~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  Knitting Glass Guy Chris~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An Artist Product Review

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Okay, here's the scoop:  I met Knittingglassguy Chris on FaceBook through another friend of mine that had added him as afriend. Upon friending him, I discovered that he is a glass blowing artist that makes knitting needles, crochet hooks,jewelry and other doodads. Most of Chris's items are one of a kind can be custom made.I got a set of U.S. size 6, clear circular knitting needles (from now on to referred to as circs) with a clear cable and aU.S. size G, pink handled crochet hook. Chris also sent along a couple of extra goodies: a set of U.S. size 8 clear circswith a pink glitter cable and a black/red pendant.

The crochet hook was used first, to start a summer hat out of 90% superwash merino/10% nylon fingering weight yarn. Thehook is very beautiful, nicely balanced and feels good in hand. Unlike the aluminum straight hooks that I usually use, theglass hook is knobby and warms instantly in the hand. It feels very good and due to it's ergonomic design, it's verycomfortable to use. I have extra large, long hands and the handle is designed so I may hold it in several differentpositions. I'm about half way through the hat and it's going pretty good considering I'm someone that normally crochetswith a deathgrip on my hook. Chris's hook allows my hand to relax considerably. I'm experiencing comfortable crocheting forthe first time in several years.

I also cast on a scarf with the size 6 circs and some superwash merino in a Goth colorway. I used Maureen Hefti's RAIN ONTHE PRAIRIE SCARF, from the Spring 2011 Edition of Interweave Knits and modified it a bit to fit my needs because I preferskinny scarves. These needles are awesome. I was expecting some difficulty because the glass part of the circs are quite abit shorter and lighter than what I'm used to. I not only found them to be extremely comfortable  to knit with ad like thecrochet hook, they also quickly warm in my hands. They feel like air when I'm using them. The thing that most impresses meabout these circs, compared to all of the circs I've ever used, is the cable. The cable is made of this firm, but soft material that drapes very nicely while I'm knitting.

I've been searching for a very long time for circs that don't kink up,curl, or re-coil while I'm knitting and, at last, I've found some!! These are my comparison photos. 1) standard knitting needles. I tryed everything to straighten these things out, including passing the cable over a flame. They uncurled/unkinked for about an hour and then went right back to their original shape within an hour of sitting. 2) The new, pink, circs with a nice drapy cable and the standard kinked ones. 3) Chris's circs extended. You'll notice they hang down fairly straight while the standard circs still want to kink up. 4) The knitting transferred over to the new circs. They're quite wonderful to work with because they drape very nicely while you're knitting. The standards stayed kinked to whatever side I placed them and got in the way of my knitting, making me be mindful of not accidently knitting the kinked cable into my work (Yes, I've done that already!).

In conclusion, if you're looking for a set of awesome circs, excellent crochet hooks or a bauble, check outKnittingglassguy Chris on Facebook or email him for more info at knittingglassguy@yahoo.com !!

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