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I’ve been chugging along with my knitting and actually have a little bit of sewing madness to throw in for good measure.

I went to Joann Fabrics yesterday to search out an alternative to walmart for knitting supplies. Now, granted… I’m not a huge fan of walmart, but there is that little fact of being the only place open at 2AM that really appeals to me. Anyway, as would make sense, I suppose, they don’t really sell any Boye knitting needles… since Walmart does. Unfortunately walmart doesn’t sell short (10″) needles any smaller than say size 9 or 10. They do sell the long (14″) needles in just about every size imaginable, but… that extra four inches seems like too much extra for scarves and such. Maybe I’m wrong, but… it just seems the extra weight and length would get in the way.

When I discovered, much to my horror, that little thing about not having the needles I wanted, I bought a size 7 circular needle and decided, as mentioned previously, to knit the scarf lengthwise, and just wait on getting the size 8 straight needle at Joann’s, but they don’t carry them.

I like Boye needles, if for no other reason than I like the visual appearance of the little metal cap at the end. The Susan Bates needles have this giant pencil eraser style end, and, well, I just think it’s hideous.

There is something about bamboo needles that holds this amazing allure… perhaps it’s something about getting closer to nature… using a tool that could have been created without the need of machines. Unfortunately, I tend to be an incredibly tight knitter and I believe that the bamboo needles (that Joann’s does have a decently nice selection of) would become increasingly annoying. I’m working on loosening up, having discovered that I add a fifth step to every stitch, so perhaps things will improve toward the direction of being able to use them… eventually.

I also noticed yesterday, while spending a good hour eyeing up all the various needles, that not all are created equal. Two packages out of ten, of the Susan Bate’s circular needles, had extremely smooth transitions, while the rest had this little machining bump/ridge. I remembered the annoyance on the Boye needle with that little ridge… it seemed like every single one of my stitches would catch on it. Almost needless to say, I bought one of those very smooth size 7 needles and quickly upon returning home transferred my current project.

Oh, such a joy not having that little bump is! Unfortunately either the smoothness is a defect, or the bump is a very common defect, completely eliminating the ability to purchase such needles online. Joann’s doesn’t carry a good enough selection, locally, so I will need to find some place to procure these for the future. One of my upcoming, someday, projects is to make a Hogwart’s wizard scarf (yes, I know.. but I have an affinity for Harry Potter, lol… my cat was even named that prior to his unexplainable disappearance). This particular scarf is knitted in the round as a tube and then joined at the ends, thus I’ll need a 16″ circular needle, of which Joann’s has none smaller than 9 — I’ll probably need a 7 or maybe even a 6, depending on final yarn choice.

This all makes me think it’d be wise to just buy a set of interchangable needles, either the Boye Needlemaster set (ouch on the wallet) or the Denise set… I just don’t think I’d like the Denise ones that much, given that they’re plastic/resin or whatever… they’re just not metal.

I’ve also discovered that knitting up 72″ (in theory) of a scarf lengthwise on 29″ circular needles is a bit of a pain. I just can’t find any, thus far, any longer. The knitting becomes terribly bunched up, but… at least the Susan Bates needles make the whole process smoother.

In the land of sewing news, and yes it has been a very long time since I’ve pulled out the sewing machine, I’ve decided to make new pillows for my lounge. I’ve had those purple polar fur pillows for well over a year now and I’m just completely sick of them. This also comes along with a general changing of how the lounge appears thanks to my most recent furniture addition. I’m through with the sort of overly modern silver and blue look. I feel the overall feel is just too bland and stark, just sort of bleh.

This new furniture addition is a Talbo kitchen cabinet from Ikea. I will eventually put up a photo of it in the lounge, but… like I said, eventually. My mother actually bought that as my Christmas present, heh. We originally went to Ikea to get a Poang chair, but saw the Talbo line was being discontinued and thus 50% off… so my $330 cabinet was… half that! Yay! It is utterly perfect, after a little hole-saw drilling for the mini-fridge’s power cord (it fits quite nicely in the cabinet area behind the door).

So, while looking for mysterious knitting needles yesterday I spyed some of this wonderful asian-inspired silky (meaning polyester/nylon) brocade. I just had to get a yard of it for new pillows… a sort of golden/brown toned fabric with these bamboo leaves on it (again, photo eventually).

I’m very inspired now with the new furniture and new fabric for pillows. I plan on getting some chocolate brown paint to do the closet doors… sort of warm up the room. The trick will be finding just the right shade of brown to coordinate with the steely blue, black, and other browns in the room, hah.

Anyway, eventually I’ll be off to Ikea with David today, must get that Poang chair for knitting, the couch is driving me to madness.