I learned so much on my knitting journey this year. I made lots of new friends, began test knitting, and even released my own designs. I can only hope for continued luck and success in 2014. Now, let's relive some of finer moments of 2013...

As most of you know, I love Instagram. A lot. I post most of my FOs there as well as snippets from my everyday life. These were my top moments this year.

Or maybe you remember when I was featured on the Ravelry homepage (this one still blows my mind)? I knit my daughter and I matching tops - hers is Goldilocks and mine is Alice in Wonderland, which somehow got the attention of Christina and ended up being featured for the Matching Families Community Eye Candy.

I know it's been a long time since I last blogged - I'm sorry. Our Fall schedule has been a lot busier than I anticipated. But, I'm back with a bit of exciting news. Grace and I are featured on the Ravelry homepage today as a part of their Community Eye Candy series. This week is featuring matching families.

About 6 weeks ago, I posted about the Kveta Hat that I had the opportunity to test knit for Monika Sirna. I also had the pleasure to test knit the matching cape, but I just realized that I never posted about it! Bad blogger...

The Kveta Cape is a sweet little accessory than any girl would love. I made another Kveta Hat to match the cape - because, really, who can resist? The cape has a lot more finishing than I typically go for, but it was well worth it. The pattern has you hand sew ribbon and snaps onto the ribbing for closure.

I debated even writing this post, but I think it's important to discuss our failures in addition to celebrating our successes. It's how we learn and grow. So it's time I come clean. I think I've lost my knitting mojo. My knack for knitting is gone. There I said it.

Based on my last few posts, maybe you saw this coming, but I sure didn't (next time I'd appreciate a heads up, okay?). In the last few weeks, I've made more mistakes and had to rip out or start over countless projects. I'm not proud of this, but it happens. I miscounted a cast on and therefore knit the wrong size sweater (yeah, don't ask). I've read charts wrong and knit instead of purl. I already told you about the debacle I had when knitting Ease. I've started a baby sweater 3 times because I wasn't happy with it - once it was completely finished and blocked before I decided I hated it.  I'm also in the midst of planning some new designs and have been swatching and ripping like crazy. While that's intentional knitting and frogging, it doesn't make me feel like any less of a knitting newbie to knit something and immediately rip it right out.

I think part of the problem is that as you become a more accomplished knitter, you notice your mistakes more. I'm not one to leave a noticeable mistake, nor am I the type of knitter that tries to hide mistakes. I either drop down and fix missed stitches, or frog my work to get it right. I'm also learning to be pretty picky about how things look and fit. So if it's not right, I start over. I know that's not for everyone, nor do I expect it to be. But that's how I am.

So between my desire for perfect knitting and the fact that I currently have four WIPs (plus my design ideas), I feel like my needles are constantly moving and I'm not finishing anything (I also wrangle toddlers as my day-job, so that doesn't help). I think it's time for me to go back to my previous ways of only having one or two projects going at once. Sure, it's going to be hard to fight the urge to cast on a bunch of new, exciting projects, but I'll be able to concentrate more on each project.

Whew, I feel better already! Anyone else have a knitting confession they want to share?

On Wednesday, I posted Part 1 of my needle quest. If you didn't read that - long story short, I had KnitPicks needles, but was looking to replace them. I'm picky and it took a long time. I know the suspense is killing you, so I'll just get it over with. It was after weeks of research that I finally decided on the ChiaoGoo Twist set.

While I was at my LYS test driving needles, they recommended the ChiaoGoo (chow-goo) Twist needles, but I quickly dismissed them because "I don't like metal needles" (famous last words). I didn't love anything I tried that day (all bamboo), so I kept looking. All of my research led me back to the ChiaoGoo Twist, so I ordered a set of tips and a cable on eBay. I knit with them for all of 5 minutes before I fell completely in love. I may have even let out an excited squeal. Maybe.

They're stainless steel, so they're not as slippery as aluminum needles, but more slippery than bamboo. The tips are super pointy (but not enough to hurt you when you knit), the cables are fantastic, and the join is a dream. I don't think I could have dreamt up better needles. Honestly. (And no they're not paying me for this. Heck ChiaoGoo has no idea who I am).


The ChiaoGoo set has a couple of extra "features" that I wasn't looking for, but are awesome to have. For one, the needles are imprinted with the size. They also come with an awesome labeled case, with room to grow (you can see my extra set of 4" size 6 tips in the picture below), a ruler, connectors, keys, cable caps, and a chart showing the different sizes available. You can also buy the Spin cables to use with the Twist set, since both ChiaoGoo needle sets are completely interchangeable. The Spin cables, well, spin. I love that. There have been a few times where I find myself getting caught up on my cable because it's so twisted. Well, no more. I ordered my most used sizes in the Spin cables too.


I ordered the complete RED Lace set from handsomefibers.com. I cannot recommend Katie highly enough - I placed my order at 5:15 (Eastern) on Friday, it shipped by 5:45 and I received it Monday at 1:30. I may or may not have been sitting by the window waiting for the mail man. Katie also offers a discount to returning customers, so I was able to save 10% on my order. (She's not paying me either, promise).

All in all, I'm still shocked that I picked metal needles. They meet all of my requirements, but I'm still getting used to the noise of knitting with metal needles.

Again, I'm not getting paid or perked for any of this. I just wanted to share my love of the ChiaoGoo needles (and Katie's awesome service).

Over the last few months, I've become increasingly annoyed with my knitting needle situation. I was lucky enough to receive a set of KnitPicks Harmony interchangeable needles for my birthday 2 years ago. I've used them everyday since then (approximately 26 months or 771 days, if you're keeping track). They are a great starter set of needles, or they were.

Within the last few months, I had a needle splinter on me (and embed some wood in my finger - OUCH), I've had numerous cables break at the join, and I'd accepted the fact that my cable would come unscrewed while knitting on a daily basis. KnitPicks has been great about sending replacements whenever I've called. But I noticed that the replacement cables felt cheaper - the threading wasn't as smooth on the join, the join itself wasn't smooth and the cables were really stiff. So, I pretty much stopped calling to ask about replacements. I know they switched to a new manufacturer last year and in my opinion, the quality has suffered. My other huge complaint about the KnitPicks needles is that despite tightening the cable and needle tip with the provided key, they still managed to twist apart while knitting...a lot. In short, I wasn't happy.

So, I set out on a quest to replace my set. Knitting needles are a really personal choice and everyone values different things in their needles. Personally, I loved the wood of the Harmony needles, so I started looking into bamboo sets. I have a list of requirements for a needle set - extremely smooth joins that stay tight, cables with no memory, and a very specific grip (or drag) to the needles. A nice bonus would be a set that comes with it's own case. Another huge pet peeve of mine with the KnitPicks needle set is the lack of labeled case. The needles come on a cardboard card, but that got ratty after only a few months.

My LYS has a ton of needles set aside for customers to try out. I sat down a few weeks ago and got to swatching. I tried out the Addi Naturas, which I didn't like. The join was not smooth and the bamboo felt cheap. Not what I expected for $180. I also tried the ChiaoGoo Twists, which I liked a lot better, but the bamboo felt too grippy. I was assured that as I used them, they would smooth out some. I left, undecided, but leaning towards the ChiaoGoo set and vowed to continue my research.

Over time, I realized that all of the bamboo sets I tried were too grippy. It was only then that it dawned on me - the Harmony needles are birch, not bamboo. I tried to convince myself that maybe I could learn to love bamboo, but that didn't happen. Then I reluctantly started over.

I scoured the forums on Ravelry, read reviews, asked friends and even ordered a few sets of tips and cables on eBay to test drive. It was only then, after weeks of research and test driving that I was able to confidently make a choice.

Stay tuned for Friday's post where I reveal which needles I picked. I'm still surprised by my choice.