Sojourner Truth

As we wrap up Black History Month here in the United States,  I would like to reflect on this beautiful image of Sojourner Truth, knitting.

If she had lived all this time, would she have kitted her own Pussy Hat to have worn at the Women's March?  We'll never know, but I'd like to think so.  It puts a smile on my face to think of her, brave and true, joined by millions of women from all backgrounds on that day.  (I also fantasize her carrying the sign that said, "I can't believe I still have to protest this shit.")

Blessings to all brave citizens who continue to speak out for equal rights, and the abolition of modern-day slavery, ensuring that the work of those like Sojourner Truth does not unravel.

"FUR"-THER PERTINENTS:

NYPL Digital Collections

-XB

Nova Pride

First and foremost, let me be clear:  The problem here is me, not Knitter’s Pride.  This is not a negative review of their needles, but instead, a realistic evaluation of how their Nova Platina needles fare under my own personal knitting style.  I am posting this review so that if you are a knitter who has a similar style, this information could help you with a purchasing decision.

Secondly, and just as importantly, Knitter’s Pride has an entire range of wonderful needles, most of which do fit my knitting style, and that means they will also fit with yours.  There are many reasons to use needles of different materials.  Since all types of Knitter’s Pride interchangeable tips work with their cords, this is easily accomplished.

Now, about Nova Platina…

When I first discovered Novas, I thought I’d died and gone to Knitting Heaven.  Smooooooooooth, these needles were, extremely durable, beautiful and very reasonably priced.  They are my FAVORITE NEEDLES OF ALL NEEDLES, and the ones I use for 90% of my knitting.  Nova, that is, NOT Nova Platina.

Novas are nickel-plated hollow brass, and Nova Platinas are chrome-plated hollow brass.  Nova needles have points that are slightly more blunt, and the Platina have sharper points.  There are definitely reasons to work with sharper points, but I personally never had any problems with the more blunt Novas.  However, the sharper points don’t bother me.

What bothers me is the fact that the chrome plating of the Platinas is not durable like the nickel of the original Novas.  This is probably no problem for most knitters, but for me, it is a big problem.  While I have used and re-used the same set of Novas for over 50 projects, I can barely get through one project before the Platinas scratch themselves.  I am a “thrower” type of knitter, and I tend to knit tightly.  This is a style that is very hard on needles, I admit.  And, yes, I have tried altering my style, but knitting becomes burdensome for me when I switch styles, and knitting is not supposed to be burdensome.  So, I have come to accept my knitting style, and seek needles that hold up under the friction of my knitting.

The scratched surface of used Platinas is extremely unpleasant.  Annoyingly, my entire Special Short Tips set (needle tips of 3.5” to fit circular cords of 16”, 40 cm, for hat and scarf projects) was an uninformed purchase of Nova Platinas.  I have tried to make the best of it, but I just can’t take the "nails on chalkboard" scratching anymore.

Unfortunately, Nova Platina is now the only plated brass needle that Knitter’s Pride sells in the United States (rare and random finds of old Nova needles can still be found on eBay and ETSY).  However, at the time of this posting (February 2017) there is good news.   KnitPro (which is Knitter’s Pride in the UK) still sells Nova, the original nickel-plated brass!  I have been able to find Novas online and purchase them from “across the pond”.  This has been extremely important to me, especially because the interchangeable tips for KnitPro circular needles fit exactly, thank heaven, with the Knitter’s Pride cords.  I have now been able to replace every needle in my Special Short Tips set with my beloved nickel-plated brass.  Yea!

I am aware that other brands like Addi and even Susan Bates make nickel-plated needles, and at some point I may have to replace my needle sets with these.  (Of course, due their incredible durability, fire, flood, loss or theft are the only reasons I would need to replace my beloved Novas.)  I am also fully aware that at some point in the future, they will simply stop manufacturing all nickel-plated brass, and I will have to adjust.  I would like to think that writing to Knitter’s Pride and expressing my preference as a consumer would have some influence, but who am I kidding?  And besides, once all the nickel is mined out of the earth, then what?  I realize all of this, and accept it.  But for now, I am thrilled that I can still enjoy the nickel-plated Nova line through KnitPro.  And in truth, I’ll probably be “discontinued” before they are.

I am curious to know your opinion!  Please leave comments telling me your experiences with nickel-plated brass, chrome-plated brass, other brands, and anything else regarding this subject.  For example, I know some people have dermatological reactions to nickel.  I’d be interested to know if using nickel-plated needles has been a problem for you.

“FUR”-THER PERTINENTS:

What’s Your Knitting Style?

Needle Characteristics

-XB

You Could Easily Go Berroco... For Inca Tweed!

Back in 2015, when I had just started knitting seriously, I made a small YouTube video reviewing one of my favorite yarns, Berroco Inca Tweed.  I made the video because I didn’t feel that the available online yarn reviews had information that a knitter could actually use.  In truth, they were sales videos, as opposed to unbiased reviews.  Of course this was before I had discovered Knitter’s Review, the best yarn reviewer out there, imho.  It was also before I knew enough to look at the yarn brand reviews on Ravelry in addition to the reviews on the seller’s sites before purchasing the yarn.  Still, you can’t have enough information when it comes to yarn that you are purchasing online.  And while I shout out to, and shop at, my Local Yarn Store (LYS) as much as possible, there are many reasons and instances where a bulk purchase of heavily discounted yarn from an online store is desirable.  So it’s important to have reviews that are content-rich from a knitter’s perspective.

Two years later, I realized there was some information I neglected to include in my YouTube review of Berroco Inca Tweed.  So here it is!

As I mentioned in the video, this yarn is 50% wool 30% Alpaca, and the remaining 20% is made up of acrylic and viscose.  The yarn has a lovely subtle sheen to it, and the neps of the tweed are very nicely incorporated into the plys of the yarn.  I love the sophisticated, earthy look of the yarn.  It's also extremely soft.

At the time of this post, Berroco Inca Tweed is going for about $16.00 USD/hank, but there are frequent online and LYS sales of this yarn.  The hanks are a bulky weight 100g / 153 yds in a "thick-and-thin" style, and the recommended needles are US 10 - US 10.5 (UK 4 - UK 3, 6.00mm - 6.50mm).  For my swatches, I used US 10 needles, and my pre-wash gauge came out to 16 stitches 22 rows for a 4 inch square.  The recommended gauge is 14 - 12 stitches, 20 - 15 rows, so it makes sense that I got a tighter gauge because I tend to knit tightly and usually need to go up a needle size for any project.

I have knit several projects with Inca Tweed, and never had a dye-bleed except with the color Cantuta.  Red yarns tend to bleed the most.  My sample swatches were knit in Cantuta, which is about as red as it gets.  To test my swatches, I soaked them in Eucalan, and as you can see, the dye bled profusely.

I vinegar-bathed the swatches, and then re-soaked them in Eucalan.  They still bled!  It took about six washes before the soapy water was clear.  So, when using this yarn, definitely remove the excess dye before knitting if you are going to combine it with other colors.  I want to be clear:  I have not found this problem with any of the other colors of Inca Tweed that I've used.

After washing and blocking, my gauge was still pretty much the same.  The swatches didn't grow or shrink, and they still had beautiful stitch definition.  Also, none of the vibrancy was lost from the color.  The yarn was still the beautiful rich dark red.

Here are some of the other projects I've knit with this yarn:

Knitting with this yarn is a joy.  It is soft and earthy, and the yarn is strong.  As you can see, Berroco Inca Tweed is truly is one of my favorite yarns.  If you were unsure whether or not to purchase Inca Tweed online, or better yet, at your LYS, I hope this review has helped you decide to go for it.   I do, however, have one word of caution:  Even though it’s a very reasonably priced yarn, I just won’t be able to prevent you from going “Berroco”.

“FUR”-THER PERTINENTS:

Needle & Tension Gauge shown in photo is from an Etsy store called RomanticFripperies

Berroco.com

KnittersReview.com

Testing Color Fastnest

-XB