photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Well, I have found a gadget that I  truly loathe.

I have a rule about my blog, and that is that I only talk about stuff and books that I really like.

Well, this dumb thing is sooooooooooooooo bad,

you almost have to love it

have to pity the poor thing.

When I saw these two needles in

a drawer of a second hand store,

at first, I thought… hmmm….

plastic punch needles?

Nope…. it says: ‘K-Tel Knitter’ on it.

I still had to try it as a punch needle- and no no no… don’t try it at home.

Alright. So, it didn’t come with instructions, but I am usually pretty darned good at figuring out how things work….

but I may have this all wrong- so if you know how to use it and I have actually got it all bass-ackwards, then that might explain why I find it to be so annoying and irritating.

Okay…. so here’s what I thought it should do….  because it’s got a short section that is too short to actually hold stitches, I assumed that it would kind of work like a crochet hook, with the stitches in the air…

Maybe , I thought…. it might kind of be like a ’shepherd’s knitting’ kind of tool….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Logically, the yarn

is probably

meant

to go through the 2 holes like this.

But I could be wrong….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I tried a few ways of looping it around

and decided, oh what the heck

you can’t go wrong

with a slip knot……

so, let’s start with a slip knot.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The next logical step is to stick the

eye of the needle through

so… that seems like a good way to

make a chain… chains are a logical

place to start, right?

What a clumsy way to make a chain.

You have to push the needle through and

then pull it out  and leave the stitch in the

air and stick the needle through again to

make the next stitch.

Hmmm… not liking this….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

That is one slow way to make a

chain! If this thing is supposed

to be a good substitute for knitting

or crochet, then I can’t imagine

how?  erg…..

Okay… now what? um

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

alright… so if I was crocheting, I would

skip one stitch and work into the 2nd one

from the hook, so…

I  pushed the needle

through the last chain, and skipped a stitch,

and pushed the needle through the next chain

stitch and pulled it back through both.

Then picked it up again and repeated the whole tedious process.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

And worked across the chain.

At the end of the row,

I figured, well, if this

was crochet,

I would chain one and turn….

which made sense, so I did that

and then considered the possibilities….

I could go through the back bar of the previous

row, or the front bar, or both bars….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

This pic shows how it looked when I

just went through the back bar….

Picking up the previous stitch out of the air,

as the loop seems to need to come off the

needle after completing each stitch…..

boy is that slow!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I experimented with different

stitch lengths, and with picking

up the different bars on different rows,

and threw the whole thing across the

room with a gigantic snort….

This thing takes the cake – not only is it slow and clunky to work with, but the finished work is the pits pits pits.

blech.

Fie.

A pox upon it.

If you have one, and love it, then that’s neat. I hope that the two of you will live long and happily together. I won’t be coming to visit it…..  of course, this is just all my opinion, and all that…. but yech.

But wait! There’s more!

No there isn’t.

It just seemed like a good way to finish, but really, I don’t have anything more to say about it. Myech.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Here is the list of links to all my contests this week.

Feel free to enter as often as you like!  Please check back through the week, as I intend to add more prizes to the list.

1. One of a kind handmade Hedgehog Tatting Shuttle by Noreen Crone-Findlay 
2. Red 3/8″ embellishment cord with wire by Kreinik
3. Gold color 3/8″ embellishment cord with wire by Kreinik
4. Silver color 3/8 ” embellishment cord with wire by Kreinik
5. Silver color heart shape earrings
6. Gold color heart shape earrings
7. DP Tubes for storing double pointed knitting needles and crochet hooks
8. DP WIP Tubes to protect your sock or other dpn knitting while it’s ‘parked’, or to store knitting needles and crochet hooks

If you’d like to win these prizes, please click on the link, and  leave a comment ON THAT PAGE

But, NOT in the box below

and make sure you leave a valid email address. 

You can enter the contests as often as you would like.

The Contests runs from October 27 to October 31, and are open to readers in Canada and the States.

Good luck!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright
More giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

This was a  fun prize from Nancy’s Knit Knacks:

They designed them to hold knitting needles, but they are also great for storing crochet hooks (the link shows how I use mine)

DP Needle Tube™ – A solution for holding and protecting your valuable and delicate Double Pointed Needles.

The Contest  is now closed.

Image Source: Nancy’s Knit Knacks
Thanks everyone!

I am no longer writing hankering for yarn, so you’ll have to catch me at www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

The WINNER IS:  # 61, Jennifer! Congratulations, Jennifer!  I’ll be sending your email on to the lovely folks at Nancy’s Knit Knacks. Hope that you’ll enjoy them!

Nancy’s Knit Knacks sponsored this splendido prize:

DP Wip Tube™ – A solution for holding and protecting your valuable and delicate Double Pointed Needles while they are still connected to your project!

I have a set (here’s where I wrote about them)  and just love them,

so I asked the kind folks at Nancy’s Knit Knacks

if they would be willing to donate a set for you to win.

And, bless their hearts, they did!

Check out their website… there are all manner of wonderful gadgets for your knitting, crochet and stitchery.
The Contest is now closed.

Image Source: Nancy’s Knit Knacks, copyright.

Thanks everyone!

I am no longer writing hankering for yarn, so you’ll have to catch me at www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I’ve just become acquainted with some wonderful new spool knitters:Crystalite French Knitters from Susan Bates. They’re 4 and 6 peg spool knitters and are very sturdy.

I really like them! They’re solidly made and are very nice to work with.

One of the things that is really neat is being able to see the cord while it’s still inside the spool knitter. They come with a wonderful little tool (Sylvalume Handi tool) that has a hook on one end and a point on the other.

Definitely thumbs up on these ones!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

About 10 years ago, I was thrilled to bits to see a very special spool knitter on eBay. I have always loved spool knitting, but until then, hadn’t seen a spool knitter that looked like a doll.

I was so excited to see a spool knitter that was painted to look like Little Orphan Annie. I bid on her and won the auction.

Boy, was I ticked off when the seller decided that the price hadn’t gone high enough and refused to honor the auction. Humph!

I was really annoyed. But, I always figure:

Why get mad? Why not get creative?

So I asked my husband to turn me a spool knitter on the lathe, so I could burn it and embellish it the way I wanted.

Little did I know that one thing would lead to another.

And, so…. over the last decade, we have made countless spool knitters – each one totally unique and one of a kind.

The spool knitter on the right in the pic above, is the very first spool knitter that we made.

The one on the left is a vintage Spears spool knitter that a friend sent me. I would have LOVED to have had one like that when I was a child!

I am still completely in love with spool knitting and am still designing for the spool knitter. It’s such a delight!

Here are links for lots of spool knitted projects that I have designed. Have fun with them!

AND

Happy news for people who would like charming little spool knitter people at a very reasonable price:

Lion Brand makes darling little 4 peg spool knitter dollies.

They are really sturdy and very pleasant to work with.

My next posting is about some more new spool knitters that I really like.

(PS: I don’t profit by telling you about them- I just really like them.)

Happy Spool knitting!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Crazy Daizy winders are really beautifully made. They are a solidly built tool that lasts for decades.

I was quite upset when I took my cherished old Crazy Daisy maker to a workshop that I was teaching, and somebody pinched it!

Luckily, my darlin’ sister in law was on the lookout and found me another one, complete with it’s vintage box:

The flowers in these pics were all made with the Crazy Daisy winder. You can also use spool knitted cord with the winder, to make more substantial flowers.

The thing that strikes me as being odd is that line that says: ‘For Finer Handweaving‘.

Eh? This is a kewl little flower maker, but it sure as beans is beans has NOTHING to do with weaving. Let alone ‘finer’ handweaving at that!

Although of course, you can embellish handweaving with the flower motifs…..

Anyhow, I vote ‘keepers’ for this nifty little vintage tool.

If you find one for sale, I’d say ‘goferit’.  But, don’t take it to any workshops! 

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Here are a few pics of how I store mine, as well as a nifty new gadget that I really like for carting my hooks around with projects:

For quite a few years now, I have been using this plastic pencil box to carry crochet hooks and needlework tools in my purse.  It’s not lovely, but it’s efficient!

Recently, my best friend gave me a set of dpn tubes for my sock knitting, and they are great.

The folks (nancys knit knacks) who make the dpn tubes also make another kind of dpn tube that is great for carrying crochet hooks:

It’s one of those incredibly simple ideas that make you go, oh yes! Clever, very clever!

At home, my hooks mostly live in clusters in various cups:

I found this painted wooden goblet at the second hand store and fell in love with it. It’s perfect for the hooks that I carve:

My steel hooks  live in a small vintage pewter cup:

Crochet hooks are so beautiful they deserve to be on display!

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

My best friend just gave me the neatest little gadget.

‘DP Wip Tubes’.

‘whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?’

They’re a simple and oh so  clever gadget for adding happiness to sock knitter’s lives.

They are interlocking notched tubes that you slip over your dp needles. They  keep your sock from accidentally womitting it’s stitches.  Bliss.

Here’s a link for them: Here it is:

nancys knit knacks

I am delighted with mine, as I take my sock knitting with me wherever I go.  Someone is very clever!

Thumgbs and dp’s up on this one!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn