304. Pop Quiz

This picture illustrates:

a) The wonderful colors of Lauren's Coral Peace Fleece.

(I did this swatch at the request of Marilyn, who described herself yesterday as "Loyal Lurker."  Marilyn:  It is GORGEOUS.  You will not be sorry.)

b) How the Lauren's Coral compares to the Sheplova Mushroom color.

c) That the weight of the new Peace Fleece is lighter, and it's softer, than before. 

(It must be that they are using a new mill, and I think I like the change!) (OK, maybe you can't see that from the picture, but work with me here.)

d) That progress is being made on Marta in the Spice Mountain Mohair and that it is LOVELY. 

(Ally saw it in person the other day and said it had not photographed accurately.  This close-up might give a better idea of just how beautiful that yarn is.)

e)  I finally got KnitPicks Options needles. 

(I love them, but last night I found that they kept unscrewing at the joins. Anybody else have that issue?)

f)  I am exhausted.

g) Gray's Anatomy is about to begin, so I have no time for a blog entry.

h)  All of the above.

P.S.  Oh, Happy Halloween or whatever. 

Comments

[Kristen]

My heart jumped into my throat when I saw the word "quiz." Now there's a Halloweeen fright for a grad student!

[sandy]

Happy Whatever to you too.
LX
:)

[gayle]

My first reaction was "uh oh, Norma's gonna make us think again..."

Pretty colors!

And happy whatever to you, too. 8)

[Cheryl]

It's early so forgive the daft question...is this swatch in the coral for the next CP non H? Is that what you decided on? Did I miss something? Lovely colour!

Right, give me a failing mark on the quiz, I suppose.

[Nora]

How much do you love those Options needles? That's the best money I spent all year.

[Carole]

I'm going with H. The color is especially gorgeous!

[Ruth]

Are you using the little stick thingy that comes w/the needles to tighten the join? Screw on the needle, put the stick thingy in the small hole on the cord and twist ... I found that it makes all the difference in the world.

O.k., that sounds obscene. But it works. ;)

[Marilyn the Loyal Lurker]

Norma, you are wonderful. No wonder your friends love you so much. Thank you for swatching the Lauren's Coral....it IS gorgeous. I'm heading to the Peace Fleece website to make my credit card start smokin'. BTW I think the answer to the quiz is h and it's also H for Happy Halloween!

[margene]

Look at all the colors in the coral! Pretty!

[sara]

That is such a freaking gorgeous color... I am totally digging it!

[AnnaMarie]

Yes, the options always unscrewed for me alot. I got rid of them and went back to fixed circulars, specifically Addi Lace. I love them!

[marianne]

I was going to write what Ruth wrote, about the little 'thingie' and what to do with it. I'm unreasonably excited for Marilyn the Loyal Lurker when she sees all those colours and yardage and prices, I can just imagine her happy dance. Mmmm, that Spice is delectable. You didn't tell us the size needles your swatch is on, US8s?

[Karen]

I do have that problem with the knitpicks options...but I still like having the options of switching needles to lengths of circular cable

[Sara]

I don't have that problem with the Options needles - instead of the little wire tool thing that comes with them, I use a safety pin that I keep attached to the zipper pull of the Options case. I stick the pointy end of the safety pin in the hole, and twist them pretty tightly together.

The only issue I have had with Options needles is that once or twice some of my sock-size DPS have had a "snaggy" tip- the DPN sets come 6 to a set though, so it has been easy to work around by simply swapping to another needle.

[elizabeth a airhart]

BOO

[Marcia]

I had promised myself to knit from stash, but now you made me order some Peace Fleece....bad Norma.

I love, love, love my Options.....so much pointier than Addis. (So much cheaper than Addis......) You do have to use the little screwer-on thingy, though. If you do it right, they almost never come undone. And if a cable connection breaks, they replace it immediately, free. I've got the case, too, although I like the new version better.

[Cathy]

I definately love my Options, and you really should use the tightener--I've never had one come undone when I used the tightener.

[Roxie]

This is a trick question, isn't it?

[Jean]

oooh... pretty, pretty yarn. H and Happy Halloween to you, too. I fell behind on Grey's when we were in Germany. I've been DVRing this season and only have three more dvds to go on season 4. I think today will be a good day to sit and knit and watch Meredith and the gang.

[Mary K. in Rockport]

Yes, mine come unscrewed constantly even after assiduously using the little tightener thingy. Maybe it's the way I knit.

What happened in the second half of Grey's? We had to switch to 30 Rock at 9:30; it's a very difficult choice.

[Gerrie]

I only bought three sets of points and cables for the Options, to see how they were. They constantly come unscrewed, especially as I get to the point in a wool, yoke sweater where I have tons of stitches. yes, I use the little thingie. I also use a leather scrap to give me a good hold. They still come undone. At one point, I just took the pliers to them to get an A4A sweater done. I've thought about the way I knit but that is the way I knit and my Denise cause no trouble. I actually had to return all the points and cables, since only one set of points could be screwed onto one piece of cable. For the rest the hole was too large. They just aren't machined with enough accuracy. It took two tries to get that right. First they would only send cables. On one call, the customer "service" rep actually said something about, well, she would send me new ones because I wasn't one of those who call all the time. ???

I'm glad they work for some people but for me, the price is not right.

Seeing those colors was fun!

Thanks for consistently providing a good place for me to lurk. :-)

Gerrie in MN

[Seanna Lea]

OK, I'll admit that I didn't really like the coral in the skein, but seeing it close up and how much interest is in the color is wonderful. The color is so much more than it looked before!

[Cheryl S.]

The Peace Fleece is gorgeous!

As for tightening the needle tips, I not only use the tightening tool, I also use a needle gripper (a flat rubber disk) to grip the needle while I tighten it. It makes a huge difference. They never come loose when I do that. The gripper came with my Boye interchangeables, but you can buy them at fabric stores, or you can probably just use a balloon or something. Maybe even latex gloves? You just need something that will give you enough grip on the needle to get the cord to screw in tightly.

[Tola]

not just a leather scrap, or a Boye's gripper, or a rubber jar-lid-opener, you can also use a scrap of that handy-dandy Glad Press N Seal wrap. and i like the idea of using a safety pin instead of the doohickey that comes with the set. im totally going to steal that!

[Carol]

h) For Happy Halloween, long blog Hiatus, Hope you are well and Hell's Bells I've missed you.

[Helen]

My options rarely untwist... unless I skip that little tightener job.
Except with ONE set.
annoying... but not frequent.
The knitpicks folks might be willing to send you another set of that size if it's a continuing problem though...

[Bethany]

What do you think of the new McBadass? I liked this episode of Grey's very much, but I'm still not so sure about him. I wish they let him use his own Scottish accent...

[Lora]

I have to say that I have never, ever had the Options points unscrew from the cable. I don't know why I haven't had this issue when it seems so many others do. All I can say is that I do use the tightener when putting them together. I adore these needles...I always say that if I had known what a difference good needles would make in the finished product I would have bought better needles years ago!

[Cookie]

Tighten, but not too much. Or you'll strip them. Ask me how I know.

I thought it was a poop quiz at first. /sigh

xo

[--Deb]

Pretty coral color! Not too pink, but nice!

[Imbrium]

Must not order Peace Fleece. Must not order Peace Fleece. Must not....

[Suzanne]

Love the Peace Fleece. I also have the options and they come undone all the time. I figure it is the way I knit or something.

[Mary]

I third (or fourth?) the suggestion to use something to get a good grip on the Options needles when tightening them. I have a big fat rubber band (about an inch wide, inexplicably came from the stem of an artichoke)that I use with mine. Never had any trouble and love them -- knitted with them tonight while hanging out on the front porch!(very warm here today in Illinois) handing out candy.