Deathflake Hat all finished

For awhile there I thought this might come out fitting my kids and not me. But in the end it worked out that it is my size. I have a few mistakes on this one when I went to neck down the top of the hat. So it is a good thing it is mine. Even with the mistakes I still like it. There are actually ten skulls on this five around the sides and five right at the tip top of the hat.

Olympics and Family

My father is a big collector of Olympic memorabilia. For his birthday this year he got to be an Olympic torch bearer how cool is that . Happy Birthday I know the day was great.

Friendship Bracelet

In high-school many years ago I learned how to make friendship bracelets no big deal. My friend Noelle was sitting across from me in art class making a simple one just stripes. We had both finished our art assignments so I just watched her for the last 5 mins. of class. That night I went home and tried to do what I had seen her do. Only I was on the opposite side of the table when watching her so it was all upside down and backwards. But because of that I figured out how the knot worked both forward and backwards. So I played with it for a few hours that night. By the time I went to bed I had figured out how to write words into the bands. After that I was making bracelets all the time for my Sk8ing buddies I probably made several hundred name ones by the time I left high school and probably over a thousand normal ones . I have made some since high-school but not many mainly for my children and such. Yesterday I found out one of those old buddies has a new baby so it seamed fitting to make this for John. From one old skater to another for his kids. I wonder how many of those old bracelets are still kicking around in my friends houses. Probably not to many. I have used cotton crochet thread for this one but I have used embroidery thread, sewing thread, flower thread and yarn for others in the past.

Useful info Size gauges

In the process of sizing the vintage needles I have I discovered that not all my needles would work with the size gauge I had so I went on the look for other types of gauges these are the three I currently have. If you have one that is different let me know and how it differs from these three and send me a photo and I will add it to this post so other people can learn for your knowledge too. If you leave the information in the comments I will try to pull it up into the post so that people don't have to read through all the comments to glen information. I have decided that all three of these are needed to make one good gauge and I will give you the reasons below under each gauge with a close up of it so you can compare too. That being said it is still not complete as I have yet to find a gauge for 00 and smaller sizes or larger than size 17. All gauges are obviously missing sizes 12,14 (I do not even think these sizes even exist as no gauge has them did they use to be made what is the point of skipping numbers anyway).

Lets get started

As you see they all are different sizes and shapes to start with and differnt materials

Boye Knitting gauge

This was the first one I bought it because it was all the store had.
pro's

1. clear and easy to read
2. has a slider to figure out the gauge. You move the slider till you have 10 stitches showing in the window then look at the number the top pointer is pointing at and that gives your stitch count very little counting
3. has all the basic sizes of needles
   
4. has big numbers to read the sizes easy
5. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
6. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
7. hand size
   

cons

1. no metric numbers
2. some of my needles fell between these sizes not sure what they where so I had to set them aside so as not to mix gauges
3. no ruler to figure out yarn gauge
4. lettering can rub off easy with time not engraved
   
5. looks like the slider edge will break easy ( not sure not going to try it out either)
6. no letters for sizing needles
7. instructions on separate sheet if you forgot ho w to use this or found it thrifting it could be confusing to use the slide gauge
8. have to move gauge to figure out both rows and columns not easily done in one shot
9. obviously missing size 16
   
10. slider pops out easy thus making the tool useless for stitch swatch count if that is lost
    

Susan Bates knit-check

This is the second gauge I bought
Pros

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. works for crochet and knitting
3. metric measured sizes
4. alphabet sizes
5. American sizing
6. gives you instructions on the item as to how to use it can't loose the instructions
7. size big window to make it easy to count both rows and columns at the same time to get gauge
8. has inch and metric ruler to figure out the gauge of unknown yarns easier nice that they are opposite each other
9. metal feels sturdier than the plastic ones
10. hand size
    

Cons

1. lettering will wear off in time not engraved
2. some of my needles fell between these sizes not sure what they where so I had to set them aside so as not to mix gauges
3. doesn't go as high in needle sizes as Boye
4. thin metal scratches needles
5. because it is thin metal hard to tell if it is an good fit
   

Lion Brand Yarn

Pros

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. works for crochet and knitting
3. metric measured sizes
4. number sizing
   
5. American sizing
6. travel size
   
7. has inch and metric ruler to figure out the gauge of unknown yarns easier nice that they are opposite each other
8. has sizes others do not have all my normal size needles are accounted for note 1 1/2 mark and two different size 3 markings and two sizes between size 10 1/2 and 11
9. lettering will not wear off in time it is engraved if the pigment comes out you can always rub a black crayon over the areas to fill it in again and then remove the excess crayon .
10. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
11. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
12. hand size even pocket size
    

Cons

1. alphabet sizes missing
   
2. doesn't go as high as the other two 16 (bates) and 17 (boye) are missing
3. double sided but no more information is on the back in fact it is missing information that is on the front would have been nice if the alphabet system was here or all info from the front was here so that it didn't matter which side was up.
4. hard to count stitch swatches on as it can shift easily when working with it.
5. have to count rows and columns separate when doing stitch counts
   

other info info that is useful to people
there are all kinds of information on the craft yarn council site
such as

• hook and needle size
• yarn weight and symbols

there is other information there as well just take some time and look around

I am also re-posting the link from my last post as to keep all the information together to help me and my readers. Thus link is for figuring out yarn gauge on unknown yarn
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If you know of one, a gauge, please let me know and I will do my best to post it here with the rest. In time I plan on having as many as possible here I already have plans for 5 more gauges on here so you can pick your favorite that works best for you.

All gauges after this point are ones I added to this post after the original post happened.

Nancy's knit knacks.

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. works for crochet and knitting
3. metric measured sizes
4. number sizing
   
5. American sizing
6. travel size
   
7. has inch and metric ruler to figure out the gauge of unknown yarns easier nice that they are opposite each other
8. has sizes others do not have
9. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
10. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
11. hand size even pocket size about the same size as the Susan bates which is the larger size of the gauges but that is to be expected with how many sizes it has on it
    

Cons

1. still missing 0000 size in small needles which is a size I use
   
2. 16, 18 missing
3. have to count rows and columns separate when doing stitch counts
4. words screened on will probably wear off in time

Turbo Needlegauge Skacel Collection

Pros

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. number sizing
3. travel size
   
4. has smaller sizes that some others do not have
5. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
6. 2 inch stitch count window at top
   
7. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
8. palm size even pocket size
9. quiet small for the number of needles it can measure
   

Cons

1. still missing 0000 size in small needles which is a size I use
   
2. 16, 18 missing
3. no ruler
4. numbers are awkward to read as it uses commas instead of decimals
5. paint will probably rub off in time
6. hard to count stitch swatches on as it can shift easily when working with it.
7. have to count rows and columns separate when doing stitch counts

Prym Knitting pin gauge

Pros

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. number US sizing on back
3. metric sizes on front
4. travel size
   
5. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
6. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
7. palm size even pocket size
8. quiet small for the number of needles it can measure
   

Cons

1. still missing everything below 0 size in small needles which are sizes I use
   
2. 16, 18 missing
3. no alphabet sizing
   
4. no ruler have to count rows and columns separate when doing stitch counts
5. numbers are awkward to read as it uses commas instead of decimals
6. paint will probably rub off in time

Balene II

1. has standard sizes accounted for
2. works for crochet and knitting
3. metric measured sizes
4. US sizing
5. imperial sizing British
   
6. number sizing
   
7. American sizing
8. travel size
   
9. has inch and metric ruler to figure out the gauge of unknown yarns easier nice that they are opposite each other
10. has sizes others do not have all my normal size needles are accounted for note 1 1/2 mark and two different size 3 markings and two sizes between size 10 1/2 and 11
11. thick plastic so it doesn't scratch needles
12. because it is thick easy to figure out if needle is a good fit
13. hand size even pocket size
    

Cons

1. alphabet sizes missing
   
2. doesn't go as high as the other two 16 (bates) and 17 (boye) are missing
3. hard to count stitch swatches on as it can shift easily when working with it.
4. have to count rows and columns separate when doing stitch counts
5. lettering will not wear off in time it is engraved if the pigment comes out you can always rub a black crayon over the areas to fill it in again and then remove the excess crayon .