More on Addi Lace Clicks- Long tips & Life Line Feature!

So by now you've probably figured out that I am partial to interchangeable knitting needles. If you are wondering if interchangeable knitting needles are right for you, hop your pretty little heiny over here to read my post about How to Buy Interchangeable Knitting Needles.

One popular brand of knitting needles is Addi by Skacel. Back in November 2010, Skacel released their long-awaited Lace Interchangeable Knitting Needle set. What made it a "lace" set? The point of the needle was long and supah-sharp, perfect for grabbing teeny tiny stitches and flipping them through the acrobatics of lace knitting. I happened to be at Stitches East for a few pathetic hours the week they were released in the US ... so I snagged me a set. My online knitting cronies clambered for the scoop on the Lace Tip set so, for Jillian, I wrote this Addi Lace Click Review.

So it's been a year and a half now and I have a few updates.

On the original Lace Tip Set...

These needles are one of the few sets of interchangeables that allow for small circumference knitting. If you've ever used small circumference fixed circular needles, you know that the needles themselves have to be shorter to be able to get that small circumference. Addis Lace set comes with cables that when combined with their tips, will make both 16" and 20" needles. Addis was apparently trying to hit this niche market of small circ knitters at the same time as satisfying the lace tip lovers.  Oooooooookay.

For those who love small circ needles, this set rocks. Unfortunately, I've met a number of people who complain of hand pain due to the shorter size. Despite this, I still reached for my Lace Set often. The sweater that was going on forever? Holy smokes, it flew on those needles. But they hurt. They hurt enough that I would often have to put down a project in frustration.

The other complaint I had was the join. It catches, man. Not a smooth join at all and with the wrong yarns, my knitting continually got hung up. So why the heck was I still reaching for them? Ultra sharp tips, and a surface that I just grooved on. I actually increased in speed with these needles ... and for a slow knitter, that's a very cool thing. 

When Addi came out with their recent Long Lace Tip Set, I realized, Hm. This could make me very very happy. The original Lace Tip set sold quickly on eBay and Momma ordered herself the new long needles.

And so, on the Long Lace Tip Set...

Oh mama. The needles fit perfectly in my hands. My hand pain disappeared with the first use, completely shocking me. I was thrilled to be able to finish projects faster because I could KNIT MORE! Woot! I was slightly saddened that they weren't able to improve their join but in order to make the locking mechanism work, I think the current join is as good as it is going to get for the foreseeable future. So I found a situation in which this join completely pissed me off: real lace.

You'd think that a set with Lace Tips would find away to fix that join, but in actual practice, lace weight yarn simply can't skim over it. At all. I picked up a hibernating work in progress (see my Lime Rickey Summer Shawl project page over here) using Susan's Spinning Bunny Merino-Tussah Silk lace weight. This is an amazingly well plied yarn, soft but not draggy or splitty, on size 4 needles. In this old picture you can actually see that it's on a set of fixed Addi lace circs.

So the grand irritation of the Addi Lace tips - original or long - is that in my opinion they are completely useless with lace weight yarns. I'm sure that other people might not have this problem. I've only been knitting a few years and am definitely not as accomplished or coordinated as many of my friends so please take my opinion with a grain of salt. I will keep this set and use it very frequently, but not with laceweight. 

The other fun feature of the new Long Lace Tip set is the Life Line feature. Never heard of a life line in knitting? Especially common in lace knitting, inserting a life line (a horizontal thread run throw an entire row of active stitches) lets you quickly rip back to a particular place in your knitting as opposed to tinking back stitch by stitch. Addi made a clever addition to the cables in the Long Lace Tip set by adding a teeny longitudinal slice to knitting cables. The idea is that you feed your life line material into that slit and simply knit as usual, with the life line being laid as you go. I've been told that waste lace weight yarn, embroidery floss and crochet thread are good choices for life line materials. I went for waxed mint dental floss, borrowed from my mom's medicine cabinet. Not the best choice, but hey, it'll do in a pinch. And my shawl is minty fresh.

This is a close up of the cable so you can see what the hoo-hah I'm talking about. It actually holds the life line material really well but threading it, well that is another matter. If you are going to use this feature, I reeeeeally recommend using one of these... 

This picture is from How to Use a Needle Threader on About.com and if you've never used one I highly suggest you go over there and have an "Aha!" moment. I don't need them often, but needle threaders are fantastic tools for those really splitty threads that make the little vein in your temple throb.

Feeding dental floss through that little slit in the cable while trying to carefully pinch the cable in a way to keep the slit open. 

So here is the dental floss life line in progress. You can see how the floss just feeds along with the stitches. I can honestly say that laying the life line itself was completely effortless. 

The dental floss was not the best choice in life line material however...

See that snarl? That took me a half hour to tease out because if I pulled to hard, the thin plastic floss just stretched... and would snap. There was much cursing. Sigh.

Feeling very proud of myself, I decided to nail down a few more rows and take a lovely picture to share with y'all. And then I stumble upon a design flaw in this method of laying a life line...

See that hair elastic I used as a stitch marker? It's now knit INTO the life line and I had to cut it off to continue to knit. In general, this is a non-issue for me as I always use locking stitch markers. Yes, after years of knitting I still repeatedly knit my markers into my work. This would probably happen less if I would refrain from knitting while A) over-tired, B) drinking wine, C) reading on my Nook at the same time, D) more than one of the above or E) all of the above. But what fun would that be.

Anywho, if you are someone who uses fancy gorgeous not-locking stitch markers, this is something you need to know about before hand. 

So basically, yes, I love these needles. While I *need* lifelines (cognitive/memory issues wreak havoc with complicated knitting ... as does wine ... and reading...) I'm too lazy to use them. I will definitely use this feature on these needles in the future to save my sanity. I can absolutely say without a doubt that I will never knit another laceweight project on them, but I can see myself knitting a row onto these needles just to lay the life line and then knit them back onto my preferred lace weight needles. 

I do love them, I'm happy I bought them and really enjoy knitting with them despite the cons. As I've mentioned in other articles, every interchangeable set has it's pros and cons. How much they please or bother you is completely personal and tough to predict. I'm very lucky to have an online yarn craft group to go to about things like this. I love you people <3

How to Buy Interchangeable Knitting Needles

It has been over a year since I wrote a blog post about my fancy shiny new set of Addi Lace Click interchangeable knitting needles. In that time I've done a ton of knitting and a fair amount of research on interchangeable sets so I decided it was time to put my thoughts down in one place for folks looking to purchase interchangeable needle sets. This article is not going to tell you what to buy but it will tell you what to think about before you purchase. Interchangeable crochet hook sets are also available but I crochet about as well as I water ski.

Keep in mind that you can also create your own needle sets by buying the cables and tips individually. The information below can be useful to help you decide whether a full set is right for you.

An interchangeable needle set consists of  multiple size needle tips that you can connect to separate cables to create circular needles. Most sets come with a variety of cable lengths. Other accessories available for purchase or included in some sets are cable connectors (to join more than one cable together to make a longer cable), stops (if you want to take the tips off a work in progress and leave them on the cable, you can screw a stop onto the end of the cable, keeping the live stitches from falling off), storage cases and cables or tips of additional sizes. For the purposes of this article, "Needle tip" refers to the part of the interchangeable set that you join onto a cable and "needle point" refers to the tapered end to the needle tip that is inserted into live stitch. "Join" refers to the mechanism that connects the tip to the cable.

Interchangeable sets, while cool, are not the right choice for everyone. Some reasons you might make the investment are...

• You are tired of digging through piles of circular needles for the right size/length and then not having what you need
• You want to shrink the physical space your needle collection uses (after all, then you have room for more yarn
• You know what you like in circular needles and want a lot of it
• You frequently under/over-estimate the cable length you need for a project and find yourself having to switch needles while knitting. And it irks you.

New knitters may be tempted by the simplicity of buying a needle set rather than individual fixed circs. Let's face it - needle sets are way cool. I won't tell anyone not to buy a needle set but reading through this article will help you make that decision.

Material
Folks new to knitting will find that there are as many types of knitting needles as there are knitter. Needles can be found in a variety of materials. Some of the most common are metal, plastic/acrylic, bamboo and wood. No needle material is better than the other, honestly. In a pinch, any needle will do but most knitters have preferences that they develop over time. Many knitters (especially beginners) like a smooth but not slick surface, or even surfaces with a little bit of drag to reduce needles-slipping-out-hysterical-panic situations. Other knitters like their needles as slick as possible to increase their speed. Aside from surface and finish, different materials just FEEL different in your hands. Some knitters love the way wood warms to their touch and gives ever so slightly while some like the cool, light-weight firmness of metal. This is something you need to experiment with before investing in a needle set. Higher end companies like Lantern Moon and others also produce beautiful rosewood and ebony interchangeable sets.

Now that you've thought about your materials you've narrowed down your selection a bit. If you are interested in more than one material even after testing fixed circular needles but definitely want a set, you have two ways to go. You can create your own set by buying individual tips or you can choose your favorite material from a manufacturer that offers sets made of multiple materials. For example, you could buy the complete metal set you love from a manufacturer that also makes the bamboo you adore. In time you can add the bamboo tips to your collection and use them with the cables from your metal set. Knitpicks, Skacel and Knitter's Pride all offer multiple needle materials - I'm sure there are others as well! If you are going to try this route, test out fixed circs in both materials before buying a complete set.

Now let's get into the real particulars. These don't matter to every knitter but if you find yourself special-ordering your needles online because you can't stand X or Y about the needles available in your local stores, then you should consider what you like and dislike about the needles you use.

Tip Length
A first deciding feature among interchangeable needle sets is length of the needle tip. This relates directly to the comfort of knitting as well as to the complete needle length you are able to make with the cable. Most interchangeable needle tips range from 4.5" to 5" in order to be comfortable in the hand to most knitters. The downside of this length tip is that the shortest complete needle length yo can make is (usually) 24".

The knitters who have an issue with this are people who do the majority of their knitting on 16" or 20" needles. If this is your game, consider Addi Click Lace needles by Skacel. With 3.25" tips, they are specifically designed for smaller circumference knitting and come with cables that will join to make 16" and 20" complete needles. For folks unused to the short tip length of shorter cable needles, consider that many folks complain of hand pain from this tip of needle.

Joins
As I mentioned above "join" refers to the mechanism that connects the tip to the cable. This usually a screw on or locking mechanism. Some screw-on mechanisms come with a tightening tool - use it Every Dang Time. I'm not kidding. Even if you tighten them as tight as you can by hand, your cable can come unscrewed. Want to know the fun part? If your cable comes unscrewed while you are watching TV or otherwise distracted, you might not notice and keep knitting ... dropping your whole row. Keep in mind that this won't happen if you use the tool like you are supposed to. Don't let that scare you off ... one of my favorite sets of needles have a join like this. On the other hand, if you know that will irk you, seriously consider not buying a set that uses a tightening tool as part of the join.

Locking mechanism joins don't require a tightening tool. They remind me a bit of the locking join that connects the detachable mixing blade on a Kitchen Aide stand mixer. As long as you attach them properly, they stay tight. So why would anyone buy a set that comes with a tightening tool? The locking mechanism join is only found on certain needle sets. If those needles don't have the other features you want, you need to consider what your top priorities are.

Sharpness and Taper of Needle Point 

This is a fabulous comparison shot of needle tapers and sharpness as an example of how tips can vary(photo credit: Jillian Mellen). For some knitters, a needle is a needle. Nuff said. For others however, the right tip really matters. For those needle geeks out there who focus on the minutiae (waving my hand over here), this is an important part of choosing a set. I don't have comparison shots of all the tips out there but take a look at the variation within just these two brands...

These are all size 5/3.75mm needles. From the top:
Skacel Addi Lace (fixed circ shown - Addi lace interchangeable needles are made with the same point shown above but with a different finish than pictured)
Skacel Addi Turbo
Dyakcraft Darn Pretty Metal (Mountain Mist)
Dyakcraft Darn Pretty wood regular
Dyakcraft Darn Pretty Lace
The Long and Short of It
Before buying an interchangeable needle set, I highly recommend buying a fixed set of needles in the material/tip style/tip length you are considering and knitting a WHOLE project on them. Knitting a test swatch in the store is simply not going to give you the data you need to make an educated investment when choosing between sets. While you can easily resell an interchangeable needle set, keep in mind that many other people might dislike the same features you do ... leading you to take a loss in reselling (ask me how I know). While this won't give you information on how you like the join of a particular set, it will help you decide on other features. There is no perfect set, no best set out there ... but with some research you can hopefully find the best set for you.


**I am in no way connected or receive reimbursement/product/kickbacks/magic powers from any of the companies mentioned here. All products mentioned were purchased by me or by the fabulous chiquita who shared her pic, generally using standard shipping which I immediately regretted as it takes too flipping long.**

Loose tea. Tame that bad girl.

Long story short: I heart tea. If you've been following along you may have read some of my previous posts on tea and you may well be sick of the subject. So sorry, mea culpa.

Now for the rest of y'all.

I talk a lot about loose leaf tea. Why bother? I'm sure there are many erudite reasons for loose vs tea bags. Come on, you know how to google. Yes, I do use loose leaf tea because I find the taste more full, more fresh but for me it also feels ... serene, peaceful, elegant, sensual, exciting. I wipe noses and say things like "STOP LICKING ME!!" all day long (and often at night) so you can see why a little cup of grace might be attractive.

Like my last post, this is just my opinions and your mileage may vary.

So when you make loose tea, you basically need something to boil the water, something to steep the tea in and something to strain out the leaves. I'm going to talk about some of the things you can use for each step, from basic things you may have around your house to fancy expensive doo-dads. I'll point out what I use myself and why and what I don't. And so ... away we go.

Boiling

Duh.You can use a pot. Any old pot or pan'll do but if you want to be specific, one with a pouring lip is better. Another simple thing to use to boil water is a microwave - fast, simple and if you have a good sized microwavable measuring cup, it makes pouring darn easy.

Some other options are a tea kettle (ye olde whistling kind or not) or an instant coffee machine like a Keurig.

Here is my pretty kettle/teapot ...

Here is why I love it. It's excellent for both boiling and steeping and it holds a whole lot. And it's vintage and purty and makes me smile. Most folks don't make enough tea to need something like this but I tend to make a pot and drink it all day so this rocks.

Steeping

You can pretty much steep your tea where you please - in a mug, teapot, or some fancy gadget that has a built in steep mechanism (more on that later).

I steep my tea in that pot above (see why I love it?), a smaller tea pot, or  a mug with a strainer in place. If you are someone who only makes a cup, a teapot is total overkill but if you regularly make cup after cup, consider getting a pot appropriate to the size you want to drink. While many folks get ornate cast iron post now popular everywhere from tea boutiques to Target, think about how heavy they are PLUS the added weight of a quart of water. 

I found my vintage Corelle pot on Etsy but there are hundreds on eBay. They are lightweight, very affordable and boil quickly.

My smaller pot is the Dripless Teapot from Teaspot.com They now have a newer model called the Mod Pot with a special basket that fits it better than the Tuffy Steeper but I'm pretty sure the design is the same.

This pot holds 20oz and was fine for me alone but not enough for me to pour for myself and two girls. It really is a dripless pot and that is truly awesome.

Straining

This is were new loose tea aficionados often get cranky. They buy a lovely bag of loose tea and a pretty tea ball or a clampy style weird strainer thingy. Maybe a pretty strainer they can set on top - you've seen them. They follow the directions, measure out their tea and wait with bated breath... and then they proceed to pick the tea leaves out of their teeth.

So what can you do on the cheap at home? Well for one, don't try to use a coffee filter. Trust me. Mess. Burns. You get the idea. If you have a small mesh strainer, go for it but be aware that it may let some tea through. 

Stay away from those tea balls on chains, etc etc ... they just don't work and are often hard to clean. There are disposable choices and reusable choices. Touching on disposable briefly, you can get paper tea bags you can fill yourself but they aren't cost effective if you will be using them often. Other similar options are muslin bags that you can reuse for a while but these also do not last forever. If you want to be crafty, sew your a bunch of own and put a wee drawstring at the top - any white cotton cloth will work fine.

One of my steepers is The People's Brew Basket made by the Republic of Tea.  This is an affordable, effective steeper with super fine mesh (filters out most of the finest particles of your blend). The one I have is about 15 years old and still working fine. It cleans best if you rinse it out when the tea is wet. The only downside is that it can be too small for some pot openings, and sinks down below the lid in some of the very large mugs. I've actually set this inside some of my larger steepers when brewing a pot of rooibos tea, which tends to evade even the most challenging steeper.

Another one I love is this large Steeping Mug from The Tea Spot. The strainer is very good except for the fine rooibos teas. The strainer is slick and smooth, dishwasher safe. It cleans completely easily and rarely gets leftover tea stuck in the holes. My children killed my mug. I'm still in mourning. I still use the lovely strainer in regular mugs. The strainer is actually available separately but you need to call directly to get the link to order.

My last strainer just arrived today so of course I've already test-driven it. I'd been having trouble finding a deep steeper that would hang on the wide rim of my Corelle teapot. This large Finium Brewing Basket seems to fit the bill. I was impressed today how well the water flowed through the filter and was shocked that absolutely no rooibos got through into the brew. 

As I mentioned above, you can also get a gadget like this that steeps and strains as one unit. This is referred to as a gravity teapot. I've had these and they do produce a nice brew. You fill it with your loose tea and boiling water and when it's ready, you sit the gadget on top of your much and a catch releases so that the tea flows through the filter into your cup. It does do a lovely job. I found it really fiddly to clean (personally) which was a major turn off. 

The biggest downside to this device is that I make quite a bit of tea at once ... but what if I don't use the last 6 ounces? I can't leave it in the gravity pot because the leaves are in there. I found myself having to put that last bit into an extra mug or a mason jar and tuck it in the fridge. There was no easy way to keep that extra warm and it just buuuuuugged me. So while many people love this, it's design just doesn't work for me.

So now you have an idea of what you need! Here are some great links on tea that may help you on your road to the perfect cup.

Caffiene and Tea - Did you know how you brew your tea affects the caffiene level? 

How to Brew it. Really. - 3 minutes at 208F? What does that mean?? Read this article for realistic instructions.

What is a Tisane - Is your tea really a tea?

Types of Tea - With cool pictures
My kind of Chai - a few of my favorite spiced teas


**I am in no way connected or receive reimbursement/product/kickbacks/magic powers from any of the companies mentioned here. All products mentioned were purchased by me, generally using standard shipping which I immediately regretted as it takes too flipping long.**

My kinda Chai

There are as many blends of spiced teas as there are kinds of homemade tomato sauces so I warn you in advance, these are only my preferences. Both my grandmothers served me tea from a young age so it has always been a source of comfort - and at times, indulgence. Winter months in New England have me craving the familiar warmth of tea and I love sharing this tradition with my own little girls.

These teas are a few of the blends that I have loved for many years. While I continue to try new brands and often swing back and forth between tea bags and loose tea, these remain my favorites.

My first childhood memory of spiced tea was my mother's Bigelow Constant Comment (still available today). This one brings back memories of my mother's flowered mugs and afternoon snacks. I love that this one brews up strong and robust, even in the decaf version. For cinnamon purists,  try their Cinnamon Stick blend.


Not long after, my mother (Brownie leader, Craft Faire organizer and all-around extraordinaire) was given a handmade Christmas present of spiced tea in a jar. The giver included a recipe on it and while I remember it was labelled "Wassail", I've since heard it called Russian Friendship Tea as well as other names. During my years studying singing I always made sure I kept a batch on hand.  Here is the recipe from that first jar. There are many alternate versions on the web  - some using lemonade powder instead of sugar.

1 1/2 cup Tang or similar powdered orange drink
1/3 cup unsweetened instant tea (lemon flavored is ok)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix together, store in a tightly lidded container. Add 1-2 tsp per cup of boiling water and stir. (Can add more or less of any ingredient to taste. Can add more or less mix to boiling water as preferred. This is a fairly sweet drink, almost more of a hot punch.

As winters passed I found more lovely teas to warm me up on the way to the chemistry building on the absolute other side of campus.

From Celestial Seasonings I found both caffeinated and herbal varieties. Nutcracker Sweet (available in winter) has lovely vanilla-cinnamon flavors blended with black tea, soothing without being too sweet.

Bengal Spice herbal tea is a fantastic wake-up cup for folks who avoid caffeine. True flavors of India - ginger, cardamom and cloves - are balanced with deep rich roasted chicory and hints of black pepper.

This tea reminds me of Organic Chemistry II.

It sucked. Seriously. I had to take it twice and still only came out with a D+.

But the tea didn't. I found Republic of Tea's Cinnamon Plum and held on tight. I loved the sweet tang of the plum (made fuller by the addition of elderberries and sloeberries) with the full black tea.

My Sri Lankan roommate introduced me to loose leaf tea that year and I was happy to find that RoT sells this blend in both bags and loose leaf versions.

(Disclaimer: I also heartily adore Ginger Peach tea made by RoT, which comes in Decaf and loose leaf versions but that's not spicy so it gets no love in this post.)

Just realized I'm out of this tea. Hm...


As I settled into married life, my husband and I began exploring herbal medicine as a way to deal with the myriad of bugs we caught at our health care jobs. Herbal medicine is so firmly based in tea that I spent a fwe years focusing on that, forgetting the value of warming spices.

Fast forward many years. Chai is introduced to mainstream America and suddenly, wham, I was overwhelmed with Chai choices. The biggest downer? In the initial years of Chai being sold in US markets, many companies prepackaged the tea bags with powdered milk as traditional Chai is prepared with milk and sugar. Ick. No no no. The prevalence of milk turned me off of the Chai market for years ... until...

It took many years but after trying many brands and flavors I've happily added three new favorites to my pantry (what me, picky?).

.

As I mentioned last winter, my favorite brand of loose tea is from The Tea Spot. I love them. Swoon. In fall 2011 they introduced the loves of my life. Oh ho ... you think I jest? Silly human.

Before you read futher, be aware that these are limited edition seasonal blends. Get em quick before I buy up the rest...

This is their Holiday Spice tea. Nom nom nom. If it wouldn't turn me into a shakey, sleepless maniac I would brew this in mass quantities. Me + too much caffeine = a hot mess. Literally. Hot sweats, nuff said.

Rich, full bodied black tea is blended with clove oil, cinnamon, orange peels and what they mysteriously call "aromatic holiday spices) . I love how smooth this blend in while still being enormously flavorful.

And so what DO I drink in mass quantities? The sleeper hit of my tea shopping adventures ... also by The Tea Spot, Red Hot Chai.

I'm going to go on record as saying: I do not typically like roobios tea. I've tried to like it. Ooooh health benefits, new flavor combinations. Blah ... never happened. I had a brief fling with honey bush but it still just falls flat for me.

Until now. This tea flipping rocks. I'm not kidding ... it's spices are bold and flavorful with out being  bitter or one-dimensional. Deep vanilla notes and the honey-hints from the red rooibos make this a well rounded full tea that I seriously make by the pot. My children absolutely adore it and I love the healing nature of the Indian herbs and spices used in it.

The newest addition to my crew is my most precious however...

This fantastic Gunpowder Chai tea found at Simpler is a hand blended mix of Gunpowder green tea, fennel seed, nutmeg clove and cinnamon. I love the light clean taste of this tea and really appreciate the way the mellow green tea doesn't overpower the spices. I tend not to be a huge fan of green tea but this is flavorful without being grassy.

This one tea (sipping it as I type) is set apart by the the fact that it is made by hand by Sam Tower, a hard working cop, loving husband and dad and an herbalist who follows my own herbalist path - simpling. Having known their family virtually for years, I feel comfort and company in every cup.

As you might think, using loose leaf tea has many options for producing a good cup. I'll be blogging about tea brewing resources and steepware in my next post but right now, I need to get another pot on. Enjoy!

ETA ... and here it is Loose tea. Tame that bad Girl.

**I am in no way connected or receive reimbursement/product/kickbacks/magic powers from any of the companies mentioned here. All products mentioned were purchased by me, generally using standard shipping which I immediately regretted as it takes too flipping long.**

A few of my favorite things ... Day One

I was driving along the other day and thinking, "I love my car ... MAN I love this car!".

Then I realized I have quite a few special treasures that I just adore. Since that SCREAMS blogpost, I made a list and decided to write about them. Over the next few weeks as time a health allow, I'm going to talk about the things that make me smile. You're going to notice that many of these are my favorites because of how they impact my energy level or my different abilities but some are just fun :)

2007 Toyota Matrix in speedway blue

So this summer (after more than a year of not being able to drive) I traded in my behemouth minivan for this sweet little car. Yes, it really IS that color - so freaking easy to find it in a parking lot! The doors are lightweight, not draining to open or shut. It has a glorious sunroof that lets me have the sun shine on me year round. The tailgate has my favorite feature ... I can pop open the glass on it and load my groceries in without hefting up the whole tailgate! I love that the windows are NOT tinted because they obscure my vision less. It's easy to park, easy on my arms/back/neck to turn and drive. I love that it gives me freedom and I love that it was a bargain and I LOVE that when people look at it they smile and say, "Now THAT is a Melissa car."


Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Harmony Wood Circular Knitting Needle Set

I've had this lovely set since Christmas 2009. It was a fantastic present from my parents that has really helped me become more comfortable as a knitter. The warm wood is comfortable for my hands, the tips are the perfect length. I love that I can store the cables coiled and they don't stay loopy. The tips are sharp and pointy, yet strong.

The only cons to these needles don't really bother me. The first is that the join requires you to use a small tool to tighten it. Possesed with knitter's hubris? Think you can hand-tighten it? BAD plan. You'll find out (as I did, on at least three separate occasions) halfway through a row that your tip has come unscrewed and you've dropped thirty stitches. Note that I kept trying this. I tend to be chock full of hubris ... but now I tighten the tips.

The other con is that unlike a number of other sets, the shortest cable is only 24 inches. Denise, Skacel Addi Lace, Colonial and Webs all offer shorter lengths.




Scentsy Warmers

When I was in college I was a huge Yankee (Colonial, Partylite, *insert smelly candle brand*) Candle fan. I used to love their wax tart burners but was less than enchanted by the soot build-up inside so i mostly stuck with my candles. And then the small people entered my life.

I can still light candles if I place them carefully away from small hands, but then they are generally out of my sight/smell ... so what is the point? I've tried essential oil diffusers (even serious professional grade ones) but the fragrances seem to irritate my husband and kiddos more.

This year I bought a Scentsy warmer to try to get some of that old yummy scent going through the apartment (I went with Christmas Tree, Autumn Sunset and Reggae Sunset) and it's pretty cool. It's just like the candle-based wax tart warmer except uses a small lightbulb to warm the wax. It also uses a smaller pieces of wax that are much more affordable. Gotta love that! So far I love the smells (and want to try a few I smelled at a friend's house - Mr. Watson and Honey Pear Cider), the ease of use and the way it looks. Score!

So those are three of my favorite things ... I hope I didn't bore you completely. More to come as soon as the small people allow!

Fine print: I don't benefit  in any way from product mentions in this blog.

Addi Lace Clicks Review (for you, Jillian)

A few weeks ago my long-awaited trip to Stitches East went horribly awry. I consoled myself by spending the last of my birthday money on a set of Addi Lace Clicks interchangable needles. I'd wanted these for quite awhile, having fallen in love with the Addi's Lace Circulars during my shawl-a-thon last spring.

Sorry this is lacking in pictures but I wanted to get my impressions down while I was thinking about them. Below my thoughts I'll list my impressions in bullet points including details like tip length, needle material, join mechanism and join smoothness.

My initial reaction was Ooooooooooooooooooh. How lovely! How pretty! The case is streamlined and relatively well-designed, with magnetic closures and a zipper pocket for any small bits you may need. I quickly sat down to cast on the Montego Bay scarf in some gorgeous Blue Heron Rayon Metallic (in Day Lily) and my heart fell. I had heard that Addi had encountered difficulty achieving a smooth join when producing the tips using same bronze finish as found in the Addi Lace Circular needles but I hadn't thought about how that would impact the feel of the needles or the slide of the yarn on them.

The Lace Clicks are made using the same material as the Addi Turbos while retaining the finer, more elongated tip of the Lace Circulars. One of the things I loved about the Addi Lace Circs was that it had a gentle grip - fantastic for slippery lace yarn. The Lace Clicks are super slick. After the disappointment of missing Stitches, I just burst into tears. I've always avoided metal needles because I have trouble managing slick yarn when my hands are fumbly.

Time went on and I used them here and there for smaller swatching projects ... I began to enjoy the slickness of the yarn on the needles. Holy moses they are fast. I picked up my Lace Circs to knit a pair of gingerless mitts and ... hmmmm ... suddenly they were too grippy!  Interesting.

Mitts finished, I decided to cast on a matching scarf. I cast on using sz 10 Addi Lace Clicks and within two rows my hands began to ACHE. I realized the problem ... the needle tips are too short for comfort. They need to be shorter to accomodate the 16inch cables in the Clicks kit but OW ... my hands cramped all up. I quickly switched it over to my Knit Picks Harmony interchangables and the ache eased.

So here is the nitty gritty of it all...

Addi Lace Clicks -
~  fantastic fine point, as sharp as Harmony needles but more elongated. Better for lace knitting

~ slick speedy material. They are lacking the grip of the Addi Lace Circs, so if you are in love with that these might not be the needles for you.

~ INCREDIBLE join mechanism. If you have a KitchenAid Mixer you'll recognize the connection. It's very similar to the connection that KitchenAid uses to lock the mixing blade onto the mixer. Absolutely fantastic design, super secure. No more needle tips unscrewing mid-row and dropping a billion stitches (I've had this occur with the Harmony tips and have run into alot of frustration when I misplace the tightening tool required to tighten the Harmony tips).

~ pretty smooth join. The folks who sold the set to me gushed ridiculously about the join but it was not as impressive as I thought it would be. It's most likely the best join possible using the secure locking mechanism and that particular needle material, but I think it's about comprable to the KP Harmony join. In fact, the Harmony join seems a bit better at times.

~ bendy cords in a wide variety of lengths, printed with the length. It's very handy to have the short lengths of cords but quite honestly I would rather have longer tips for comfort. They fit nicely into the zipper pocket on the back of the case but they seem to hold their loopiness a bit too much if they stay rolled up in there. Harmony cables are equally flexible and seem to resist getting too loopy if stored rolled up (a big plus when using long cables for Magic Loop knitting) but I do love that the Addi's have the length printed on them.

~ size printed on the needle tip. Holy cow I love this. Loooooooooooove. Harmony tips don't have this.

So that said, I like the Addi Lace Clicks, but don't *love* them. I'm absolutely not interested in rehoming my Harmony needles any time soon but the Addis have enough positives going for them that I am going to hang onto them as well.

Hope this gives some feedback to those who are interested!

Just noting: I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned above.

Tea. It's safer than skydiving.

Oh my. It started out a rough day and it just kept going that way. On the plus side I have a hot new (to me) ride with a sick CD-changer. Yeah, I have a clue what I'm talking about. All I know is that people large and small have been barking/whining/yelling/apologizing at me all day, had a 1 hr drive to a far away dealership where we had to wait around for close to 3 hours yet I managed to trade in my van for a rockin deal on a car I can drive a wee bit and NOW I NEED SOME FREAKING TEA.

I poured myself a nice big honkin mug of tea before we left on The Mission and left it at home. Then I got home, refilled it from the lovely pot, went to help a crying small person and a large person inadvertently dumped it in the sink.

Whimper.

(** intermission music while I go put water on to boil ... **)

Ok water is set to boil and, much as I crave to brew another pot of Thin Mint Green, I think I've had enough caffeine today to power my snazzy new-to-me wheels. Soooo ... I'm making up a pot of Meditative Mind. I'm slightly dubious of any tea that contains alot of small whole rose buds but hey, we'll give it a go.

Since I have some time here while the water boils, then cools for three minutes (yes friends, it says that in the instructions), steep for 3 minutes and then cool so I don't add burned taste buds to my list of fun today, I'm going to see what else I can review before the small people begin screaming again.

Have you noticed that I tend to use exhaustive run on sentences when I'm exhausted?

ANYWAY.

Something I forgot to mention about Thin Mint Green (and some of the other teas available out there) ... you can brew it more than once. I heart this - I do I do.

Jasmine Green Pu'erh - Wikipedia has a ton of info on Pu'erh tea as does Teaspot. I've always been curious about trying some and I love jasmine green tea so I ordered a sample of this one. First impressions - the mini tea bricks are freaking adorable ... honestly, I opened one and just wanted to love it and hug it and call it George. The scent is fantastic ... not too light, not too cloying. The brewing instructions confused me a bit however. The package recommends 2-6 minutes while the website recommends steeping one minute the first infusion, adding 30 seconds each infusion (it can be infused three to four times). I steeped the initial brew for one minute, I think, and it was absolutely lovely. Luuuuuurvely. A nicely flavored green tea with a pronounced but not overwhelming jasmine scent.

On the second brew I couldn't remember what I had done the first time so I did it by the package and brewed it 2m 30sec. Eeeeeeeeeewwwwk. It was so strong and bitter that I could hardly drink it. Interestingly enough, when my husband tasted it he said, "Eeeeeeeeewkk" as well but not because it was bitter. He just couldn't stand what he considered "too sweet" ... the jasmine notes. Right then.

As I said, I really love this tea but I don't really love the tea brick concept. I think I'd really enjoy trying the Jasmine Pearls Green tea to have a jasmine green in my cabinet and the Organic Loose Black Pu'erh to see how I like loose pu'erh tea.

Bolder Breakfast Tea - This would be the tea I drank a bit of this morning, forgot at home and then had dumped out before I could enjoy it all of it. My first impressions were not super favorable. I didn't really dig the darkness of the flavors or the chocolate notes. This  is a true black tea and has the highest caffeine content available on the site. It is a blend of black teas mixed with black pu'reh and what they call "dark chocolate essence". Huh? Ok. Anyway I was writing the Thin Mint review while I drank my first mug of it, thinking, "Hrmph ... wish this was Thin Mint."

I honestly don't think I gave it a fair shake and I'm so happy that Teaspot samples make a few mugs of tea. I'll get back to you with more on this later when my body can handle a serious jolt of caffeine. For those who like cream or milk in your tea, this may be a nice choice. More to come on this.

And now the tea of the moment...

Meditative Mind - **drumroll** Ok, objectively, this is a gorgeous tea. It contains white tea needles, jasmine green tea pearls and a plethora of real honest to goodness pink rosebuds. It's fragrant and pretty to look at and, yes, very relaxing to drink. That said, I'm on the fence. I'm not big on "floral" and the rose taste isn't my favorite. It's an exquisitely done relaxing tea - the rose is well balanced with the jasmine and white tea without being cloying, bitter or overwhelming. I think I will reserve the rest of this sample pack for nights when I really need to relax. As it sits and cools the rose notes mellow and the jasmine scent lingers for a much more balanced taste.

Ok folks, that's four teas down and one mommy less likely to blow her top. I've been pondering the fifth tea, Climber's High, and I don't think it' a good idea for me to try it. I have high blood pressure so I need to avoid ginseng and licorice root :( I'm not out anything since it was sent along with my order as a free sample but fear not, it will find a good home ;)

Tea. It's more acceptable in your travel mug than tequila.

It's loose tea time in Casa di Gentile, folks. I'm not sure if its the early morning hustle for the school bus or the colder weather but either way, tea keeps me sane.

I was really disappointed last year to find my favorite tea company, Teavana, adding more and more nuts and/or sulfured fruits to their teas. Since I'm really not big on needing a Benedryl chaser with my tea, I had to start looking for a new source.

I found Teaspot through jasmere.com ... its a funky website offering group deals for unique companies. (Disclaimer: I do not represent Teaspot or Jasmere.com in anyway, they don't know who I am and I don't get any sort of referral bonus or credits via that link). ANYWHO, awhile ago they offered a deal at Teaspot. Foolishly I didn't take advantage of it but when I found myself needing a new tea strainer for my pot, I wandered onto their site.

So. Cool.

I ordered a strainer and was thrilled to see them offer sample packs of their teas ... and $5 flat shipping. WOOT!

So since I have the attention span of a puppy (OOOH ... something SHINY! What where you saying?) I decided to write down my impressions of the various teas here so that I can remember what I liked when the samples are gone and I am ready to reorder. Because really, what is the point of getting samples if you then can't remember what you thought of them? Oh its fun being me.

So here is what I bought...
Thin Mint Green
Jasmine Green Pu'erh
Bolder Breakfast
Meditative Mind


and they awesomely sent me a sample of Climbers High, which was freaking awesome since I wanted to try that anyway AND it had no nuts or fruit in it (I'm still unsure of the sulfite status of the fruit in this tea but I love that there isn't fruit in everything). SCORE!

So here we go ... my thoughts on the first of these (the latter will come later). Keep in mind that I'm only posting my own opinions on these. I'm not a huge fan of green, grassy flavored teas or Earl Grey so I won't be trying any of those :P

Thin Mint Green - OMG yum. Ok I have to say that I am REALLY picking about my mint teas. I don't usually even bother trying them since they usually disappoint. In thinking about it, I realized that I like very complex, not overly sweet mint teas with alot of depth. For example Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime leaves me cold but their Sleepytime Vanilla is positively yummy (Celestial Seasonings has no idea who I am). In that case the vanilla still has a bit of sweet to it but it has enough depth that it's a perfect snuggly tea. BACK ON TRACK, MELISSA!! (See, just like a puppy ... SQUIRREL! ... what was I saying?) Ok, so Thin Mint Green. It. Freaking. Rocks. I'm going to order more ASAP because I don't want to face a morning without me. In fact its kinda killing me that I'm forcing myself to try all the others before I make another pot of this. It has a sharp, clear but rich peppermint taste with deep dark notes to it - the name really is perfect for it. While there is no chocolate in this tea, the website says the dark chocolaty notes come from the fact that the green tea leaves are roasted. I dunno. I just know that I tend not to like teas that have chocolate added but I heart this one. MWAH. Big kiss, Thin Mint Green.

Ok. More later. The cranky three year old needs to go to dance class :| Please feel free to message me with my errors in spelling or grammar. I'm exhausted but I do care about that stuff.

By popular demand ... Namaste Zuma Review

After I posted the review of the Namaste Laguna yesterday I had a few friends asking me to post one of the Namaste Zuma as well. I love both these bags, so I'm happy to!

I tend to like to carry as little weight as possible when I go out. As some of you know, I'm disabled and walk with a cane. Since I get tired easily, my life is an exercise in streamlining. When I go out to dinner with friends, all I carry is my JuJuBe BeMine, seen below, but in general I reach for my Zuma.

So here it is, in all its olive glory. And honestly, it is a GORGEOUS olive - buttery, rich and deep. Once again I am photographing it nestled cozily on my precious microplush Snuggy, next to an 8"x11" pad of paper for scale. True to form, I crammed it as full as I comfortably could ...

...with: a hardcover library book, a pack of wipes, my knitting, two boxes of raisins, an energy bar, two juice boxes, a bottle of spray handcleaner, a stack of tissues, my knitting patterns, my blackberry, my JuJuBe BeMine wallet, my eggplant Namaste Mini Cozy (holding scissors, pencil, pen & crochet hook), two pull-ups and a bottle of water.

That said, I could fit more. The front zipper pocket (where I slip my blackberry) has this interesting small accordion section. Would be good for dollar bills, business cards ... small light things. I could also fit more in the back zipper pocket - a PDA, wallet or small paperback might fit in there.

Here are the nuts and bolts on this bag. Namaste uses animal-friendly faux leather which feels more supple and spendy than most real leather bags. The color in real life is closest to the final photo. This bag is a handbag - no shoulder strap. I think it would be too much on this bag, so good call, Namaste. The handles are strong and sturdy, with a great hand-fell - not too hard.

The top is extremely well designed, opening up the full body of the bag - about a foot squared. It allows you to really use every inch of the large interior. Like other Namaste bags, it is designed with knitters in mind, keeping zippers to a minimum. It closes with THREE (that's right THREE) sets of magnetic closures. They securely, attractively close the top - nothing is falling out of this baby. As I mentioned above, there is a front upside-down-U shaped zipper pocket that has a PDA-sized front section and a unique small accordion pocket with a few sections. There is also a rear small to medium sized zipper pocket, almost hand's length deep and a hand's length wide. Interestingly enough, this pocket is the same size on both the Zuma and the Laguna. The base of the bag has the same super cute metal feet to keep your bag off the floor.

Moving inside, the bag is in some ways very similar to the Laguna. There are three internal pockets and they are all exactly like the Laguna in placement and size. On one side you'll find two side-by-side slide in pockets. One is large enough for a small to medium sized cell phone, the other for a PDA or wallet. The third pocket is a small to medium sized zipper pocket.

So. A friend asked me which bag would be better for her 9x6-ish inch Kindle. Well, the hardcover books in both bags are larger than the Kindle and fit in comfortable. If you want your Kindle to be in a separate zippered pocket, it would have to be in the Laguna, as none of the Zuma pockets are large enough. Another alternative (which I would LOVE a chance to fondle in real life) is the new this season Namaste Monroe. The Monroe is a true shoulder bag with THREE (swoon... thunk) truly separate compartments. A final option would be to snag a set of Namaste Oh Snaps!, slip your Kindle into one of those and slide the Kindle-filled Oh Snap! into your Zuma or bag of choice.

I hope that helps a little, ladies ... and I hope you are happy. Now I'm lusting for a Monroe to top off my collection ; )

Just wanted to add ... I've received no compensation for this review and all the comments/opinions posted here are exclusively my own! Thanks for reading.

So cool I had to review it ... Namaste Laguna tote

I haven't reviewed anything yet in this quiet little blog, but today a product just screamed, "REVIEW ME!". I took some of pictures of it nestled cozily on my Christmas gift from my kids, a stunning microplush Snuggy. I included pics of it, fully packed, next to an 8.5"x11" pad of paper to provide scale. Because why on earth would I be able to find a ruler?

Quick note: this is a review of the Namaste Laguna, purchased at Butterfly Yarns in Wakefield, MA via preorder.

As the northeast was pummeled by Storm of the Decade #2, I packed up the girls and headed to our favorite indoor play spot, The Klubhouse in Woburn, MA. Since my husband was dropping us off and leaving with the car, I needed to pack enough for the day. I grabbed my "bigger bag" - my Namaste Laguna tote that was already packed with my regular going-out-for-afternoon supplies...

...

which are:  my knitting, my JuJuBe BeMine wallet, my purple Namaste Mini Cozy (holding scissors, pencil, pen & crochet hook), an energy bar, a hardcover library book, my blackberry, spray hand cleaner, wipes, 2 pullups, a stack of tissues, 2 juice boxes and my knitting patterns.

BUT! My husband was leaving with the car and I was going to be there quite a while ... so I loaded it up some more ...

by adding to the contents I already listed:

my laptop & charger cord, a can of pepsi, a box of raisins, a purple paper hat, a bag of Sour Patch Kids jelly beans (MINE!), a small teddy bear, a bottle of water and a beribboned headband.

Maddie helped me pack :| And now it was reeeeeeally heavy. But IT ALL FIT!

Basically.

The laptop was about an inch too tall to slide into the laptop comfortably, and about an inch too wide to lay it lengthwise. It was ok for cramming for the day but I wouldn't attempt it on a plane or for similar travel. That said, a smaller laptop like the MacBook Pro would fit in there perfectly.

So here are the down and dirty stats on this bag. Namaste uses animal-friendly faux leather which feels more supple and spendy than most real leather bags. The color in real life is closest to the fourth photo - it's a rich tomato paste red. This bag has nice sturdy handles and a lovely adjustable shoulder strap that clips on with sturdy yet attractive metal clips. On the outside of the bag you'll find two decorative buckles and front and rear exterior pockets. The front pocket has a flap closure with two strong magnet sets. Digressing a minute here...

My very very favorite features of the Namaste bags are their magnet sets. They are strong, large closures, well hidden in the design of the bag. Honestly ... if I could invent the perfect bag closure system of my own personal nirvana, it would be the Namaste magnets. Swoon ... thunk.

And we're back.

Anywho, the rear pocket is small to medium sized (about a hand length deep, and a hand-and-a-half wide) with a zipper closer. The top of the bag is engineered to open as wide as the bag - it's unbelievable. Two strong magnet sets at the top (swoon ... thunk) hold it closed. On the base of the bag, five cute little metal feet keep your bag off the ground.

Inside the bag, zippers are kept to the minimum for the folks who use Namaste bags as knitting totes. The zipper-topped center divider pocket is perfect for small things I don't want falling to the bottom of the bag. This pocket runs about halfway up the bag, which concerned me at first - I had been expecting a full-on divided bag. I've found that the partial divider actually gives me more flexibility as I can pack stuff I want kept separate for quick grabs at the bottom divided sections and then pile more stuff on top. Incredible. The bag also has three more pockets inside. On one side you'll find two side-by-side slide in pockets. One is large enough for a small to medium sized cell phone, the other for a PDA or wallet.  The third pocket is a small to medium sized zipper pocket.

The nice thing about this bag is that if you don't fill it up as full, the top flops right over and the bag looks smaller - which I love.

So that's the scoop on the Namaste Laguna. I also own the Namaste Zuma bag which is fun for when I can pack less :)

Just wanted to add ... I've received no compensation for this review and all the comments/opinions posted here are exclusively my own! Thanks for reading.