Here are the Denmark socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. These socks were knit on size 3 Addi Turbo dpns with the very slippery Norwegian Sport Wool making the experience the knitting equivalent of ice skating. Lots of slipping and sliding and loose tension. These socks were also a bit damp when I scanned them which doesn't do much to improve how they look.



I'm curious how this yarn holds up over time - I've already had a problem (the Dale baby sweater with the bunnies and ducks and garden tools) with it but am hoping it will be fine if I don't use it for colorwork. I secured the ends very well using reverse duplicate stitch so we'll see.



Here's a close-up showing the Nupp stitch between the top cuff ribbing and the cables.

 



I happen to have quite a fondness for needle gauges. The blue Susan Bates model on the bottom is my oldest (it is actually cracked on one side) and has both the US and the metric sizes marked.



The long silver one (brand name Tailorform) is unusual because it shows metric sizes on one side and Canadian and American sizes on the other. It looks like the old Canadian needle sizing was close to the opposite of US sizes - for instance, a US size 13 needle is 00 in Canadian sizes. This gauge costs $1.95 at Wool-Tyme.



The one that didn't scan well and comes out black is a newer Susan Bates one, the Knit-Chek. It is the only needle gauge I've seen that shows equivalent crochet hook sizes. It can be purchased for a whopping $1.75 from Smileys (scroll down the left frame to where it says Accessories sale).



And finally my prized purchase is the white Skacel Turbo Needlegauger at the top. It is the only needle gauge I've ever found that goes down to 000 needle sizes. I can't for the life of me remember where I bought it but I did find it for sale online HERE for a mere $1.50 .



I keep one needle gauge in my knitting supplies tool box, one suspended from my music stand (that holds knitting charts and patterns), and one each in my two Circular Solutions storage containers - one for my circulars and one for dpns.



Thanks to all for the happy 20th anniversary wishes. DH brought home roses and chocolates and even made dinner for our special day. How sweet! I can't wait for my anniversary yarn present - I ordered so much I wonder if they'll even be able to fit it all in one box.



Keep the quiz answers coming! So far everyone who has entered the contest has gotten all the questions right.

In honor of my 20th wedding anniversary today we're having a color knitting quiz. I will put the names of all who have the correct answers in a hat. First Prize winner wins the Up North Mittens & Hat kit from Blackberry Ridge and Second Prize winner gets five skeins of Emu Superwash DK wool yarn in some variation of the following blue/green colors for a color knitting project. I may even have enough Emu for a Third Prize winner.







Email your answers to me at nanetteb at compuserve dot com. I'll announce the winners on Sunday afternoon May 2nd, 2004). Those new to color knitting are encouraged to enter the contest - I have offered hints for each question to help you. All the answers to the questions have been discussed on this blog previously.





COLOR KNITTING QUIZ/CONTEST



1. What is the difference between intarsia and stranded color knitting? (Hint - my blog entry of 3/22/2004)



2. What is the two-fisted technique of color knitting? (Hint - shown on the cover photo on Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting)





3. Describe the Philosopher's Wool technique of color knitting. (Hint - Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified by Ann & Eugene Bourgeois, page 28)





4. What is Meg Swansen's method of holding the yarn in color knitting? (Hint - my blog entry of 3/22/2004 or Ann Feitelson's The Art of Fair Isle Knitting, page 56)





5. Regardless of your particular color knitting technique, what is it important to always do consistently in color knitting? (Hint - Judy Gibson's web site at http://www.users.cts.com/crash/j/jgibson/knitting/2color.htm or Ann Feitelson's The Art of Fair Isle Knitting, page 57)





EXTRA CREDIT QUESTION (There is no right answer - I just want your opinions.)





6. What is the best color knitting book available?

Spin-Off magazine has been doing a series of articles where a spinner collaborates with a knitwear designer. These articles provide good insight into the design process.



Here is a photo of a pretty Estonian lace shawl, spun with the fur from Nancy Bush's Sheltie dog Kloo, from the Fall 2001 issue.







And here is a Scandinavian-inspired project from Deborah Newton in the summer 2002 issue. The yarn is a wool/silk blend.

BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID...







This is Bodmin who lives in England and is apparently the world's largest rabbit. His weight is around 50 kilograms and he eats whole lettuces and cabbages. The photo has been passed around our local bunny rescue people. It comes from Strange Cosmos where they say their photos are uncopyrighted so I am sharing it here. What I wouldn't give to grab him and hug him. Actually I probably couldn't even pick up the big guy.



Both Ann & Laura asked about the Digit yarn in my photo yesterday. I bought in on sale at Knitpicks and I use Digit interchangeably with Shetland Spindrift and Jamieson's jumper weight. Maybe I'm dense but I can't see a difference in these yarns so I buy them all and use them together for colorwork. I actually have so many different shades that I've started cutting small pieces of each skein and taping on a paper with the shade name so I can remember the specific colors.



Robin states she is a color freak and likes having different colors for different rooms. Every room in this painter's house was several different colors although usually in a theme. The guest bedroom was done in rich burgundy reds - different ones for each wall. Really cool. I'm starting to think of doing each wall a completely different color which would be fun as well.



Mare suggests keeping yarn out in baskets in various color groups for inspiration. Good suggestion Mare - I've got DH building me a YCS - Yarn Containment System of shelving so I can store yarn where I can see it. BTW, Mare is working on the Vogue Knitting Map of the World Afghan and each time she knits a country, she gives info about each place. Go visit her blog and join the fun.



And best of all Sarah emailed me with a great tip about searching through any blog's archives. If you want to search for posts from this blog about intarsia for instance go to Google and type in intarsia site:knittingincolor.blogspot.com . Then it will give you results from this blog. This works with any blog or web site and it is terribly cool.



Sarah (not to be confused with Handknitter Sarah) has a great post about color today. She recommends collecting paint chips for playing around with color combos which is a great idea.