Day Six: A Tool to Covet

What my treasured sets of Addi Click knitting needles mean to me:

♡ The ability to cast-on an almost limitless number of projects without having to

    -- endlessly search for the correct needles called for in a particular project
    -- cope with delayed gratification when said needles cannot be found

    -- clean up the resulting mess made from the fruitless frantic searching of said needles

♡ Being able to try on a top-down sweater without having to
    -- transfer a gazillion number of stitches to scrap yarn

    -- come up with excuses for not trying on the sweater

♡ Not having to deal with The Black Hole

   -- otherwise known as my needle storage bag

I have tried many sets of interchangeable needles in the past (knitpicks & hiyahiya among them) and the Addi Clicks are by far my favorites. Well worth the hefty price tag for their convenience and quality.


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toolbox :: bag happy

It goes without saying that an essential part of a toolbox is the toolbox itself. Having a variety of bags to meet different purposes is important and makes me feel more organized. I am always on the lookout for new containers to hold WIP's and the stash. On a recent trip to Target, I hit the jackpot with these sale items.

A striped picnic basket that does double duty as my new WIP basket. It is able to hold all seven (yikes!) projects with room to spare.

I love that these cross body bags are back in fashion because they allow the hands to be free for knitting on the go. 

And lastly, my personal favorite. It's The Chicken Bag! The same one that I have been longing for ever since I spotted it on one of my favorite fashion blogs. It is my new official bag for yarn shopping. Talk about roomy!

toolbox

Now that I am working on my third crochet project, I felt that it was time to make a long term commitment to the craft and invest in more comfortable hooks. I really love these bamboo handled ones from Susan Bates. They have allowed me to crochet longer without feeling any hand or wrist pain. My old set will be given to my niece after a little bit of refashioning. Thanks Nicky for the idea!

Another addition to the toolbox is a great PDF reader app for the iPad and iPhone called Goodreader. Most of my patterns are stored on my iPad and now with Goodreader, I am able to mark them up to my heart's content. There is even a moveable highlighter function which I use to keep track of where I am in a pattern or chart. This is also a great way to highlight the instructions for a specific size. No more searching for a pen or sticky notes. For someone like me who has many WIP's to manage, this tool makes it easier to keep the different patterns and project notes organized and at my fingertips.

toolbox

Every once in a while I come across a neat knitting tool or technique that makes me smile and wonder how I could have previously lived without it. Two of my most recent discoveries came while knitting on my Vodka Gimlet cardigan. The first one is an Addi 12 inch circular needle which I used to knit up the cardigan sleeves.

Much faster than magic loop. Less fiddling with yarn and needles. I was able to finish a full length sleeve in a day which is a personal record for me. I am so glad that I overcame my initial hesitation at using these (they looked so darn uncomfortable). They do take a little getting used to but did not cause any hand or wrist strain as I had feared.

The second new item for the toolbox is a cool joining technique called the magic or double knot. I first saw it demonstrated here by the talented Jane Richmond (scroll down to the last video tutorial). I am always on the lookout for a way to avoid weaving in ends and this is a neat little trick to know. It makes a very strong and nearly invisible join as seen below. Who says that you can't have knots in your knitting?

 So what is in your knitting toolbox?