Dear all,
After my post I made a journey to Islington to the LYS there, Loop, to pick up The Bird Collection book mentioned in a last post (it turns out her new book – Finstickat – won’t be translated to English anytime soon, so thought I should grab the book while it was still at Loop. Things there move FAST).
My restraint slipped a bit, and though I was just supposed to get the book, here is what I came home with:
Naughtiness.
My question from the last post answered. I am going with the Robin:
They didn’t have the yarn recommended in the pattern, though they had a sample of the Robin jumper knit up in the Spinni wool, and it was VERY itchy. I decided I would substitute with the much softer Alpaca 1. The hue is still a desaturated pink, though more magenta than the one in the picture in the book – no. 61.
Now the recommended yarn is a 3 ply and this is a two ply, so both are very fine knitting, though this is finer, and I knew I would be pushing it a bit with the patience factor … but thought it might be good for me. A new level, so to speak.
That is until I cast on a swatch this morning and it took me nearly an hour to knit a 5×2 inch swatch. Gulp.
There is the 3mm swatch of pain with a new swatch cast on with 2.5mm, as I am not at gauge.
In red below is where I have picked up not only the stitch on the needle, but that below, as I am not used to knitting with yarn this fine.
And it is VERY fine for me and quite splitty.
Thing is, I am wondering if I am struggling so much because of a) the fact that knitting with needles this small and yarn so fine is terrifying me, b)the yarn is just too splitty.
Here is where I need some opinions. Those of you that have knit with teeny yarns- what do you think ? Should I tough it out and try to view this as a learning curve, or am I just setting myself up for an expensive fail?
This decision is a bit time sensitive, as I want to go back tomorrow or monday and get Isager’s Highland yarn for this if I give up (before it is GONE with London’s crazy lack of physical yarn shops)…so really stressing!
Help please? What are your opinions?
From the Purl Side 
If you can, I’d try swatching with a couple of different needles. I find that sometimes a needle with a sharper point makes it easier to knit with a splitty yarn.
Gail, you rock. I went back to the 2.5mm swatch which I’d abandoned out of frustration and those needles were a lot better. They are a little sharper and the yarn wasn’t splitting as much.
I think you are right…it is the bluntness of the regular addi’s that is doing it. I might go pick up a lace set of circulars as my gauge seems right in between.
Oh, and also think I might just be pulling a drama queen. I also reknit the 3mm and it went MUCH smoother (and the gauge totally changed). Think I just need practice.
;-? Panic over. Thank you!!
I’m probably committing blasphemy here, but I hate knitting with Addi needles! They are way too slippery for me, and as you say, the tips are too blunt. My preferred needles are bamboo: even though the tips aren’t very sharp, they have a grippiness that really helps things go more smoothly, even with splitty yarns.
Glad the panic is over! The color of the yarn and the sweater are really pretty 🙂
OK, I agree with Gail and I can totally relate to this because I’m knitting with the thinnest 2 ply cashmere right now and I’ve tried with bamboo and addis and the pointy addis (the lace ones) work much better. Knitting into the stitch below is a concern so you need to concentrate quite a bit (I know, it sucks). I can’t look away from the knitting for long while while working with this. However, I think the hairiness of your yarn may be contributing to the challenge. I imagine tinking would be very irritating as the stitches might stick to the working yarn as you go backwards. That would get tiring (she says having ripped back for 2 hours this morning – and only having done a total of 10 rows, albeit many of those rows were partially bound off when I started).
When I knitted my first socks, I couldn’t deal with the US0 needles, but the US1s (practically the same, in the scheme of things) were so much better. I think some yarns just need some needle sizes when we add ourselves into the equation.
Thanks both. The slipperiness is a bit of an issue, as if I drop a stitch on this size it just disappears! Also, you’re right Kristin, frogging it is a right BITCH.
2ply cashmere! Eeep. That sounds very fragile. Yes, I think paying attention is exactly what I am not doing – and have to. No watching tv/reading with this project. Not even sure if it will be ‘Tube knitting’ due to the concentration factor. We’ll see.
I prefer the Addis regulars normally, as if I use anything too sharp (like Knitpro) I end up gouging a hole in my index finger after a few rows! (I am obviously doing something wrong…!)
Think i will give it a try, though. Like you say, Gail – the yarn is so pretty, and the swatches have sucked me in.
Wish me luck, ladies…and thanks for the help/support!