Is it wrong that I don't want an interchangeable needle set?

Interchangeable needle sets are popular amongst knitters, and it is easy to see why.  If you can afford the initial investment, you have (depending upon the set) around 40 pairs of circular needles at your permanent disposal.  It is less expensive than buying each pair separately, and you don't have to worry about having the right size to start a project -- knitters love instant gratification. The wait to cast-on until obtaining the right size needles in one's preferred material and brand requires too much patience for most knitters.

Not to mention that interchangeable sets come neatly packaged in cute little cases.  Corralling circs in different lengths and needle sizes is challenging, with some knitters resorting to binders or accordian-style files.  The neat and compact interchangeables warm my OCD heart.  In fact, I just helped a friend choose which set to purchase for herself and adored the green silk case for the set she chose, as well as the gold join.  Alas, the needles themselves were bamboo, which is a deal breaker for me.  But the Knitter's Pride Dreamz set she considered was tempting, albeit with an ugly cheap case and silver join.  The Addis were too expensive to be serious contenders, and the case looks like a feminine hygiene product but, wow, imagine a whole set of Addis at one's fingertips.  Addis were the only circs I would use until the Knitter's Pride Dreamz came out.  Now, I can't justify the additional $7/pair for the Addis when the Knitter's Pride work equally well and the warm birch feels better than cool metal in my hands.

But I won't be getting a set of Knitter's Pride interchangeables, and not just because of the hideous case.  I just don't trust interchangeables.  I fear the join won't be smooth, and that it won't hold.  I don't like the idea of having to tighten it with a key, nor am I keen on having all those separate parts - keys and cords and tips.  I don't care if I have to purchase 4 pairs of size 7 circs so I can get 4 different cord lengths for different projects.  I don't even mind that I have to purchase a 3rd pair of size 8, 16" circs because the first two pairs I own are in WIPs/UFOs.  Expensive and impractical as it may be, I just want my circs to be solid, stable, and unchanging, as so few things in life are.

I need to knit one of these:

This photo is on the DomiKNITrix's website but she doesn't appear to be selling the pattern. There are 3 bike cosy patterns on Ravelry, so I guess I will have to choose one of those, although I like this one best.

First post & first project

“To be or not to be?” was Hamlet's burning question. “What to knit first?” is mine. I have, literally, hundreds of beautiful MUST KNIT patterns awaiting my time & attention, not to mention a larger number of "maybe I'll knit this" patterns and "knit one for me, then knit one or more as a gift" patterns. So, in what order do I knit them?

My first decision was to knit online patterns first. Books and magazines and purchased patterns seem less ephemeral than online ones that can disappear into cyberspace, never to be found again. Of course I will have to print them, but the project of printing every online pattern that I ever want to knit seems a bit daunting, not to mention impossible since there are so many and probably new ones appearing every day, so I am going to take it one at a time. I have bookmarked a seemingly infinite number of patterns so I made an executive decision to make my life easier by starting with Knitty, which has a thorough archive, clear pictures, instructions, and the advantage of organizing patterns by type and degree of difficulty.

Next, I made an honest assessment of my huge pile of WIPs and my tiny pile of finished projects and came to a reluctant conclusion: I am a beginner knitter pretending to be an advanced knitter. I drop projects because they are too difficult for my current skill level and attention span. Also, I don't have time to concentrate on complex knitting challenges. Right now, I need portable projects that I can put down frequently without losing my place. So, I have decided to start with scarves.

First, I made a spreadsheet with three columns: KNITTED, To Be Knit, & Rejected, and rows with Knitty's four degrees of difficulty (Mellow, Tangy, Piquant, Spicy). Actually, there are no scarves in the Spicy category, which is somewhat reassuring.

Then, I went through the scarf pattern archives and the current issue, whose patterns are not yet in the archive. Although it makes perfect sense that patterns in the current issue are not yet indexed in the archive, it is a bit worrisome, as I will have to keep careful track of new issues as I work through the archive so I don't miss any patterns. I also wish that the archive could be sorted by degree of difficulty. My plan is to start with Mellow patterns and then Tangy, and so on. By the time I have knit all of the Knitty scarves that I like, I hope to be more skilled and ready to move on to the next category.

I discovered as I was perusing scarf patterns to accept into my knitting queue or reject that sometimes the level of difficulty in the archive index does not match the level listed on the pattern. And some of the patterns listed as Mellow or Tangy seem quite difficult lace or cable patterns. I'm not sure how accurate the labels are, and if they are chosen by Knitty editors or the designers themselves.

It seems selfish to knit for myself when I owe so many knitted gifts, and have so many gift project WIPs. But I haven't yet gotten a knitted gift finished since they are all beaded lace shawls or fiddly baby sweaters that I keep putting down in confusion before I have even succeeded in casting on. Or, worse, they are sitting there depressingly needing to be frogged because I discovered errors due to losing my place or misunderstanding complex instructions. So I am trying the scarves not to be selfish but as training for future gift-knitting, or so I tell myself. In fact, some of the scarves will be gifts. Another notation on my spreadsheet is for intended recipient.

In the Mellow scarf category, I found two scarves that I like: Abby and Wisp. I really agonized over each scarf pattern, considering, even if I didn't like it, was there anyone for whom I could knit it that might? I really tried to like them all but these were the only two that I could see myself devoting the time and effort to knit. These two are both ethereal, soft and feminine, imparting a bit of romantic mystery to the wearer.

For the sake of order, I will knit them alphabetically, so it looks like Abby is my next project. I should use up my stash rather than buying more yarn I can't afford, but this calls for only one skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze. ("Yarn crack," as it's known, in the same way that Friesians are "black crack." I wear everyday a hat that I made from RKH.) Besides, I plan to print the pattern out at school this week and begin it next Sunday, February 1, when I go to Webs annual Super Bowl Sunday Escape knitting party, and I hate to go without buying something. At least this planned limited expenditure might keep me from maxing out my credit card as I usually do whenever I cross Webs' threshold.

To add to my first post: I've succumbed.....

...to the siren call of the knitting blog. I've wanted to start an archive of my knitting projects that includes all the relevant details about the pattern, materials, caveats and lessons learned, and a photo of the finished item. For knitted gifts, a photo will be my only record once they have gone to their new homes. I am also optimistic enough to entertain the notion that I will document inspiring progress from knittting simpler patterns to knitting more complex patterns over time.

Now that Ravelry has come on the scene to provide a wonderfully organized way to document my projects, I am not sure how this blog will be used. I had conceived of it as functioning like the "Project" section on Ravelry, and Ravelry does that sooooooo much better than a blog. Perhaps I can use this space for more detailed descriptions of WIPs than will be appropriate for the Project blurbs. We'll see.

My original blog/domain name choice was Domiknitrix, but that was taken. I cannot adequately express my disappointment about this. Here I thought I was sooo clever to come up with this appropriate moniker for myself and the bloody domain's been registered since 2004. Talk about a day late and a dollar short! I immediately bought her book, of course. I mean, if I am already seething with jealousy, why not go whole hog? She has a fabulous logo, designed by her own hubby no less. Bet she got that for a blow job and a song. Wonder what CM could come up with if I pegged him for awhile......