Friday, January 23, 2009

My New Favourite Toy

Time for the second installment of Random Friday!
For a while now I've wanted a little scale to weigh my yarn. I figured that there were lots of reasons why I needed a scale, such as to make sure I'm using the same amount of yarn per sock. There's probably more reasons but I can't think of them right now :)
Shortly before Christmas, Heather, ever the enabler, pointed out this little beauty on Lee Valley's website. I asked for it from my parents and they were happy to oblige.

Look at how cute it is!


The inside view.

This scale is pretty teeny so my yarn cakes are too big for it. Luckily it has a tare function where you put a bowl on it and then with one click of the button it readjusts for the weight.

Here it is posed with my little yellow bowl and yarn cake.

This scale has been invaluable while working on my Clapotis. I calculated how much yarn I had for the whole project and then I figured out how much was needed for the increase and decrease sections (which each make up 1/5th of the total yarn needed). With this knowledge I knew when to stop increasing. Also, in theory I could tell by weighing my last ball of yarn when I needed to start the decreases. I say in theory because I finished knitting my Clap yesterday and I had tons of yarn leftover. I guess there were some flaws in my theory. For instance, I didn't actually weigh all 4 balls of yarn, I just weighed one and assumed that the others were the same. Oh well, it's definitely better to have too much yarn than not enough!

Next up, pictures of my Clapotis in action (mental note: take pictures this weekend when on the town with the girls.).

ETA: I'm getting married in 1 year and 4 months from today!

6 comments:

Bertha said...

Ooh, that is a cute scale! I use mine all the time for calculating yarn, and it's also great for weighing packages so I don't have to go to the post office (you can pay and print out your postage for things online and just drop them in the mailbox if you know the weight...not sure if Canada Post does that or not!)

Anonymous said...

That scale is adorable! I should get one too. I usually use my food scale, but I don't think it's actually that accurate.
I can't wait to see the pictures of the Clap!

Brendaknits said...

The digital Lee Valley scale was on my Christmas list, but Santa forgot it. I might just have to buy it myself.

Unknown said...

That scale would come in handy with all this handspun and roving that I'm messign with!

Anonymous said...

I think I might need a proper scale. So cute!

stephanie said...

Scales have lots of great uses for yarn! I borrow mine from work, although it would be nice to have one at home permanently!