What's missing in the Turbo Click set

Hi Knitters,

The above yarn bombing item is located in downtown San Mateo.  Funny?

Recently I've got a few balls of yarn.  And I'm done with my last project and continue on the lace scarf that I've been working on (over the years). Yeah....I'm just not a lace knitter, yet..so I kind of knitted and stopped, and skipped to other projects. 

This is what the lace scarf looked like.  Shall be finished soon (hehe......)

So CHUNKY is the opposite of lace.  And I got some yarn from Daiso for a quick knit, and I was about to do magic loop again...then I found out, there is NO U.S 10 1/2 (6.5mm) tips in the Addi Turbo set....AH......! HELP!

I searched online and found out it would be cheaper if I get it from local yarn store (the shipping is expensive).  I also found out the the Turbo Click set is on sale....BIG sale

See! It used to cost more than $160.  And now it's less than $130...on Amazon. I hope it's a piece of good news to you.  The reason for the big cut? I don't know.  Perhaps something new is coming up?  

So, at the end, I got my pair of tips from a local yarn store from San Mateo, and purchased some more yarn ( Trust me, it wasn't planned)

I will report more about the tips, the yarn and the lace scarf.  And I'm seriously thinking of offering some of my pattern in collection as e-pub format.  What do you think?

Anyway, hope you all enjoy your weekend and

HAPPY KNITTING

My fav color and my first sweater

Hello knitters,

I'm so excited to tell you that I've just finished my first sweater that is made out of the Cascade 220 wool yarn bought from Nine Rubies.  

The pattern I followed is called "Sea Shells", included in Heirloom baby knits by Deborah Newton. It's a popular book on Amazon mainly due to the baby picture in the cover. hahaha.  The patterns in this book is all for intermediate knitters too. 

Let's talk about the pattern.
Difficulty level? I would give 3 stars out of 5.  Fun level? 4 out of 5 in my opinion.  

Anyway, it's perfect for first-time sweater knitter.  The techniques required are for intermediate crafters.  Therefore, it's NOT for absolute newbie. (Be patient, my dear newbies)

The reason I choose a baby sweater is simply because "I just wanna get the basic concept of combining pieces into an entire knits.  If my work have turned out to be a disaster, I would not have wasted too many skeins of yarn.  Also, there are many many cute patterns out in the world.  Never done with knitting them.

Sea Shells is combined of 4 pieces: front, back, left sleeve and right sleeve.

The knitting part is not 

Warning for first-time sweater knitter:
READ THE WHOLE PATTERN CAREFULLY!

Isn't it a motto for every single knitters? Yes, it is.  But if you don't obey this golden rule, I'm sure your work will end up a mess.  

Anyway, I just wanna share my joy as a sweater knitter with you all.  Will talk about more about Cascade 220 next time.

HAPPY KNITTING

Yarn spinning service saves all my trouble ~ another visit to Nine Rubies

Hi knitters,

A few days ago I went to San Mateo for some sushi.  Then I walked to the very nice local yarn store, Nine Rubies, to pay a visit.

At that time there were a few ladies crocheting.  They were having so much fun knitting and gossiping.  I browsed around and picked up totally five skeins of yarn.  I knew I hated making yarn ball by myself, but...

The sales representative asked me if I wanted her to make the yarn ball for me.  She said, "it's out of courtesy."  What do you think I would have said?

She placed the first skein of yarn on an umbrella-like stand which was made of wood.  Then she pulled one end of the yarn to the other side.  That is the magical machine that saved all my troubles.  Once the sale representative (oh, I forgot to ask for her name) turn on the button of the machine, It started spinning.

It was fun watching the operation of it.  Totally it took about 18 minutes for making five balls of yarn.

If you wanna know what I bought this time, stay tuned and

HAPPY KNITTING

Hooks for Crochet Beginners~ Raku Raku from Hamanaka

Hi knitters,

These days I've been trying different stuffs.  I even tried crocheting.  Unbelievable... I finally get the idea behind crocheting double stitch and half double stitch.  Once you got the concept, everything will be explainable.  

When I was lost and doing trial and errors, my hands got really tight.  I got nervous.  Therefore, the way I hold the crochet hook made me very uncomfortable.  I tried several hooks before.  And I gave up and picked up.   In the picture below were the hook I tried.  

I can't blame the hooks.  It was totally my problem.  But things got easier when I started with crochet hooks with rubber.  Yes, rubber.  It's soft rubber. It's called elastomer.  And the hook is made of aluminum. They are all light in weight.   My fingers were more relaxed. To be fair with the hooks I tried, I will test again once I get more used to crocheting.  At this moment, I'm on cloud nine!!!

Therefore, I highly recommend this hook to crochet beginners.
What is the brand?  It's Hamanaka from Japan, the rival of Clover.  
Here is the link to the official website of Hamanaka.  I think it's called RakuRaku, not 100% sure.

I got the whole set from a local yarn store in Hong Kong.  But I think you can get one from eBay.  As you can see, there are two hooks in the tip of each needle.  And each one is 13.5cm long.  Totally there are 10 hooks!!!  Some people like the idea of economic spacing.  But I also heard a little complaint: you may accidentally hook on your piece of work when with the hook you're not using.  Well, I hasn't happened to me.  Let's see.

Anyway, crochet is like knitting: only by mastering the basic techniques, you can do a lot more than you think.  

I know, I need to practice in order to crochet neatly.  This is a good beginning though.  I'm getting obsessed with crochet.  But don't worry, I still knit.  Just finished Op. 22 toddler's hat.  Stay tuned for more news and my reports on yarn craft.

HAPPY KNITTING AND CROCHETING

What do you do to kill back pain?

Hi knitters,

Recently I've been suffering from back pain.  It's not only owing to knitting.  My back pain is caused by playing badminton, studying, and improper sleeping posture...

Anyhow, I would like to share some of my solution:

1. EMS (Electronic Muscle Stimulator).
My back is now as hard as a rock.  I often turn to high levels.  
Some people may not like the idea of having electricity running in your body.  Read the instructions before use.

2. Biofreeze.
Put on this cool ointment on the pain area.  Please do not rub it hard.  It's cool.  But don't over do it.  Always use when your body is clean.



3.  Heating pad.
My favourite.  It's very helpful.  But some people find it too hot. Make sure you don't wear anything metal as it's DANGEROUS.  The heat metal would burn your skin.

4.  Herbal heating pad.
Put it in microwave no more than 2 mins.  Put it on your shoulders while you knit.  It helps.  But don't place it on your body directly on your skin.  Always wear something.

5. Taking a shower.
It always help if you take a hot shower.  So refreshing.

Anyway, rest when you don't feel well.  

HAPPY KNITTING

Long time no blog ~ Free hat pattern Op.18

Dear knitters,

So sorry that I have been occupied by work and homework and couldn't manage to blog and share my long-finished pattern....Op. 18...Why the dinosaur?  er.......... I like the contrast in color....er...

By the way, it's 2014 already.  How're you guys doing?  I hope the warm weather doesn't stop you from knitting.  (Well, it's always cold in SF so I can actually knit throughout the seasons)

Last November  I used some leftover yarns in diverse textures to knit a children's hat.  I would call it uni-sex, so it fits  either boy or girl under 6 years old.

Here is a reward for all your hard work last year: the  Op. 18 toddler's hat pattern.

Please note that the Mochi Plus I used is in rainbow color way.  By chance it is red when I knit Op. 18.  You may want to replace with solid red yarn.  Red does look good in this section though.

Material:

Yarn A ~ Lamb's Pride Worsted ~ Colorway 17 (Heather Grey) ~ 22 yards
Yarn B ~ Mochi Plus ~ Colorway 555 ~ 15 yards
Yarn C ~ Rowan  Felted Tweed Aran ~ Colorway 720 (Pebble) ~ 60 yards
Yarn D ~ Malabrigo Wosted ~ Colorway 27 (Bobby blue) ~ 30 yards

Tools:  US #7 (4.5mm) double-pointed needles
           US #8 (5.0mm) double-pointed needles

Size:  32 (34)cm head size

Gauge:  20 stitches X 27 stitches = 10cm X 10cm

Skills Needed:
Circular knitting, knit, purl, slip with yarn in front, knit 2 together, Bind off

Abbreviation:
K             = Knit
P              = Purl
K...          = Knit for the whole round
K2tog      = Knit 2 together
wyif         = With yarn in front
Slip          = Slip a stitch

************************************************************************
Instruction:

Cast on 60 stitches with Yarn A in round.

Repeat the following  pattern for 5 rounds:

<K2, P2> X15

***********************************
Change to  Yarn B

Repeat the following  pattern for 4 rounds:

<K2, P2> X15

***********************************
Change to Yarn C and start knitting with US #8 double-pointed needles

Repeat the following pattern for 15 rounds:

K...

***********************************
Repeat the following pattern for 2 times:

Round 1: <wyif, sl1, K> X30
Round 2: K...
Round 3: <K, wyif, sl1> X30
Round 4: K...

***********************************
Repeat the following pattern for 7 rounds:

K...

***********************************
Change to Yarn D
Start the decreasing section:

Round 1:    K...
Round 2:    <K2, K2tog, K2, P3, K2, K2tog, K2> X4          
Round 3:    <K5, P3, K5> X4                                                  (52 stitches)
Round 4:    <K5, P3, K5> X4
Round 5:    <K1, K2tog, K2, P3, K2, K2tog, K1> X4          

Round 6:    <K4, P3, K4> X4                                                   (44 stitches)
Round 7:    <K4, P3, K4> X4
Round 8:    <K4, P3, K4> X4
Round 9:    <K4, P3, K4> X4
Round 10:  <K1, K2tog, K1, P3, K1, K2tog, K1>X4

Round 11:  <K3, P3, K3> X4                                                   (36 stitches)
Round 12:  <K3, P3, K3> X4
Round 13:  <K3, P3, K3> X4
Round 14:  <K3, P3, K3> X4
Round 15:  <K2tog, K1, P3, K1, K2tog> X4

Round 16:  <K2, P3, K2> X4                                                    (28 stitches)
Round 17:  <K2, P3, K2> X4
Round 18:  <K2, P3, K2> X4
Round 19:  <K2, P3, K2> X4
Round 20:  <K2tog, P3, K2tog> X4

Round 21:  <K1, P3, K1> X4                                                    (20 stitches)
Round 22:  <K1, P3, K1> X4
Round 23:  <K1, P3, K1> X4
Round 24:  <K1, P3, K1> X4

Bind off all 20 stitches.

*******************************************************************************
I hope you guys like this pattern.

HAPPY KNITTING