I am about 3 inches into the body of the Leftovers Vest and it’s got to go. As it happened the only needles Styk didn’t have for my recent order were the 4mms I needed for the body of the vest. I decided to try knitting it on my 4.5mm Addi Naturas as I always seem to knit tighter on bamboo. I also knit slower, so it has taken longer than it normally would to get far enough along to be absolutely sure that I don’t have gauge. I am getting 19 stitches to 4 inches, which translates to about 2 inches more width than I need. As I see it my options are:

A) Rip out only the body and then:
1) wait 4-6 weeks for Styk to get new stock
2) pay nearly twice the price to get the needle from another Australian source
3) pay nearly 3 times the price to order them from the US (not very likely despite being a far nicer vendor than the more expensive Australian option)
4) Buy a set of Denise needles
5) get some Birch brand circs at my LYS. I know that I hate Birch circs so I would still end up getting the Addis when they come in and then spend just as much as option #2…

OR

B) Rip the whole thing out and reknit the smaller size with my existing needles at my current gauge.

I don’t know what my problem is. Ordering one needle from the more expensive Australia supplier is more expensive than getting them from Styk, but the difference is still only $6. Or I could just rip the lot out and reknit a smaller size but both options bother me. I guess I just don’t want to give my money to any business that routinely charges at least 30% more than their competitors and knitting the ribbing hurt my hands so I don’t want to do it again. I would really like a set of Denise needles in order to avoid just this problem, but Jesse is making noises about knitting budgets every time I raise the topic…

Tonight I am going to get out the sewing machine try to make Isabelle a dress.