I heart bamboo

(and not just because I'm Asian)

This is why I love my bamboo DPNs and why I hate my rosewoods:


My bamboos have lived through several pairs of socks, being shoved into a knitting bag, and being tossed about in my purse. Only one has ever left me to live in the great big yarn stash in the sky. I lost two rosewoods in the same day and I didn't even like them much to begin with!

The rosewood needles developed a slight split at the tip almost right away. Sure they are beautiful looking needles, but for the cost, I think they should make it through a few pairs of socks, let alone a single sock before they start to split. Then to add insult to injury, I broke a needle while trying on the sock just to make sure they fit. The situation only worsened when I reached into my purse to pull out the spare needle. Instead, I pulled out a shard of wood, then the longer splinter that was in actually, the other part of the broken spare. I would have cried a little if I wasn't at work.

I'd love to show you the sock, but unfortunately, they were a casualty of the Rosewood Break. A few yarnover stitches laddered down during the break and since I'd only made two inches of progress, I opted for frogging and reknitting. Hopefully, any negative rosewood karma was released with the frogging and the socks will be happier working with bamboo. They will be my first Nancy Bush socks, made from the pattern Fancy Silk Socks from the book Knitting Vintage Socks.

The second reason I love bamboo has to do with the lovely green yarn I pulled out of the stash. I was intending on making a purse in a basket stitch pattern, but Mrs. Soprano remarked that the yarn is too beautiful and should be a top of some sort. Now that I've casted on 250 stitches for a bag, I am wondering if she's right. Hmm, what tough choices a knitter must tackle. What do you think? A bag in the spirit of Bamboozle or a tank top of sort?


Finally, I love bamboo because I finally figured out how to spin it. The bamboo fiber has not been easy for me. It wants to grab and pull while I am trying to draft it. The yarn has quite a few slubs that I am hoping I cam tame when I ply it. Originally, I wanted to create a single ply yarn, but my spinning just isn't consistent enough yet.

Now, I need to wrap a wee little hat and ship it off to a brand new baby in Texas. Welcome to the world, Hannah! You put up a great fight this past month. Keep up the spirit.


The Pattern: My own. I think I will call it Elaine. It's a smaller version of the hat I sent to Italian's aunt in Illinois.
The Yarn: A cotton I had in my stash. I has long since lost it's ball band. I'll try to find the information on the yarn and update the post.
Duration: Three days. I casted on May 30 and weaved in the ends on June 1.
Pattern details to come.