Accessories

Accessories are essential for all people who seriously pursue an art -- rebuilding an antique car; encasing a model ship in a tiny bottle; designing, cutting, assembling, and quilting a quilt; knitting a new something or other.

Best part about accessories is searching for the next new thing to add to the collection, some helpful item that inventors decide will make the stitches more even (like square needles), or measure your gauge more accurately, or mark your pattern progress (highlight tape.)

Here's a picture of some of my simplest accessories:  a small ruler, a retractable tape measure, a pair of very sharp scissors with nice points, and a coaster for my tea or coffee cup.

Yes, a good cuppa is almost as essential as the ruler and scissors.

You may be asking, "But what about the needles?"  Oh, they are everywhere, in project bags, attached to UFO's, in a needle case (the prize Brittany set), and in a drawer.  You really don't wanna know how many.

Though I do have the size 8 Boye needles I used for the first cable sweater, red wool, I knit when I was still in high school.

Here are some more accessories, each picture caption will tell you what's what.

Yarn Winder

The thing with sticks is a "swift" -- expands and contracts

 to hold the skein of yarn.

Sometimes you ask your child or husband to hold the yarn skein
 with two hands spread to  provide some tension on the skein.
But a Swift is more reliable and less trouble.

This is the whole party --
the winder, the swift and a nice, neat ball of yarn.

The fishing box from Cabela's that holds things like stitch markers and yarn needles.
The box opens
from the other side, too, so I have 'stuff' there.

And just so we can continue our profound discussion of UFO's, here's a pic of a new scarf pattern from Whit's Knits at Purl Bee, Soho NY.  Great stuff.  She tells stories about the project (this pattern was used in her first knitting project) and has great photos about techniques.  I'll add the link on the blog footer.

Hoping you can see the twisty-twirly effect from the RicRac stitch
The yarn is Rowan wool.  Needles are US 8 (5.00 mm)

It's a wonderful scarf and I can't get the picture to load.  Groan.  Gotta go put my brain and hands around something else.