Haul 001

My very first knitting haul! Woohoo! This is a bit of a compiled haul because I got all of these items over a few week period.

The first item is a pair of blue blunt-ended yarn needles by Red Heart. They're made of a plastic, which I'm afraid won't be as good as a metal needle. I have yet to try them out but I'll be sure to review them when I do.

The next thing I purchased I'm actually really excited about! It's a grey cabling needle! Cable knit is one of my most favourite things in the world and I can't wait to use them on a future project I'm planning! They are from Red Heart as well.

I've wanted the Boye Needlemaster Interchangeable Set for the longest time and I am SO happy I finally ordered it! I found it on Ebay for $30 which was such a steal because I saw the set at Michael's for $90. $60 savings means more yarn! I'm expecting a lot of use from this set considering I can make pretty much anything with it. Also, it is a set of circular needles, but they can be used as straight needles as well. You get a set of 13 needles ranging from size US 2 to US 15, 4 cables and a few accessories all packed neatly into a pretty brown leatherette (?) travel case.

I also purchase a pair of Anodized Aluminun circular needles from Boye, size US 17, cord 29". I needed these for another future project coming up very soon. They cost me around $11, I think, and I purchased them at Michael's.

While at Michael's, I also found the big sale bin full of yarn! After a good amount of digging, I finally came up with a few skeins. The first is 5 skeins of bright blue acrylic chunky yarn, each 114 yards. I bought these for a scarf I'm planning on making, but the pattern didn't state how many yards was in each skein of yarn the original scarf was made in, just that 5 skeins was used.

Next I came up with 2 skeins of sparkly wine red yarn! I'll be using these for a hat I'm hoping to make before autumn chills set in! I was honestly pretty hesitant about getting this yarn because of the sparkles and colour, but I decided 'what the heck' and got it anyways. The sale bin claimed each skein was $2.99 but when I went to check out, it turns out each was $1.99! Super save! I just regret not going back and picking up a few more skeins.

This picture and the one underneath are not true to colour.

The following yarn I purchased on Etsy from El Coyote Ranch. I found it while browsing around. It cost me $10 from $20. The colour I purchased was Rusty Gray (WHICH I LOVE) and it is 60% wool and 40% mohair, approximately 180 yards. I'm a little hesitant with this yarn because it's much rougher than I expected it to be, so I'm not sure what to make with it. I'm considering doing a hat because I'm afraid it might be too scratchy as a scarf. I'll have to use a lot of white vinegar and fabric softener with it.

Next, I got 2 skeins of the same yarn in different colours. The first colour is a charcoal, the second a natural camel-y colour. They are 80% acrylic and 20% yarn, both very soft. I'll probably make a hat out of the first and a scarf out of the second. They cost me around $5 each.

And finally, I stopped by Romni Wools in Toronto. After browsing the very-packed racks of various wool, an associate there told me about the sale section in the basement and I jumped at the chance. The basement was just as packed as the upstairs! I finally decided on 6 skeins of Rubens Tweed, which is 65% virgin wool, 14% polyacryl, 12% polyester and 9% cotton. I really like the colour and for $6.50 a skein, I just had to have them!

My first time.

I thought I'd start off my first "post" talking about my first project. When I took that beginner's class, the lady taught us the basics and then she gave us a project. As predicted, nobody had actually finished their project by the end of that class (except mine was almost done - overachiever, much?), so I don't actually know how anyone's came out.

Anyways, the first project was a basic cowl with this really beautiful silk yarn that she dyed for each of us. I chose a coppery/amber colour. She had us cast on 110 stitches and then alternate between knitting and purling for the first 5 rows and then it was supposed to be knit the rest of the way (Right knit, Left purl) and then finish off with another 5 rows of alternating knit and purl. I have to say, by the time I was finished, I'd never seen anything uglier in my life. I had missed a bunch of stitches so there were holes, I somehow managed to increase a few times, I was alternating between making really tight and really loose stitches and I kept knitting so I could only do 2 alternating knit and purl rows before I had to bind off (which came off really tight and I could barely get the piece over my head), after which I ran out of yarn. The project was done on straight needles so we had to use leftover yarn to sew together the two ends of the project. Because I had no yarn left, I had to use sewing thread (which was the worst mistake of my life).

I'm sorry for the crappy quality, but here's the scarf when I was close to binding off.

About a month later, I decided to pull apart the scarf and re-do it. I can tell you now, never use sewing thread to sew together the two ends. I cut it fine, but when I began pulling the scarf apart, the pieces kept getting stuck because there was little threads caught between the yarn. It was the biggest pain in the ass. Eventually, I managed to get my yarn back into a big roll and I started again! I should probably add, before I ripped apart my project, I counted out the rows so that I could approximate at which point I should start ending with my 5 knit/purl rows. That worked out pretty well but I ended up doing 7 rows because I still had so much yarn. I still have quite a bit of yarn left, but I'll be using that to sew together the ends (which I have not done yet).

Please excuse the pictures, it was an odd day and the lighting kept going weird.

This is the truest to the colour of all the pictures.