One FO and one New WIP

Finished Sherlock: I'm very pleased with this sweater! It fits nicely, and I think it looks okay if I may say so. I used Carol Hurt's method of ampling - a needle one size larger for the bottom. Didn't interupt the pattern at all. This was designed using Sweater Wizard, top down raglan style. I did the front bands twice. The first time the button holes were not even and looked awful; but I had to cut the band off because I sewed the buttons on so tightly that I couldn't get them off any other way. The final button hole was a simple YO, k2tog. because the buttons are tiny.

And one new project: The Diamond Patch sweater designed by Jill Vosberg (Just One More Row). The yarn is a cotton knitted ribbon from Blue Heron Yarns. The pattern gives lots of options for construction (it's modular knitting) and sizing. I'm using a 46 st. diamond, horizontal method, and 6 diamonds around. The bottom row will be on size 8 mm. and the middle row on 7 mm.; the bodice and sleeves on 5.5 mm. You can see the difference one mm. makes in the picture here:

I'm going to make at least 3/4 length sleeves, maybe full length if I have enough yarn. It's on the bottom of the list of projects, though, because there are so many things in front of it on the queue.

Needles According to Nina

My Definitive Needle Analysis

Disclaimer: my opinion and my opinion only!

First Choice: Holz and Stein "children's" needles: 10 in. length, ebony with rosewood knob or rosewood with ebony knob. Smooth, warm, beautiful, sharp points for lace, hard to come by and smaller sizes are somewhat delicate. Useful for small projects or small parts of large projects because the back of a sweater to fit me or Jim or Anna won't fit on them. Sleeves and/or fronts, bands, collars, flat knit scarves and hats do fine. Available from Susanne in Germany at www.dasstrickforum.de and maybe from http://www.catherineknits.com in Brooklyn.

Okay Substitute: hand turned 10-12 in. rosewood needles with short tapered point and minimal decorative turning on the non-working end. I got one set at TKGA in Oakland in April, 2006 and available through Carolina Homespun. These were very expensive and don't come any smaller than US 8.

Also okay substitute: Lantern Moon 10-11 in. straights, from Viet Nam in beautiful woods, but not available in anything smaller than a US size 5. The taper on the points is a little shorter than H&S but the points are nice and sharp for cables and lace. Also expensive.

First choice (and only choice for me) for socks: Double points from Crystal Palace. Bamboo, impregnated with some kind of resin so they don't snap and take a long time to be bent to my hand. Mostly I use US sizes 0, 1, 1.5, and 2 and occasionally 2.5.

Second Choice: H&S circular needles. Same wonderfully sharp points and perfect taper, smooth wam, and beautiful in my hands and lovely to look at. The joins are smooth but not perfect; I imagine joining wood and plastic is difficult. The cables are flexible, smooth and very thin. I had the entire front band of my Sherlock sweater on a 24 in. needle - that's 408 stitches. I use the circulars for everything that doesn't fit on my children's length needles unless the yarn needs a blunter point or is very sticky and needs the slickness of metal needles.

Third choice for specific yarn: WAS Addi Turbos for yarn that is too stickly for the H&S joins, but now that I have my Knit Picks interechangeable set I prefer these. The Addis' point is much too thick for lace that requires a lot of K2tog. or K3tog. At the moment I am using a size 3 mm for my Fair Isle vest using Harrisville Shetland wool that is 2 ply, splits a bit, and is somewhat sticky. The points on the Knit Picks set is sharp and these babies are slick. The taper is a bit long, requiring moving some stitches off by finger push, and the working end could be another half-inch long. And, the cables are purple! I like them sufficiently that I'm selling my Denise set. (See below)

Third choice for other yarns: Brittany Birch 12 inch straights - lovely points, warm in the hands. not as smooth or as beautiful as the rosewood/ebony of H&S. For circulars, Clover bamboo - ok join but not as smooth as H&S, points are midway between blunt and sharp, and readily availableif I need a specific size and my H&S are busy on another project.

Needles I have and won't use:

Pony pearl straights - these sit in a Yarn Angel vase; look pretty but are unpleasently heavy with blunt points and no discernible advantages
Hand turned walnut needles with a full 2 1/2 inch decorative end. Why lug the extra weight? They look lovely in the Yarn Angel vase.
Balene dps and straights: I've given these away. They bend in my hand, which makes for very slow knitting, the points have a nib on the end that sent a little shock wave up my wrist with every stitch.
Inox: I have at least 2 full sets, 1 marked in British imperial sizes that I bought years ago at Harrods, and another set in American sizes. I used these until I discovered first birch, then bamboo, then ebony. The 14 in onces I can't use at all because the weight of a project spread out over the length is too much for my previously damaged and somewhat fragile right elbow.
Colonial Rosewood straights with very blunt points that I have tried unsuccesfully to sharpen; the wood is not smooth and catches lots of kinds of yarn.
Suzanne's rosewood circulars: a poor imitation of H&S. The joins are rough with a metal piece that snags yarns. Some of the joins are better than others but your have to check each individual needle before purchase. They are expensive and not worth the price.
Crystal Palace bamboo circulars: these have a plastic nib between the cable and the metal piece that holds the bamboo in place. Each stitch has to be slid over the nib individually which is both a pain and very time consuming.

Which brings me to the Denise interchangeable set which I just sold. The points are blunt, the cable is as thick as the size 7 needle tips and it's sticky to boot. Moving stitches along on this thing is like moving a yarn over a finger that has adhesive left from a BandAid. The smallest size is supposed to be a US 5 but actually measures a 6. Can't wait to be rid of these! They were useful as a stitch holder for an entire sweater knit in the round to let it be tried on, or for a shawl to check the width but that's about it.

Needles I don't have: those with decorative knobs made of glass, ceramic, pearls and other precious stones, or polymer clay. They put weight on the wrong end. Glass needles. I can bend and break wood needles, can you imagine what would happen if I snapped a glass one in my hand? And Boye Needle Master interchangeable - way too expensive for aluminum.

I am very glad we knitters have so many choices; each of us is bound to find some needles that are perfect for the kind of project we are working on!