tough knitting.

I'm just going to come out and say it: knitted hems are a bitch.

I finally cast on for my Printed Silk Cardigan, and decided to work a knitted hem rather than the rolled hem written in the pattern. Knitted hems seem to be one of those things that make a finished hand-knit piece look professional. Boy do they look nice. . . but what a pain in the ass to do.

First of all, I know I didn't make it easy on myself to begin with. I didn't cast on provisionally, rather I decided to just pick up some loops from my cast on edge. Good idea, but those stitches were SO tight and hard to pick up. That alone took 30 minutes; you don't even want to know how long it took me to pick up and k2tog the new stitches and the live ones. My fingers hurt just thinking about it.


And one of the reasons my fingers hurt is my new needles! I got my KnitPicks Harmony interchangeable set a few days ago, but I was so involved with papers that I forgot to mention it. The needles are interesting looking-- the colors are definitely less vibrant than I expected. But the needles themselves are great. They're like the perfect medium between addi turbos (too slick) and bamboos (irritatingly catchy). Knitting with them is SO enjoyable.

Except. . . apparently I was a bit too tough on them. As I was tightening a size 4 needle to a cable, I heard a tiny snap. Broke it in half! I guess maybe the wood join was just weak. Bummer my 4s are out of commission until KnitPicks sends me out a replacement. I've heard very good things about their customer service, so I'm not worried.

Off to knit! (By the way, I'm done with my papers! Yay!)