Tuesday, July 3, 2007

My Kingdom for a DPN

Tippa Tuesday is brought to you today by the ever lovely and brilliant Elizabeth Zimmerman and by my boys.


My boys are squirrels. They take things that catch their interest for a few seconds, then they move them around and then the things are lost. Yesterday, they lost a US 2 (2.75mm) DPN
I was using in a sock. I have the yarn on 4 needles and I stick the 5th needle through the ball of yarn I'm working from. The 5th is missing.


Elizabeth Zimmerman (EZ) says you can use a different sized needle (one size up or down, doesn't matter) when knitting in the round. She says the gauge difference is evenly distributed throughout the knitting because the needles rotate. She's right! And she's amazing. As usual!

Wonder of wonders - I have an FO!!!! OK, it's only a washcloth but I'm still counting it. And it's crocheted and it's all wonky but here it is....

Sugar and Cream Summer Splash color

It's this really obnoxious color. I was making bath mats for people last Xmas and Trev wanted one. I let him pick the color and since he was 5 (at the time) he picks the loudest color available! I double stranded the mat with some white and that toned it down nicely but I have a couple skeins left over and am making washcloths for our kitchen with it. The first cloth I made was too small and so I made this one much bigger.

You can see here where I accidentally started widening it...



It's single crocheted through the back loop, about 23 (then 25?) stitches wide. I added a coupla rows of double crochet around the edges to make it bigger. The crochet through the back loop makes it nice and tight and scrubby. I used a size G hook, about a size smaller then the ball band recommends. I like my washcloths to be a tight stitch. Too many holes and it's not scrubby enough!

Off to do dishes, Ruth!

6 comments:

Yarnhog said...

Congratulations on your FO--even if it is a little wonky. Who cares? It's a washcloth, after all. It's not like it needs to fit.

Around here, we attribute those little yarn and needle accidents to the knitting gnomes. Nasty little buggers.

sophanne said...

That is good to know about the needles. And here I was, worrying about the fact that some of my size 2's don't look exactly the same. That EZ- what a genius.

The thing about that washcloth- you'll know when it's dirty. The whole number of stitches thing is what converted me from crocheter to knitter. I did manage 2 crocheted sweaters. (one ginormous and one that followed worsted weight acrylic rules and fit-I didn't even know what swatching or guage was then)

Long live the crocheted cloth!

knitnzu said...

Wonky washcloths...who cares! They all end up that way anyhow. And then there are the knives that do them in, or the dogs. I'd read EZ say that, but haven't done it yet. Offer up a reward for the errant needle? (or go the other route and be evil mommie and take away their toys until they produce)

Olga said...

Ahhhh, it ain't so bad.like to see a pic of the rugs though.

Chris said...

I've made a number of bibs from that same colorway - Summer Splash?

Anonymous said...

I've made a couple of warshcloths from that color, too -- I quite like it in the summertime. Come November I think, maybe not so much.