K is for...

Knitpicks Options

One of my recent purchases is a set of Knitpicks Options interchangeable needles from Get Knitted. I admired them at ally pally, but knowing that I'd be visiting the GK shop in Bristol the following weekend (October was a bit hard on the finances but good for the stash!) I saved my purchase for a week. I was slightly concerned that they wouldn't have any left after the show, but all was well and I've transferred a couple of my projects onto them already...

My first attempt at using them wasn't entirely successful - silk yarn plus slippery needles is not a recipe for success - but with other yarns they are a dream to use. I've just cast on the Devil Baby Blanket from Crazy Aunt Purl's book and it is progressing well:

That is less than one day's knitting - good given my usual speed (mind you, it was a Sunday...)

I also wanted to write a bit more about the UK Stitch n Bitch day on Saturday - what a great day! It was smaller than I expected, but that worked out well - there was an opportunity for smaller companies to have stalls and more time to speak to the stall holders. I had a lovely chat with a lady who farms cashmere goats down in Devon (Devon Fine Fibres) during which I learnt about how the coats of cashmere goats differ from those of sheep and just why cashmere is so expensive (I hadn't realised just how little you get from each goat in a year!). There was lots of knitting - with the SnB London Stitchettes and others - and I met so many lovely people! To top it all off, I actually managed to stick to my plan not to buy any yarns. I came home with a book and a few patterns - hurray!