A Dilemma and a Poll

[gnomi]

My size 4 double-pointed needles (DPNs) and 16-inch circular needle (AKA "circ") have gone on walkabout. They're most likely in some UFO (unfinished object; AKA work in progress (WIP)). I now have two choices: I can continue to search for them, or I can replace them. And so, a poll:

[Poll #1121606]

Comments

[byrne.livejournal.com]

Buy new needles, start many things, be like me :D

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I am regularly buying new needles, because I've got multiple WIPs.

Hats are wonderfully portable, and don't tend to drag like scarves. Whenever I travel, I bring along materials to make a hat for someone.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Narf! Nomi should knit more things for Michael! Narf!

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

replacing the needles means that if/when you do find the other DPNs, you have a spare set. Which is great for when two out of a set of five DPNs go walkabout. er. not that that happens to me ALL the time or anything.

[introverte.livejournal.com]

More needles are always handy. Then you cant try 2 circs instead of DPNs if you feel like it.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Specifically, a Jayne hat. For Michael. He'd look good in a Jayne hat.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Um, no. :-)

(Although I think Nomi did make a Jayne hat for one of our friends.)

[arib.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me!

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

Aw, come one -- you walk down the street in a hat like that, everyone knows you're not afraid of anything.

an interesting definition of "good"

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

no offense to michael, but i am not sure anyone in the 'verse looks "good" in a jayne hat.

which is not to say that people shouldn't wear them.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I'd get one very, very long size four circular and magic loop everything, because that's what I do. :)

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

Magic loop? What is this magic loop thing?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Magic Loop is a way of doing small diameter knitting in the round without dpns. Actually, it works for any size knitting in the round, presuming a very flexible and long cable.

You divide the knitting in half and pull out loops on either side. You knit one side at a time and just pull the needle through. The video is very helpful.

The other option, and one a lot of people like better is using two circulars. I find that fussy. YMMV.

Magic loop is my preferred method for sock knitting. It has, for me, many advantages, not least being that you can't lose a needle on the bus. I also find that working in an instep and sole side of the sock fits my way of thinking. It also means one doesn't have to switch to dpns to do the crown of hats - the loops just get bigger, and it's trivially easy to make sure the stitches don't twist in the first row. I've even used it to knit mitten thumbs - circular tips tend to be shorter than most dpns.

But some people find the constant pulling and pushing to be annoying and others just don't like circulars. It comes down to taste.

[csbermack.livejournal.com]

Ooooo.

I've never managed to get happy with two circulars. I've used dpns and cap the ends I'm not working with, but I've often wanted to do something on cable without having the right size cable.

I don't have any cables that are long enough I think. But I will give this a try. Thanks for the link!

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

you know as soon as you buy new needles, the old ones will show up. and then you'll have extras!

[farwing.livejournal.com]

Please to be knitting a trilobite. Or an Anomalocaris.

[arib.livejournal.com]

gnomi should continue to refer to herself in the third person.

Political ads missed out. If they had only set legislation a few years earlier, we could have had such gems as:

"Bob Dole's name is Bob Dole, and Bob Dole approves of this message!"

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

shortly after dole's failed bid, i was listening to npr. i don't actually know if this was someone spoofing him, or if it was actually dole speaking. but the quote was, "when bob dole said bob dole was in favor of smaller government, bob dole didn't mean bob dole personally."