needles | PDXKnitterati

I’m trying to work on more than one project at a time, but so far it’s just not in me.

I re-finished the sleeves on the Raspberry Vodka Lemonade, and they’re perfect. It was worth ripping them both back. I took the lazy way out and only re-blocked the sleeve ends. Modeled shot later, when there’s a photographer around. And see the freshly washed roving in the bag? It’s in the queue.

I’m knitting almost exclusively on the Blueberry half Pi shawl. I was going to knit this on my beloved Lantern Moon ebony circulars, but I quickly found that I needed a pointier tip to work with laceweight yarn. Lorajean let me borrow her HiyaHiya sharps, and that seemed to do the trick, so I bought my own.

But metal needles are soooooo slippery for this loose knitter! After tinking 600 stitches because I kept messing up the tink, I am back on track. I wonder if I’d have a better time with sharp wooden or bamboo needles to reduce the slip factor, but I don’t want to switch now in case it changes my gauge. I’m 100 rows in and not going back, thank you very much.

This isn’t really much to look at yet, but I know that blocking will transform this duckling into a beautiful swan.

I do need to set this down and get a few other things going, but I’m not very good at juggling projects. We shall see…

What else is going on? Summer has arrived, today, threatening to hit 100 degrees. It’s the first time we’ve been over 90 this year. I’m hanging out inside, in the A/C. But yesterday I took a jaunt down the Old Columbia River Highway with a friend, and we stopped at several waterfalls. All except Ponytail Falls are right on the highway, so it’s a very scenic drive.

Wahkeena Falls:

Multnomah Falls:

Oneonta Gorge. No photo; the end of the gorge isn’t particularly picturesque.

Horsetail Falls (I hiked there last month, too):

Ponytail Falls (see Pattie under the rock overhang?):

We heard rustling in the foliage, and saw this little guy:

For all of you baking in the heat across North America, here’s a little refreshment at Wahkeena Fails!

And I am finally (!) sending out my handmade pay-it-forward goodies. I made them last night, and liked them so much I made one for myself, too. I hope that Susan, Rebecca, and Denise enjoy their handmade gifts, and wonder if they were more timely in mailing theirs out than I was! I haven’t received mine from Mimi yet, so I know that I’m not the only one falling behind.

How are you keeping cool? Can you stand to knit with wool?

If you read my other blog at LanternMoon.com, you know that the new ebony and rosewood interchangeable needle sets have come in to the warehouse. I’ve been knitting with a prototype of these needles. The joins are really smooth. My yarn doesn’t catch on them, and I haven’t had any come apart while knitting with them. (This used to happen to me with other my Boye aluminum interchangeable needles, a long time ago. I’ve become a wooden needle convert since then.)

The needle tips I’m knitting with are the new Featherlight wood, which is certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council. The interchangeables won’t be in this wood, at least not for now. I just happen to have gotten lucky and borrowed these to play with. Check them out.

I knit my Mini Mochi fingering weight Infinity Entrelac Infinity Scarf with the size 4 tips.

And I’m now knitting another Noro DK weight version with the size 7 tips.

I like them a lot. They’re not quite as slick as my ebony needles, but I like the slate gray color and slight texture on them. I haven’t been knitting too much this week; the view is a distraction.