In the Making...

I recently purchased some Knit Pro Karbonz DPNs. For a start off, they are a work of art. I think they look sleek and quite unusual. My usual DPNs are the Knit Pro Nova metal ones. I prefer the metal ones to wooden because the stitches move quicker, it speeds up my knitting and I enjoy the process more with metal needles. I've knitted a pair of socks in the Karbonz. The pros are that I can see is they are lightweight, flexible, warm to the touch (a benefit for those with arthritis or other issues with their hands) and the stitches are less likely to drop off the needles (they have a similar surface to wood, which is a bit more clingy than metal). In general, I prefer them to wooden needles. Though lightweight, they have a better balance to them than say the Symfonie wooden range. They have the benefits of wooden needles but with the extra pointyness of metal needles.  If you are a knitter that prefers wooden needles then it is seems to be a good middle groun...

It's something that I've been intending to make for awhile and finally got round to it a few months ago. I'd wanted to make a dpn case because they were stuffed in pencil cases and weren't organised at all.  I'd made the fabric on my Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom intending it to be a table mat but it was so soft it didn't seem to want to stay still on the table; so I reused it into the cover for my needle case. I lined it with some silk left over and added in extra lines so it would fit short and long dpns. The button is a plastic button that I covered in thread - think the technique is called Passementerie. It was something I saw on Create and Craft TV and thought it was really pretty. Didn't follow a pattern for this - just winged it and wish I'd made it a little shorter. Also, i'm sure there was a way to sew it up differently but ended up putting binding on like with a quilt - though it gives it a nice firm edge.