Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Like so many knitters, I am curious about the latest gadgets. My stash is large. I feel guilty acquiring new yarn. (In spite of this, whatever yarn I want for my next project never seems to be a yarn already in the stash.) But, I do want to support friendly local yarn shops. When I was in Ligonier, Pennsylvania last year, Kathy Zimmerman had Prym double-pointed needles in her shop. I had seen these at TNNA in the summer of 2018 . Actually, I had seen the straights, but had not seen the double-points. When Kathy had some, I bought a set. It turns out the Prym double-points are rather nice. I'm not typically a fan of plastic, but these are okay. They are not as slick as metal, but they are smooth. They have the correct amount of friction. They are also lighter and warmer than metal. They have a little give, which can prevent hand fatigue. And they have a triangular cross-section. As a fan of the sadly discontinued Kollage square needles, the unusu...

Late last year a took a big step in my professional development and joined The National Needlearts Association by becoming an affiliate member. TNNA is the national-level trade organization. It is best known for hosting a winter trade show and a summer trade show. This is where shop owners often go to see the latest products. It is how they decide whether to carry yarn from Trendsetter or Prism ; wheels and looms from Ashford , Schacht , or Kromski ; notions from CocoKnits , or patterns from Stitch Sprouts . TNNA also organizes Spinzilla and Local Yarn Store Day . Membership is $195 per year. And for a designer/teacher like myself, joining also meant acquiring some letters of recommendation and copies of my published designs. It wasn't a five-minute process. And then I needed to decide how to make the best use of my investment. Recognizing that I need to write a book (actually, probably more than one) on versa lace, I decided to attend the summer convention in Cleveland,...