So, inspired by a blog or five, I have begun a log cabin afghan. I must say the initial rush of having a place mat sized semi-finished piece wore off fairly quickly, as the aggravation of picking up the stitches grew. So I decided to leave the pieces live on circulars and see if I could just pick up the garter rows... - and after knitting around with the extra chiming of the holding needles and the uncut and unwoven ends - finally got to the first live side. It looks pretty good. I'm getting a purled looking ridge - but I had that until I realized I was picking up the stitches in the r to l and the reverse would have given me the nice garter consistency.
On another note, it meant I needed to get more end caps and spare cables for my Boye needles. I was very unhappy to find that the newer packages bore the Made In China label. Augh. I bought the pieces of the set I had as it was made in America - even though it cost a little more. Now, I think I'll switch brands. The knitmates (or interchangables or Wrights) do have issues, the cable untwists a bit, I have had one cable snap near the end, and the needles do lose their points and near the screw sort of spread out - like a sharp washer - this can be eliminated easily with sandpaper. But despite the issues I was happy enough, but not if it is made in China. Wonder if anyone has tested the new Chinese made needles for lead paint....
On the same log cabin knitting revelations theme, has anyone else noticed that the new Red Heart Yarn now says Made in America of imported fibers? Is this why it's scratchier than before - cost cutting and quality crimping? I had tried using some Bernat I had in Rose, with the stash Red Heart yarn, and the section is out of gauge and fluffed up from the rest. So I purchased some Rose Red Heart - and it is noticeably courser than my older Red Heart... But the color and gauge work much better with the other Red Heart Yarns - though I'm wishing I hadn't used the black sparkle now...
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