A 6 is a 6 is NOT a 6. Sometimes a 6 is 4mm, and, apparently, sometimes it is 4.25mm. The Boye dpns I had used on the Jailbird Cardy sleeves were 4.25mm. When I went to Wal-Mart to buy the 29" circ Boye they had BOTH 4mm and 4.25mm needles labeled and sorted as #6. That is a discrepancy in THE SAME BRAND. Irritating, no?

This has become relevant to me because, as I knew it would, this Boye I’m using for the body of the Jailbird Cardy is already wearing down at the tip. I checked my catalogs and found that Pony, Bryspun, Noble, Addi and Inox call a 4mm a #6, and Brittany, Clover and Crystal Palace are 4.25mm for a #6. Not even a 50/50 split. But at least they’re consistent, unlike BOYE. I went ahead and ordered a Clover from Elann because they had something else I wanted: an old Classic Elite pattern with a cardigan that may be just the project for my pile of Bottle Green Rowan Recycled Chunky.

Washed some woolies today. I read a while back in a Lopi book that they recommended washing the wool garments by hand then spinning them out in the washer to get rid of the excess water. I went ahead and tried it with a store-bought sweater today and it seemed to work well. I wonder about creases forming in pure wool sweaters this way, though.