I’m putting the polls on a timeout. I always seem to have more stuff to write about than I have days in the week. Sometimes I feel like posting twice a day and I have to hold myself back, lol. So I’m re-appropriating Thursday and making it…

Stuff that Jenn Likes And Thinks Knitters and Crocheters Will Like Too

I have commercial yarns that I go back and buy over and  over again. I have books that I use so often they are kinda battered and dog-eared. There are crafting accessories that I just can’t live without. I figure ya’ll might find that interesting.

These won’t be official reviews. No one and no company is bribing me to say nice things about their stuff. I might go overboard with the gushing but it will be honest and heart-felt gushing.

Let’s start this Thursday with a two-fer.

Sanna by Christa Becker

Its a lace weight shawl knit on size US 6 (4mm) needles and the third in a series. All the shawls in this series are inspired by fells and Ms. Becker tells you a little about the Saana fell in the introduction to her pattern. She also claims to have been inspired by Herbert Niebling and you can definitely see that in her work.

I haven’t made this shawl. It was only published this week I think. I’m not sure that I will ever make it. But its beautiful and the pattern writing that went into this is impressive. There are eight charts, all very well laid out with full annotations and explanations. The pattern is published in three languages. And its free. 

That is a tremendous amount of work to do and then give away to our community. I like the design. I figure most knitters will too. I hope that enough will leave a thank-you in her ravelry in-box that she keeps on designing such wonderful things for us.

If you follow me in my ravelry group or on Google+ then this will look familiar because I’ve been pushing this pattern all week. But those formats don’t let me write at any length at all (which is probably why I took up blogging). 

Now that I’ve sung praises over some masterful lace knitting, let me sing a few to… little bits of foam. Oh yes. I love my foamy things.

What are these? Foam “beads” marketed to parents of young children who cannot be trusted with real beads because their little angles will put them in their mouths and choke. I guess the foam version is choke-proof. They are soft and probably quite chewy (I’ve never tried).

But they are even better for knitters. These are the best needle stoppers you will ever find. I learned this from a LYS owner who gave them away in little bowls at her shop. How great is that? All LYS should do this. They hold the yarn on your needles just fine are they are cheap. Much cheaper that the needle stops marketed to knitters. You can get a box like this for $12. 

I know right? These are awesome for knitters. They are pretty handy for turning a regular crochet hook into a quick Tunisian hook too.

I do have two real needle stoppers. Exactly two.  I bring them out when I need to take a picture of my knitting and have it look semi-professional. Then I put those back their little zippered pouch faster than you can say “kleptomaniac cat” and put some foamy things on those needles. At 400 to a box I don’t care or even notice when I loose a few. Or when they get stolen by bad cats.

I’ll be doing another random drawing prize tomorrow! if your project isn’t started up in ravelry, better get on that. And be sure to have it tagged with “revive-a-vintage” so it shows up in my search.