It’s all about the Square…Needle That Is!

March 26, 2015

At first glance many people wonder how round knitting stitches can come off square needles.  Knitting needles are supposed to be round, right?  There’s a couple companies that are now making square needles.  Why the change?  Knitters who use the square needles say they can knit longer with less hand fatique.  Who wouldn’t want that?  Many people who may have arthritis, nerve damage, or their hands cramp while knitting find their hands are more comfortable while using square needles.  The thought behind it is that the flat parts of the needles allow the fingers to have more of a grip without gripping hard.  Others find that their gauge becomes more even.  

 

If your curiosity is piqued and you would like to try square needles for yourself, come by Nitro.  We carry Knitter’s Pride Platina Cubics, which are hollow brass tubes plated with chrome for a smooth finish and have a very sharp point.  They are available in fixed circulars and interchangeable.  We even have a demo pair for you to hold before buying.  Maybe you will find your new favorite knitting tool!

Grand Opening!

February 06, 2014

Thanks to all of you that came out Valentine's Day weekend for our Grand Opening festivities!  We are so excited to be part of the knitting community and appreciate all the support we have received from our family of knitters.

Why knitting is hot again

January 22, 2014

Knitting – once considered a necessary cost-saving domestic chore, a sign of sedentary dotage (something only for grannies) and an activity to keep women’s hands busy lest their pretty heads entertain too many revolutionary thoughts – is casting off its cultural baggage.

These days, knitting has become a DIY fashion statement, community activity, educational device, health-care tool (the “new yoga”) and new form of urban graffiti. (Okay, that last one has to be explained right away: Yarnbombing is an underground global movement by people calling themselves “guerrilla knitters.” They cover items such as buses, parking meters, telephone poles, trees, doors, benches – anything in the public realm – with colourful yarn as an act of feel-good community coziness. In fact, International Yarnbombing Day, an annual event, was started by Joann Matvichuk, a knitter and crocheter from Lethbridge, Alta., on June 11, 2011.)

“It’s about bloody time,” Kaffe Fassett, the celebrated American-born textile artist, laughs about the resurgence of interest in knitting. “It has taken people a long time,” he adds over the phone from his studio in London, England, “to appreciate that sitting down and rubbing two sticks together with a string of yarn between them not only creates something beautiful and truly creative, but is one of the most life-enhancing activities around. It just makes you feel good.” Fassett, 76, is the author of more than 30 books on quilting, knitting and embroidery; his work in those media has been exhibited around the world. Fassett has knit “everything from the tiniest little scarf for a teddy bear to huge hand-knit drapes featuring colourful fantasy maps of the world.” Lauren Bacall, Barbra Streisand, Candice Bergen and Princess Michael of Kent are a few of the people who have commissioned custom-knit clothing from him.