Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Resourcefulness

I mentioned the other day that my gauge on the Favorite Sweater (on the first try) called for size 2's. Which means I was going to need a pair of 1's for the ribbing. I had 2's, 3's and 4's but the only 1's I had were DPNs and I was at 35,000 feet somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.
















I looked over and saw my husband had his sketchpad out and a kneaded eraser in his hand. The light bulb went on. I made two balls with the eraser and stuck one on the end of each needle. Voila! I had created a pair of single pointed size 1's. I was pretty darn pleased with myself, even if I did end up having to rip out the knitting later.

I think knitters are a resourceful bunch. We create makeshift stitch markers and figure out ways to get around needing a measuring tape.

What's your favorite trick?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I was at Starbucks with a friend recently. Realized I didn't bring any stitch markers with me, so I took a straw from Starbucks (please don't tell on me), borrowed a scissors and made narrow green plastic rings. I made extra and threw them in the bottom of my handbag for the next time. (Just be careful not to cut your fingers trying to make the rings too narrow. Ask me how I know.)

Joyce G. said...

I've run into a similar issue with only DPN's when I needed straights. I used tip protectors to turn them into straights.

Candice Hope said...

I'm on year 3 of knitting socks for my husband for Christmas. Each year he has had no clue he was getting socks because I never measured his feet or had him try anything on. I stole a dirty sock from the hamper and measured it, since it was still shaped like his foot. sneaky! It's just good we use our powers for good, not evil!

Amanda said...

Candace. Have you see the Sock it to Me guides? They tell you long long to make a sock based just on the shoe size. Very handy for surprise sock gifting!

Syd said...

Oh dear first thing in the morning and only 1 cup of coffee...Let's see..at work (lunch of course) found a dropped stitch that could be fixed later, so I used a paperclip to secure it. On the plane once I lost a stitch marker on a lace project so I borrowed my friend's little hoop earring. Had a friend's child bored and we were in the car so I used two pencils and some of my yarn to teach him how to knit..not bad for 1 cup of coffee!

Annie said...

When i was in class i finished my sock and didn't bring a yarn needle to Kitchener the toe shut. i ended up using a bobby pin, it worked surprisingly well. Also, it worked to weave in the ends.