Helpful Hint #3 - For Take Along projects, avoid needles that make noise of any kind.

If you are going to have a traveling project that you work on during an event, where you are supposed to be quiet, this is a necessity. The worst offenders are aluminum straight needles. They do have a tendency to click-click-click as you are knitting. To us knitters, this is music to our ears. To mere earthlings this is, at the very least, annoying—to others, it’s akin to nails scratching on a chalkboard. No one is going to be able to concentrate on the event. The non-knitters in the audience (or congregation) are going to want to kill you; while the knitters will be shoving people (read: impediments) to one side, craning their heads to see what you are working on. There will, of course, be RESENTMENT, as they didn’t think to bring a project to the event themselves.

The simplest way to avoid this would be to just crochet; but again, you would still have to worry about dropping an aluminum hook on the floor. These, and aluminum needles, make the loudest noise if you accidentally drop them—don’t ask how I know this or how many times I’ve repeated the same mistake, thinking that “this time will be different.” I always tell myself that THIS TIME I’m going to be very careful…it’s always inevitable, too, that the one place you are going to drop a needle or hook is onto a hardwood floor. If there is carpeting, you will miraculously carry on without so much as a near-miss. Sometimes, the best idea is to use circular needles, even for back-and-forth knitting, so that you won’t drop a needle.

This is, of course, a perfect excuse to proceed directly to the nearest yarn store. Bamboo or wooden needles don’t make a noise. My all-time favorite, Addi Turbos, don’t make a noise. I know people balk at the price of Addis, but honestly, just weigh any cost against the prospect of dying of boredom during an event because you don’t want to bring noisy implements. Besides, they aren’t too expensive if you buy them at the rate of one per project.

Okay, some of us do more than one project at a time…LOL.