So NOT Exciting

In a completely non-dramatic turn of events, I competently and quickly knitting knitted (but apparently can't competently and quickly type. Oy) approximately 15 inches of the body of Bruce's sweater.

In other news, the sweater is still green.

Sorry I'm not more exciting today. Although the very good part of all of this is that I am a vastly faster knitter than I was a year and a half ago. So that's good news. The last sweater that I knitted for Bruce I think knitting all of the stockinette body took me about three months. So cutting that down to a week or so is pretty darned good, right?

Also, the secret project is nearly complete. And I can't talk about it. Sigh.

We are Fine

So far, haven't even lost power.

Sadly, I haven't gotten as much knitting done as I'd like, but other than that, all is well.

Busy prepping for the hurricane

Sorry, not much time for posting as we are currently battening down the hatches.

As soon as the storm is over and I have power/communications back on, I'll post to let everyone know that we're ok.

Lovely August

The weather in NYC has been amazingly awesome for August. It's been reasonably warm (80F, 26C) and we've gotten a lovely breeze most evenings coming off the East River, which is very close by. Tonight, Bruce, Georgia and I dined outside on the balcony, and I spent a little time knitting on Bru's sweater:

We're all relaxed, with our feet up, recovering from the earthquake... Yeah, earthquake. For those not from North America, we don't generally get earthquakes on the East Coast. This one's epicenter was in Virginia (the state) I'm hoping that all of my Virginia (the state) friends are ok, and aren't experiencing too much trauma from the event.

Speaking of trauma, we had one heck of a storm this past Friday. I managed to get this one shot of the clouds moving in (this was during the day time, not at night at all) before it hit and everything was obscured. Poor Bruce got stuck out in it.

And apparently we're supposed to get hit with a hurricane this weekend. So while the world may be ending (or something), I'll hopefully get some good knitting time in.

Northampton Neckerchief Done

I finished the Northampton Neckerchief (my rav link) yesterday, and it looks faaaaabulous, if I do say so myself.

The details:

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Steel Cut Oats, Boysenberry Mix and Prune Mix
Needle: US 5 - 3.75 mm

Also, I have my internet back up, so I can actually catch up on everybody's blogs!

I'll be casting on for Bruce's sweater and a secret project today that is for a gift for a friend who may or may not read my blog. However, details of it will be on Rav, if anybody is terribly interested.

Technical difficulties

Due to the verizon strike, i'm reduced to a quickie update post from my phone as we have no internet service.

Jelly side: less internet = more time to knit.

Finished the neckerchief, will post pix from phone after blocking.

Projects, Current and Future

After I finished up my Breezy, I jumped into the Northampton Neckerchief  (rav link) from the book New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist (amazon link). I'd purchased the yarn for it earlier this year, and have been excited about it, simply because I love the purply stripes and everything.

Photo from the book, courtesy of Interweave Knits.

However, it is a wee bit dull to knit, as the main part of the shawl is stockinette. And I eliminated the beads, as I didn't have any and I was feeling too lazy to go out and find all of the necessary supplies. Also, I wasn't too wild about them, hence the laziness. I'm also using slightly different colors than what was specified in the book, though I am using the same yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine).Here's my progress:

Secondly, I'm starting in on Bruce's second sweater. Hopefully it will go more quickly now that I'm more experienced and a slightly faster knitter. Plus, it's August, and I'll hopefully be able to finish this sweater by the time Christmas rolls around. I'm making him Brigade by Todd Glocken:

Photo courtesy of Todd Glocken.

For this sweater I'm also using Berroco Ultra Alpaca, this time in the worsted weight. Bruce picked the colorway "Pea Soup Mix" which is actually much deeper and greener than it appears in this photo:

I think I'll be able to cast on for it this afternoon. We're experiencing some rain, and have no desire to go gallivanting around the city.

Vacation Knitting Booty

I did a little (but not much) shopping during the vacation.

In Roanoke, VA, we went to an awesome used bookstore in the Grandin Road area, Too Many Books, and I found the following, which are very exciting:

Unexpected Knitting by Debbie New

Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet

At the Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, VA, I picked up this yarn, which is awesome. It's spun at a new mill (!?!) near Pearisburg, VA, which is where Bruce and I were legally married (we had our ceremony in Stuart, VA, a few hours south). The yarn is from Back Country Ranch, and it is unbelievably soft and squishy. I also love that it has the photos of the alpacas that the yarn came from on the front of the label. I may be keeping this ball band:

Finally, my completed, but as yet unblocked Breezy Cardigan. I'll be blocking it in the next few hours and will post modeled pictures later on.

Back from vacation

Tired.

Photos can be found on my other blog here: http://trailingoffintosilence.blogspot.com/2011/08/random-selection-of-vacation-photos.html

Will have knitting related content tomorrow.

Finished the Breezy Cardigan. Just need to wash and block it.

Interchangable Needle Comparison

Ok, as promised, a comparison of Knit Picks, Addi Clicks Lace and Hiya-Hiya interchangable needle sets. I have one metal set and one wood set from KP, metal from Addi and metal from Hiya-Hiya. And apologies for both the crapitude of the photos and the entirely knitting-related content for my non-knitting readers.

Tips:

Knit Picks tips are by far the sharpest of the three, and they have a great taper. Hiya-Hiya is somewhere in the middle, and Addi, despite their "lace" moniker, are the bluntest, and are, in fact, a bit too blunt for my liking, especially in the smaller sizes. The Hiyas look the bluntest in the photo (for whatever reason), but they feel and knit a lot sharper than the addis (having worked with both needles on the same project, with the same yarn now).

From left: Knit Picks, Addi & Hiya-Hiya

From left: Knit Picks, Addi, Hiya-Hiya

Joins:

Knit Picks and Hiya-Hiya have excellent joins between the cable and the needle. Very smooth and hardly noticeable at all. Addi has a very bumpy join, which is absolutely impossible to deal with on anything smaller than a fingering/sock weight yarn.

From left: KP, Addi, Hiya

Addi

Addi (you can actually see the bumpy join there)

Hiya

Hiya

KP

KP

Ease of joining:

KP is definitely the most difficult and it involves a little key thingy (or a paper clip in a pinch) to fully tighten the cable into the base of the needle. This annoyed me, so I got the Addis, which just click on (hence the name, Addi Click). However, the join sucks. Subsequently, I got the Hiyas, which are awesome, and can be screwed in by hand, or using a teeny little silicone gripping pad for extra tightness. (that sounded wrong somehow).

Cable Flexibility:

All of the cables seemed to have similar levels of flexibility to me. I really didn't notice a difference.

Finish:

They all have pretty slick finishes. However, for whatever reason, the finish on the KP needles wears off (including the finish on the ferrules) making the metal needles and the metal base on the wooden needles extremely sticky. Which infuriates me. I sent back two pairs of needles to KP, and they replaced them without question, but the same exact thing happened again, and I was annoyed. KP has truly excellent customer service, but I'm getting tired of sending their products back over and over again (more on this later).

Cases:

I think the winner is clear (Hiya). But this one is totally subjective, I know. Not that the rest of my review isn't, but at least I have something other than opinion to back it up.

Needle Size Range:

I think KP has the best range for purchase overall: US 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10.5 and 11

Addi: US 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11

Hiya: US 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and another set (purchased separately) US 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Price Point:

Addi: Approx US $169

KP: US $69.99

Hiya: Approx US $70

Other Considerations:

KP has a great price and a decent product. I have had some problems with the cables pulling free of the ferrules in the middle of the project:

I am excited to see how the Hiya Hiya's wear, as I've now knitted almost an entire project with them (Breezy, almost done) and so far so good!

The Addis are really amazing in terms of the convenience of just snapping the cables into the needle, but are vastly better for thicker yarns.

All in all, I probably wouldn't buy another set of Addis. I feel like they are far too expensive to have such crappy joins.

 I have had to replace numerous cables on the KP set, and as noted above, have issues with the finish deteriorating on the metal parts of the needles. However, they are a great value, have an extensive range of sizes for purchase outside of the set, and excellent customer service.

The Hiyas are definitely too new to tell, but I'm liking them initially. Great price point, interesting size range, so far so good on the cables.

And that is that. I am now off on vacation (going to Virginia - the state). I may be blogging from my phone, but those posts will likely be very text light.

I am also nearly done with the Breezy, so hopefully will have photos of it very soon.