fighting with a gangly octopus. Yes, I think a trip to Romni by streetcar after work this week is needed. Oh crap...I just checked their site and their summer hours are until 5pm -- I work until 5pm. Maybe I can make it there and back in time during lunch...will I be able to do it in one hour only? (I work at Queen & Yonge Sts.) And with probably no time to browse the store either? Hmmmm, I don't know.

Anyway, here's what I accomplished last night. I feel like I'm moving at a snail's pace. No wonder people only finish one sock.

Once I master knitting socks with dpn's I will try the 2 circ method. I used 2 circs to close up the London Beanies I made so maybe I'll be able to master that as well.

I started this crocheted stole last Thursday. It's the freebie pattern that was posted to the Annie's Attic site this past week: Pretty in Pink Stole. It's also in the Feb 2003 issue of Annie's Favourite Crochet. I'm almost sure I've seen it somewhere else as well. Anyhoo, I can't link to it because the freebie pattern is replaced daily. Sorry.

My version uses Patons Brilliant. Because the original pattern calls for fuzzy ww yarn and a 6.50mm hook, I had to adjust a bit to make the stole wide enough to cover my long arms (did I ever mention I'm 5'10" ?). I tried using the required hook but it didn't look right. I changed to a 6.00mm hook and added to the base chain. The basic pattern is 8 ch +1 and so it was pretty easy to figure out how to go from there. I then realized I wouldn't have enough yarn...the Brilliant came from my stash and I only had 4 skeins. (It was originally meant for a knitted stole using a variation of a Classic Lace Poncho from the Patons leaflet "Simply Brilliant".) So an emergency trip to Lewiscraft was in order -- the one at Eglinton Square in Scarborough is open until June 30...oh and the one at Bloor & Yonge is too -- and lo & behold I found lots more in the same dye lot! Yay! I bought enough to finish the stole with and then some. At 50% off ($2.50 each!) I just couldn't resist. :) And to finish the story for today, the stole is working up very very quickly...I'm imagining I could have had it completed by now had I been using a ww yarn....