Another reason to have a Denise Needle Kit

I had never knit with Denise needles until the TNNA show in June. Barb and I went for several days, with more than several plane and evening knitting projects, and with - I thought - Addi Turbos in all the right sizes. Barb is a good travel buddy. She always packs things that come in handy... extra snacks, pens, even an extra pair of socks for when your feet get cold on the plane. This time it was a Denise needle kit. I asked, "Do we REALLY need that?" She said we did. In fact, she even packed a 40" cable, just in case. I thought she was going a bit too far. But then we saw a cute twirly scarf at the show one day, and I decided to whip one up that evening. Of course I hadn't planned on that so I didn't have an Addi Turbo in the right size. Barb had an "I told you so" grin on her face as I broke out the Denise Kit and that 40" cable and started casting on those 900 stitches. I was determined to dislike the needles. After all, they are plastic, and I've really never liked plastic needles. But as much as I tried to hate them, I just couldn't. They are quite nice to work with. I got back from the show with a newfound appreciation for the Denise kits.

This weekend I just started a little sweater out of Malabrigo. I couldn't get gauge with my Addis. After knitting several swatches, I saw my Denise kit peaking out of my Bagsmith. The Malabrigo is so wonderfully soft and amazing to knit with, that I had NO qualms about knitting another swatch. And that swatch was right on. It's amazing to me how different your knitting experience and outcome can be on different materials. Chalk up another one for the Denise Kit.

It's a good thing I love knitting with this yarn, as I've already re-knit parts of it several times. The body is worked in the round and then you divide for the armholes and work back and forth. This changes how the colorations of the yarn appear, and I didn't like how it looked knitting from one skein. So I ripped back and knit with two skeins at a time. I completed the back, and started to work on the front but I had 12 too many stitches. It turns out I had cast on 12 extra stitches at the very beginning. I had to rip back down to the armholes, redivide the stitches (I am now knitting the next size up, apparently) and reknit the back. Lesson learned: don't be so in love with a yarn that you don't re-count your cast on stitches.

Barb is almost finished her little Blossom Sweater out of Cascade 220. It is going to be adorable. I think Mrs. Claus is going to have to knit one of these for one of my girls. Despite a perfect stitch and row gauge, she ran a bit short on yardage. We'll have to put a call in to see if there's an error in the pattern. She has also cast on for a fun hat in the Shepard Worsted in Rainbow.

Kalen just started her first sweater in Malabrigo. It's a stockinette and reverse stockinette horizontal rib pattern. We went through many needles and gauge swatches with her, and opposite of me, she needed an Addi as her gauge on Denises was off. She's also finishing another striped baby hat in Calmer. Speaking of hats I've just put up a new hat & mittens section on the website. We've had so many requests for them and now they are available!

Next week I should be able to post some pictures of India's felted ukelele bag and Betsy's cute new scarf.