Pains of Knitting
Aug 11th, 2009 by elle
Oh the pains of knitting!
For the last few days I’ve been working on a surprise present for my fiancé for his birthday later this month. The pattern calls for 4.5mm DPNs, of which I have none, and my circular isn’t large enough to do magic loop with. I tried to go find the right size DPNs at my local craft store, and whilst they did have a set, they were aluminium, and felt sort of like they had a matte finish, which left them with a horrible abrasiveness when rubbed across each other. I can’t stand the touch of icy pole sticks, and these needles had a very similar feel to them.
So, I decided to knit the project with the yarn doubled, and use a size 4mm circular needle that I had for hat knitting, that was small enough to accommodate the first half of the pattern, knitting straight stockinette stitch for 25 rounds, and then you move onto decreasing to form a sort of flat bottom. I’ve a few random DPNs that were in a bag given to me after my fiancé’s grandmother passed away a few years ago, some of which seem to be around 4mm, so now I’ve moved onto those.
Where the pain comes in is all these sharp, aluminium needles, of moderate to small size, with thick yarn… my fingertips are quite sore, in fact, I seem to have a possible blister on one finger, or maybe a callus? I’m thinking of getting some of those little rubber thimbles, or better yet, a few sets of Lantern Mood DPNs! It’s a labour of love, though, so I am more than happy to continue on. I’m enjoying knitting up this pattern, and I love the idea of making something for my man! 
I’m knitting a cute little ‘nest’, a small bowl for him to put just… things. I got some nice crystals to put in there, too. I’m knitting the second largest of these bowls, and I’m hoping he will like it. This is just an extra gift, on top of the one he stated he wanted, so it is just a little extra thing. 