Month: January 2013

By next week, I should have my Hiya Hiya 5″ Steel Sharp (large) set.  I ordered them a few moments ago…

Yesterday, the large set came in stock at Just Yarns. I’ve had my Hiya Hiya Steel (small) interchangeable set for over a month. My how time flies! I’m really liking the service I’ve receive there, and an added bonus is they offer discounts on orders over $40.

• 10% off $40
• 15% off $75
• 20% off $150

On their site, Hiya Hiya Sharp 5″ Steel Interchangeable Set (large) retails for $80. Because of the Just Yarn discount (and choosing free shipping) I only paid $68. I could have purchased them at other places, but these needles weren’t needed ASAP (as soon as possible) and as mentioned in an earlier post, I really like Just Yarn’s customer service and speedy shipment. I mainly use the smaller needles, usually sizes 1US/2.25mm – 4US/3.5mm, but occasionally I’ll knit something with larger needles.

You receive six Hiya Hiya knitting needles with the large set…

• 9US/5.5mm
• 10US/6mm
• 10.5US/6.5mm
• 11US/8mm
• 13US/9mm
• 15US/10mm

You also receive four cables to make needles that are 18″, 26″, 34″ and 42. Rubber grips to secure the needles are also included and the needles arrive in a brocade case.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I’ve only had my Hiya Hiya small set for a little over a month, but it’s true… since that time I’ve knitted exclusively with these needles, which shows how much I like them. My poor Knit Picks Options nickel plated needles haven’t been touched (except to package up a few and gift to someone) since I purchased my Hiya Hiyas. I didn’t have too many issues with the Knit Picks set, but I must admit for my knitting style, the Hiya Hiya Sharp needles are so much better.

Why I like my Hiya Hiya Sharps

1. My Hiya Hiya Sharps has a slightly longer needle taper than my Knit Picks needles – Perfect for picking up a lot of stitches, because of Knit Picks shorter taper I wasn’t able to do pick up as many stitches as easily as I can with my Hiya Hiya Sharps.
2. Hiya Hiya interchangeables start at size 2/2.75mm, Knit Picks starts at 4/3.5mm
3. Hiya Hiya interchangeable cables start at 16″, Knit Picks starts at 24″
4. Hiya Hiya joins are smoother than my Knit Picks needles
5. My Hiya Hiya knitting needles are steel not nickel plated like Knit Picks
6. Hiya Hiya has a swivel cable, Knit Picks doesn’t – Once I use the rubber grips to tighten the needles they don’t come undone. With Knit Picks I had to be proactive and manually tighten ever few rows. If I hadn’t my Knit Picks interchangeable needles would have come undone.
7. Hiya Hiya needle are printed with the US and MM needle sizes on each needle and cable – Etched or laser? I have no idea, all I know with the heavy use my needles have received this month, the print hasn’t worn off!  This is a minor detail since I keep a needle gauge with my crochet and knitting projects, but it’s a nice touch.
8. Hiya Hiya Steel needles are slightly lighter than my Knit Picks needles – another minor since it barely registers, but for someone where this might be an issue it’s good to know.
9. Gorgeous small brocade case to store needles. Don’t let the size fool you since it stores a lot! I have cables, tape measure, and cable connectors in mine. I know it’s another minor issue but I much prefer this to the plastic case that comes with Knit Picks.

Another perk is that one of the Hiya Hiya owners, Qianer, is on Ravelry. A very large crochet and knitting online community, it has over two million members worldwide. Her groups are Hiya Hiya needlers and Hiya Hiya Patterns and she’s also a knitting designer.  Qianer is very good at responding to questions (smart strategy for any company with an online presence is to interact with others) and I must say that I’m thrilled that one of the people behind Hiya Hiya needles has an online presence. I purchase a lot of items online, but I still like interaction, so this is a huge selling point for me!

I was planning on purchasing my Hiya Hiya large set from Just Yarns (about two weeks ago) but they were sold out! I waited since I wanted to order from them. I’ve checked the store daily, and was thrilled to see them back in stock yesterday.

Of course, this now means I can start knitting my Sylvi cardigan. Well technically, I could have started on it already since I do have the size needed with my Knit Picks Options set, but as I already mentioned I haven’t touched them since receiving my Hiya Hiyas. 😉

My daughter’s thrilled that I finished knitting her cute kitty hat.

The beauty of making your own garments, is that they can be customized. My daughter has thick curly hair. Several times, while knitting this hat,  I called her over and placed it on her head. By doing this, I was able to gauge how many rows I needed and when I needed to decrease. Which is awesome, not so awesome for someone looking for a pattern… since like my cooking, I rarely write anything down when making my own patterns. I just ‘know’ what will work. And if I’m wrong, I can frog and redo to make it right.

 

 

My daughter decided she didn’t want any additional designs added to the hat. She just wanted me to add another stripe, but a different color.

 

That was a request I could easily fill. The yarn she chose was Knit Picks Stroll Glimmer – Carnation yarn. I purchased this yarn during the Knit Picks Cyber Monday sale, and bought it exclusively for her. There’s silver thread woven throughout this yarn, so it adds subtle glitter to any of your crocheted or knitted projects.

The majority of this hat was knitted using superwash wool (meaning they can be tossed into the washer and dryer) but the grey and white wool aren’t.  But you know, I most likely will hand wash this hat instead of tossing it into the washer and dryer. What’s funny is that, I had every intention of hand washing the completed hat yesterday. I wash all items after they’ve been crocheted or knitted. My daughter was against it since she didn’t think it would be dry by the time she went to school today. I guess I can wait until she arrives from school. 😉

Fun with Intarsia – It’s all in the (yarn) wrapping

I really enjoyed knitting this small intarsia/picture knitting project, I’m trying to move to more complicated designs (again.) I miss doing them, but it isn’t always easy to do.  My daughter  loves hanging around me; and I like being around her too. She gets most of my attention when we’re together which is perfect for a mindless project, but not great for something complicated.

During her free time she’ll usually seek me out while she plays or reads. I welcome the time together, but if working on a craft I make sure it’s simple since she loves to talk and I don’t want to get thrown off by working on something complicated.To solve that, I’ve started working on complicated projects while she’s sleeping.

Yesterday my daughter used her artistic talent to sketch out a design onto graph paper, eventually I’ll be applying that design to a garment that I knit for her. She doesn’t know that part, but I imagine she suspects that will happen since she knows me well. I know she’ll be excited that some of her artwork will be knitted into a garment just for her.

Intarsia can be overwhelming (for some) since each design requires a separate ball of yarn (as shown in the above video.) But after you get used to keeping those balls organized, you realize that it’s  not really hard. It’s a process and once you learn what needs to be done, you’ll be fine. While some find weaving the ends of all the different colors annoying, it’s something I enjoy. 🙂

 

Ok so I got a bit sidetracked with the mittens, but can you blame me? My daughter loves cats, and this hat was just begging to be made.

 

I didn’t use a pattern for the hat. The main pattern is a combination of seed stitch and rib stitch. And stockinette stitch was the perfect background to place the two kitties.

 

My daughter is thrilled with the hat so I’ll complete it tomorrow. I’m thinking I might add a few additional designs to this hat. I have a several ideas, I just need to put them on graph paper, and let my daughter choose the one she likes best or even better, let her sketch something to include with the kitties. I have about three more inches to add the design before I start decreasing, so there’s plenty of room for something small.  Once the hat is complete, I’ll start knitting her mittens. Do I really need to add that I knit these with my Hiya Hiya Sharps Steel set? I used size 3 and 4. I really love these needles!

I definitely need to chose better lighting when this hat is completed. The main hat color is actually pink and the design is grey.

Oh by the way, the graph can be found on Ravelry, and is appropriately called, kitty love. While I’ve made plenty of my own graphs for this type of work, I didn’t feel the need to do so here…

The temperature is dropping in Maryland, and although my daughter has at least three pairs of gloves the one that she keeps reaching for is the single fingerless glove that I made for her during the summer time.

Per her request, I made that fingerless glove shortly after her best friends dress up birthday party. The costume she chose, ‘Rock Star’ which included a single fingerless gloves. Looking at it, I told her I could knit her a similar glove and it would last a lot longer since it wasn’t cheaply made. In a few hours one fingerless light green glove was made, she liked it so much that she wears it constantly. She even wore it to school yesterday.

Yesterday, her Lutheran school offered a casual day… for $2.00 the children can wear casual clothes and it’s a creative way for our school to make some additional money for the various programs that are offered. It’s a private school, so they sure aren’t getting money from our government which is supported by us taxpayers. I could go on and on about the notion that some have that money/programs from the government is ‘free’. No, it’s costing something since the government is funded by taxpayers… but that’s a rant for another day. Our school receive their money from those who pay to attend the school. A few scholarships are offered (yearly) to assist some who wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise.

Casual days is just one way the raise additional money to pay for the extras offered at the school. Casual days, always makes the children happy, and I don’t blame them, as a child I certainly grew tired of wearing uniforms all the time at school. To accompany her casual wear, she wore that one glove. I only let her wear it since I drive her to school daily and I knew she wouldn’t be going outside at recess. Naturally, I’m thrilled that she loves that glove so much that she wants to wear it constantly, but at the same time I’m thinking, she needs more gloves.

 

Last evening I told my daughter to choose the yarn she wanted (she choose pink and grey) and I would make her some convertible mittens aka flip top mittens. What I’ve always liked about this style is that your hands stay toasty warm when needed, but if you need access to your fingers you flip the top backwards and… ta da! Your fingers are exposed.

I’m doing two mittens at a time, the process is a bit faster than doing one at a time. And, if I decide to do things differently I don’t have to write the info down, since I’ll be transferring my mods directly to the other mitten.

My daughter and I have  a fun weekend planned. Board games are on the list, crafts, and later on we’ll be watching a few movies… while watching those I’ll cast on her two at a time mittens.