Knitting Tools and Projects

For about a year now I have had a strange, deep desire to own a yarn winder. It started the moment I knew that such a contraption existed and was relatively inexpensive. The challenge I faced in getting one is that none of the craft stores or LYSs had one. Oh sure they could order one for me, but there are some things that, for some inexplicable reason, I won't buy sight unseen or without being able to handle it before purchasing. The yarn winder fell into this category.
Last week my beloved and I took an impromptu trip to Lawrence, KS (about 30 mins. from KC). There were a couple of places on Massachusetts Avenue that I have been wanting to visit for some time and just haven't made the trip over - Waxman Candles and Yarn Barn.

Waxman Candles has the most wonderful, scented votives. I try to pick up a few whenever I am there.

The Yarn Barn is a great yarn store that I have wanted to visit and this trip gave me my first opportunity. The store is spacious and has a wonderful selection of yarns. Over on one side there are a couple of tables set up with swifts and - you guessed it - yarn winders. My man immediately asked if that was the contraption that I had been mooning over for a year. Upon my affirmative he asked the clerk who was using the winder if they had any for sale. "We sure do," she said pointing to a stack of square white boxes.

So now I am the proud owner of a manual crank yarn winder.

It is so easy to use and is almost as therapeutic as knitting. I love the center-pull "yarn-cakes" that it creates. They are easy to knit with and store so much easier than a ball or a skein. How did I ever knit without one?

This past week I also got a wild notion to knit a lace shawl. Now normally I try to knit things that I would find useful. As I don't have much call to wear a shawl and really don't have the je ne sais quoi needed to make one look good, I have never thought of knitting one. So I found it very odd that I felt this pull to begin knitting lace shawls.

I blame the men at MenWhoKnit.com. Many of the gents there knit the most beautiful, light, and intricate lace shawls. I don't feel that I have flexed my knitting muscles fully until I have applied them to knitting lace.

Upon starting, I quickly learned that I would need long, circular needles - not to knit in the round necessarily but to easily spread out the ever growing stitches of a shawl. My local craft stores don't carry circulars that are very long, but I did find a set of interchangeable circular needles that would allow me to create the length I would need.

So now I am set for knitting for a while. Except of course that now my wonderful hubby-to-be wants me to knit a shawl for his mother as a gift for our wedding. "Hello, Yarn Barn? I need a mess of yarn please -- red."

Stay tuned.