More Knitting Adventures

Well isn't this a handy tool to measure the size of your knitting needles? After I noticed that two sets of needles I had bought (different brands, different sizes) appeared to be the same size some helpful peeps on Instagram advised me to get a Needle Gauge. Apparently you can get these for free at some places but I bought this one for a few euros (and it also has a thread cutter for some reason). Anyway, it turned out that my 10 mm needles (pictured here, the '1' has been rubbed off due to frantic knitting) were actually 8 mm needles!

I knitted a huge, chunky looking cowl for my oldest daughter Zoe with the 10 mm needles (that actually were 8 mm needles)  and it turned out quite nice! I have now started on a smaller one for Luna and it's almost finished. After that I want to make myself some leg warmers. Because I saw these (note the subtle diamond pattern!)

from Knitting Smitten by Jessica Biscoe

in this book

Kntting Smitten by Jessica Biscoe does not just  feature leg warmers, also egg warmers!

Knitting Smitten is aimed at beginners and has a lot of basic information like how to decipher knitting patterns, how to choose yarn and what needle size to use etc. Jessica Biscoe manages to make things that are a bit intimidating for newbies (like 'knitting in the round and 'increasing' and 'decreasing') a little less scary. I also really like several projects in the book like the leg warmers, mittens, hats, cushions and blanket. I doubt I will ever make a knitted bow-tie for a dog though  ;) Apparently the leg warmers in this book need to be knitted in the round as well, which is something I'm definitely going to try (I even bought the double pointed needles) but not yet. I found another, easier pattern for leg warmers and only need to decide which colour yarn to use: chartreuse (one of my absolute favourite colours) or grey (goes with anything and rhymes with 'hey')?

What do you think?