Knitting Needles

On Saturday afternoon, J and I went to Tommy Topsoil at Sowerby so that I could get some cocoa shell mulch  (very good for the garden, and smells of chocolate too).  When we got there, we discovered that it is closed on Saturday afternoons.  So as it was my fault (for not checking) that J had driven to Sowerby to no purpose, he took a detour to Mytholmroyd on the way back to visit an antique centre where we have had some good buys in the past.

He did find some things he wanted, I am glad to say, but also pointed out a bundle of old knitting needles that were very cheap.  

 I didn't really need to buy any knitting needles, but I have in mind to knit the Dofuko jacket from Knit Kimono by Vicki Square and the photo in  the book shows it fastened with some sort of pin (I think - I don't have the book yet but have seen it in bookshops).  In the bundle was a battered old wooden knitting needle, size 4mm, and I thought that if it was shortened it would do very well for the purpose.  And what could be more appropriate to fasten a hand-knitted jacket with?   

So along with the wooden pin, I have acquired a whole lot of other needles - well over 100. Some obviously quite old, including a lot of  slightly rusty double-pointed steel needles and several pairs of plastic needles, often with a shapeless blob of something unidentifable to replace the original end. 

 And lots of perfectly good pairs in all sizes from 2 to 14 (7 mm to 2 mm).   It's a mystery, though, why there are so many pairs of some sizes.  How many pairs do you need?  And why are so many only 10 inches long?  Not much use except for knitting baby clothes, I would think.  

Quite sad, really.  I imagine that the collection was amassed by someone over a lifetime of knitting, and then ended up in the antique market after she died.

I think I shall dispose of most of them (to a good home if possible), except where they are in better condition than the ones I already have. My  favourites are the pink shiny ones  (So pink! So shiny! So pretty!) so I might keep a pair of those too. 

 J pointed out that it would be easy to get very nerdy about knitting needles and start getting excited about all the different makes.   As well as Aero and Milward that are familiar, there are Phantom, Quaker Girl and Stratnoid.  (Who could think that Stratnoid was a good name?  Possibly memorable, but hardly euphonious.)  But I am definitely not going to start collecting different makes of knitting needle.