Today I want to talk to you about the Dreamz needles and other products from Knitter's Pride. Working at a yarn store, I get to try out a lot of different needles and notions, so that I can recommend them to the customers. The Dreamz needles from Knitter's Pride are my new favorite! Here's what the company has to say about them, sourced from their website: These needles include the Dreamz line, Cubics (cuboid-shaped) and Rose lines: All of these are made from densified laminated birch wood. This material is more costly and much harder than either ebony or rosewood. Unlike in other wooden needles, water absorption in Symfonie wood needles is negligible and, as a result, there is no chance of warping. The same property makes our needles very strong, enables the points to be sharp and provides a lifetime of pleasurable use, if handled correctly. Please remember that all wooden needles in the lower ranges (2.0mm-3.5mm) should be treated with appropriate care. These wooden needles are fantastic! I have used the fixed circulars, double pointed, and single pointed needles. All of the ones I used have been just wonderful to use. The laminated birch wood makes these needles a good middle ground between a metal needle and a bamboo needle. Metal needles are slippery, and bamboo are really grabby, and I do use both types, just depending on what kind of yarn I'm using. The Dreamz, are right in the middle; slick and fast to knit with, but not too slippery that you'll be dropping stitches all over the place.
These have a fantastic cord as well. I hate when you get a needle and the cord kinks up on you. They say that you can soak them in hot water and that should help them relax, but that trick never seems to work for me. These Dreamz needles have the perfect cord, they are resilient, yet totally flexible. The cord is especially great for doing magic loop because they are so flexible. These needles also have great points, sharp but not too pointy, my beginning lace knitting students really like them for that reason! The single point needles and the double pointed needles in this range are great as well, along with their crochet hooks. I like using the double pointed needles in the smaller sizes in this brand. Anything bigger than a US 8 or so I would probably use a plastic needle, just because they can get a little heavy. Heavy double pointed needles can be a problem for me, because they tend to slid out of the stitches, but If I'm using the smaller sized DPNs or the straight or circular needles, they are the perfect weight. One thing to note with these needles is that I have seen a few customers bring them back to the shop because the wood is split. I have never had one of these needles do this to me personally, but it has happened before. If you do get one that splits, bring it back to the shop where you got it (or contact the company directly) and they will replace them for you. Again, I've never experienced this personally, but I've seen it, and it's something to be aware of. That being said, it should not deter you from trying these out if you haven't had the pleasure already. They are also a good price, the circular needles range between about $8 and $12. The straight needle and double pointeds are similarly priced, totally reasonable for a great set of needles! Knitter's Pride has a lot of other needles, including carbon fiber (!) acrylic, and other birch wood options. Maybe someday I'll have the pleasure to work with them, and if I like them, I'll let you know! Thanks for reading, have a great day! This is my knitting bag. Well, it's one of my knitting bags. Let's be honest, you can never have too many bags. That being said, this is my newest knitting bag. I have bigger bags for carrying multiple projects, I have totes, I have drawstring project bags, but this one wins over them all. It's technically a lunch bag, but what to do I care? When I saw it, I just had to have it, it was just too stinking cute to pass up. It's the perfect size for carrying a smaller project, like a pair of socks or a hat, along with the pattern and some notions (like what's in my frog guy sitting there, but more on him in a minute. I usually like to have a smaller project with me when I'm on the go or at work, so I can knit in any spare time waiting in lines, or on my lunch break. My little squirrel bag is made by a company called "Blue Q", as you can see here from the bottom of my bag. You have to go check out their website, they have the coolest stuff. I really want one of their big shopper totes for hauling my goods home from the grocery store, I may have to order myself one... Anyway, I bought mine at Copperfield's here in Ventura, Ca. If you haven't been to Copperfield's, swing by next time you are in downtown Ventura. They have some really neat old books, along with cool gifts and novelties and stuff. Definitely a fun place to spend an afternoon! Inside my little frog are all the notions I need for knitting on-the-go (or sitting on my couch at home knitting and watching Netflix...). I've got tiny scissors, tapestry needles, point protectors, stitch markers, a tape measure, and more. I don't think they make these frog cases anymore, I bought this when I first started working at Anacapa Fine Yarns, and that was 4 years ago. They do, however, make a super cute Koala Case! You can get one here. As far as my knitting goes, I cast on for the Loire Cardigan I mentioned in my last post, and am about 4 inches into the body. Not much progress to share, but I finally have a good chunk of knitting time tonight, and I plan on getting some work done on it! Hope you are all having an awesome day! <3: Kaity You know when you're knitting something and you just know? I mean, you know it's not working out, or it's not going to be what you want, or it's not going to fit, and you carry on anyway? I knew when I was knitting this that it wasn't going to be the sweater I had set out to knit, I just knew, but I knitted anyway. I was excited about the idea that I could finish a sweater for myself in a week. With that goal in mind, I forged ahead and knit knit knit. This is what fell off my needles after 6 days: Hmm. Not bad, but not good. Essentially, I wanted this to be a good go-to sweater. A basic enough style that I could throw on with lots of stuff, in a good neutral color. It just looks... blah. I know I wont wear it. Survey Says: We've got a loser. The sleeves are too baggy, and it makes me look frumpy. Not cute. Sadly, this sweater is now in the process of being ripped. Usually, when I knit something big like a sweater, and there's something about it that I don't like, I'll live with it a while, and maybe after a year or so, if I still don't like it, I'll fix it. But this this sweater, I just knew. I'm going to use the yarn to knit the Loire Cardigan from Webs instead. I don't know if I'll finish it in a week like this sweater, but at least I'll wear it (here's hoping!). Anyway, I'm off to go rip out the rest of my fail. |
authorThanks for stopping by! My name is Kaity, and I like to make stuff!
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February 2016
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