I fell in love with Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Circular Needles

Today I received my Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Needles. Wow! WOW! They are so great! I love them. My knitting is more enjoyable now. I was so curious about them, the reviews on the internet are so various and different, but I love them. The cable is so soft and the needles are very light.

Tomis tank: inspired by Norah Gaughan

Inspired by Norah Gaughan's genius work with geometric shapes, this high empire waist tank is my first attempt to write a pattern for multiple sizes. It has a deep V-neck and a lovely A-line shape which is just perfect for those who don't like the idea of an exposed belly. The generous armhole shaping make possible to wear this tank over a t-shirt or shirt or even another tank. Link to this pattern here.

SKILLS: Easy (increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches)

SIZE
32 [34, 36, 38, 40] inch bust


FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 33.5[35, 37, 39, 41.5] inches

MATERIALS
Alize Lidya [60% viscose, 40% acrylic; 186yd/170m per 100g skein];
color: LSD 15; 4[4, 5, 5, 6] skeins
1 40-inch US #8/5mm circular needle
Stitch Markers
Tapestry Needle

Tips for replacing the yarn
Replace Lidya from Alize with soft yarns which produce very drape-y fabrics. I recommend blends of acrylic with cotton, linen, rayon or viscose.


GAUGE: 16 sts x 24 rows/ 4” in Stockinette stitch

All rights reserved. This pattern may be used to make items for your own personal use, for gifts, or for charitable donations. It may not be used to knit up items for sale. You may make copies for your own personal use. You many not distribute it in any hardcopy or electronic format.

Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Barbara G. Walker books

Yesterday was a very a happy day! I got my amazon.com order: 2 books.
Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker

My swap box: thank you Nancy

Yesterday I got my swap package from Nancy. I sent her 3 skeins of Alize Cashmira 100% wool and was waiting for a Berroco booklet pattern, #271 bonsai.2. But she sent me additional goodies. Thank you Nancy, you made my day. The coffee is so tasteful.

2 FOs for my swap pal: Norah Gaughan's Droplet Hat and Calorimetry from Knitty.com

Norah Gaughan's droplet hat from Knitting Nature book. It was quite a fast knit (2 days). I hope my swap pal will like and wear it. As an alternative, I knit the Calorimetry from knitty.com. t was another super fast knit (2 headbands in one day).

You Make My Day AWARD

Yay! Knitaly awarded me with You Make My Day Award. What a nice surprise! It's the second time I'm awarded through my blog. Now, it is my turn to choose 10 blogs for this award! These are blogs I frequent, even I don't post comments. I like to read them and always find them inspirational. So, ladies and gentleknits, here are 10 blogs I have chosen as winners:


Mama's World - a digi scrapper&knitter

CJ Kopec Creations - adding fiber to your creative diet

LaneDesigns - handmade bags just for you

Purlygrrrl - Sticks & String Forever

Janice ROSEMA - fiber artist

Sulkycat - you couldn't make it up...

Yarn Traveler - life's adventures with family, friends, and lots of fiber

Svetlana - My Knitting Island

BananaKnits - A knitters confessions, opinions and life experiences.

Teeweewonders - Tina - omme i London

Another FO: Norah Gaughan's Capecho

It took more than one month to finish this project. I used Alize Cashmira 100% wool for this capecho, my gauge/tension was 20 sts per 4" (10 cm) and I used 4 mm INOX circular needles. I cast on for M size to compensate the gauge (18 sts/4 "). It is still not well fitted but if I would knit this again with the same yarn, I would cast on for S size and decrease the cables to 6 sts. Or, another way is to decrease the numbers of pentagons in the first row with one pentagon i.e. 6 pentagons instead of 7.

finally!

After 3 phone calls in 2 days the staff from getknitted.com added Turkey to their shipping list. Yay! Yupppy! I already placed my order for KnitPicks Options Interchangeable circular needle sizes 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5 mm. I can't wait to receive my order. I am so excited, worse than a small kid.

still waiting a reply from getknitted.com

I can't find good quality circular knitting needles here, in Istanbul. Actually I desperately want/need 4.5 mm and 5.5 mm needles. These two sizes are not so popular here. I want other sizes too but my urgent need is for 4.5 and 5.5 mm. After browsing through ravelry forums, threads, posts, I decided on KnitPicks Options Nickel-Plated Interchangeable Needle. Since KnitPicks won't ship outside of U.S.A. and Canada, I had to google and to browse ravelry again to find a distributor/seller who would ship internationally. And then getknitted.com came out. Since they don't have Turkey in their country list, I contacted them (very long time ago) and asked them to add Turkey as well. I received an email from Mr. Gail who advised me to choose USA as a destination country but to mention I actually want my order to be shipped to Turkey. Pretty weird. He also said in his email that Turkey would be added soon to their country list. Well, I'm still waiting. In the meantime I contemplate these two pictures.

Phazelia's Kauni Vest

Isn't this just gorgeous?

I am the moderator of Knitting Turkey group on ravelry-the online knit and crochet community, and, since couple of days I'm admiring one of our member's work: Phazelia is a very talented knitter. Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog where you an see her work, but she does have a flick account where her wonderful knitted art can be admired. I asked her permission to post here some of her projects.

My Urchin Hat

Yesterday evening I cast on for Urchin hat from knitty.com online knitting magazine. I frogged couple of times because I tried to use the w&t (wrap&turn) method as described in Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book. I had to give up being stubborn and I carefully read the instructions for w&t on knitty.com.
I used for the second time in my life a row counter to keep track of my W&Ts. And Barbados from Alize yarns is so gorgeous, so soft. I like a lot this thick and thin yarn. My gauge was 13 sts/4 " and I used 7mm knitting needles.

Cleo inspired tank

Today I finished another project: a Cleo inspired tank. I used for this project handspun yarn received from my ravelry swap pal, cjkopec (Coby). I really like this pattern, I think I will knit another one but with thinner yarn, so I can wear it during Summer. This handspun yarn is bulky, I will wear the top on something else this winter.




It's first time when I'm using handspun yarn. Frankly speaking, I didnt trust handspun yarn till now, I was convinced that nothing can beat the factory-made quality. I was wrong, so wrong. This handspun yarn is so gorgeous, a very soft blend of natural fibers: merino, tencel, mohair and Romney wool. If you've never tried handspun yarns and don't wanna go wrong for the first time, I strongly recommend Cjkopec Creations. Coby is an amazing lady, very kind and very customer-oriented.

I was so spoiled

Just couple of days before the Christmas, my sister&her family and my parents visited me. They came over from Romania and I was so happy to see them again. I miss them every single day.
My DS spoiled me with very nice present, a Rowenta spin brush. I recall to mention just once in the past that I would love to have one, but, dear her, she didnt forget it. Thank you!

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And my darling mother, she surprised me with what I miss a lot from Romania: Romanian wines which are not so famous worldwide (just lack of marketing) but their taste is incredible fine. Muscat Ottonel from Murfatlar wine is my favorite.


I like to have a glass of wine beside me (not for decoration purpose) while knitting evening.

Bamboo Knitting Needles

Look what my DH brought to me from his loooong trip to China. All these bamboo knitting needles need to be sanded for a smooth finish but I already have different sizes sanding paper.

Holiday 2007 Swap

And my package arrived. After one month in mail, from Allegan-Michigan to Istanbul-Turkey, 'he' was very tired but happy to find a new home. My swap pal, Coby (ravelry ID: cjkopec) sent me so many goodies: 4 skeins of Iceland 100% wool Crystal Palace Yarns, 4 scented soaps-hand made by herself (Love Spell, Cucumber Melon, Honey Baked Pears and Plum&Berries), the January 2008 issue of Creative Knitting magazine, body+soul magazine, Stitch’N bitch knitter’s design journal, a pattern for a felted bag to go with the Crystal Palace yarns AND La Pièce De Résistance, handspun yarn. The yarn was handspun by herself with fibers that she dyes and hand cards by herself. It’s a blend of merino, tencel, mohair and Romney. The color is lovely. I think I’ll keep the yarn just for petting, it’s so soft and, after 30 days in the mail, lightly scented because of the handmade soap. Thanks a lot, Coby! You do know how to spoil a person… and how to make me dance!