New Knitting Thread (And spinning) (And crochet too I guess)

[Ally]

Because... I don't feel like digging up the old one.

Just finished my Noro scarf! These colors aren't really true; it is actually more muted and beautiful and there is a lot more blue than pink. Also my body looks fatskinny, thanksss myspace angles.



I am starting my first sweater soon (knock on wood)! Share your creations, please. Also ask for advice! We have many great knitters on these forums!

[yelley]

i finished the pinwheel sweater for my baby sis a while ago, but she just got it yesterday. i'm so glad it fits her and the sleeves are long enough to wear cuffed for a while. i used lion brand vanna's choice yarn, not a bad pick if you have to go 100% acrylic for something.




and now i'm working on the oblique cardigan from knitty. here is my pitiful progress so far, one sleeve that isn't done yet. yaaaaaay. it is a dark picture but the only one that shows the lace pattern. i'm using cheap junk again because it is what i can afford, yay! lion brand cotton ease in taupe, which i actually rather like.


pictures are huge because i'm too lazy to resize. ^_^

[Linds]

Lion Brand is actually pretty decent! I don't live near any good yarn stores, so I too buy the "cheap" stuff, but as long as it's pleasing to the touch, I'm ok with that. (I can't wear 100% wool, anyways, because it irritates my skin.)

I have several projects going on, because I can never seem to finish anything: 2 scarfs (one to match a hat I made last winter, one to potentially sell) and a crocheted baby blanket for one of my friends. (Placeholder for pics that I'll add later.) And I have a ball of thick yarn for a chullo-style hat that I need to get some dpns for, because all of mine are too small.

[ampersandwitch]

Hey guys.
Where could I go to actually learn how to knit?

[yelley]

i used knittinghelp.com and stitch n' bitch, the knitter's handbook by debbie stoller. but i was knitting incorrectly for a while and didn't realize until i knit with someone in meat life.

i would say see if you have any relatives or friends that can teach you. barring that, try to learn yourself and see if your city has a knitting group that meets regularly (check yahoo groups or meetup.com). or you could always sign up for a class at a big box craft store like michael's or joann's.

edit: or just come to qcon and eed and i will teach you how to knit ^_^

[valley_parade]

Okay so going to QCon if you're going to teach me to knit.

Maybe. I want to go visit family in California, too.

[yelley]

you could just come visit me in california and we could have happy fun knitting time there too ^_^

[valley_parade]

I'm already going to hang out with Kari (and maybe Patrick)!

This is a good plan. o/

[yelley]

\o you guys should come north though. LA scares me.

[valley_parade]

Oh, I'll be staying at my uncle's in Dublin for most of the time.

[Caiphana]

I know I knit incorrectly; I knit in a bastardized continental style (when I purl, I put the yarn below my working needle and pull it through instead of looping it around). But it works for me, and everything comes out looking correct.

[TwinkyToes]

Ooookay, so i should be pretty active in this thread

i made this yarn a month ago, it is plied five time with lace, tulle, white string, eyelash wool, merino wool, dress strips, tinsil. right now i'm thinking of calling it grasshopper hair...or maybe chronic . i added it to a huuuuuuge scarf that i'm making






here is a part of the scarf and the grasshopper hair part croche'd up pretty nicely.

[Caiphana]

teehee!

Monkey toes!

I do that too.

[morca007]

  - I guess chronic would be an accurate colloquial description (it looks like weed).

[celticgeek]

Great twinky toes, TwinkyToes.

[Ally]

Hey, I am JUST learning to spin, but I'm really terrible at it and I don't quite understand what I'm doing, since websites are giving me conflicting advice. Twinkytoes I'm going to ask you some questions and if you ever get a chance to answer them then that would be really cool.

When I spin my singles, do I want them to be reallllly twisty? Like "if you don't hold them taut they spin into themselves" twisty? And then does that twist go away when I ply them together?

I was going to spin during this break but now I'm afraid that I won't have time. :[

[TwinkyToes]

hey I get nervous giving advice because I NEVER do things how they should be done, but this is what i do and what works for me:

If it twists back on itself that usually means you've overspun it, so try not to have that. But after I've spun one single, or both my singles seperatly, i wrap them around something to set, like a dvd case or something that stetches the fiber out, then I dunk the dvd case with yarn into water (without the papering or dvd of course), and I let the yarn dry, further setting the twists. then you ply them together

i think some people unwind the yarn from whatever they set the twist with (in my case the dvd box) and then slap it against the floor or a tree or something - that's supposed to stretch the fiber more and fix any overtwisting you had, i think.

[yelley]

i want to learn to spin! but not really. because i probably wouldn't do it, or i'd love the yarn i made too much to even use it. ^_^

i ordered new needles! they are the harmony wood needles from knitpicks.

just one fixed circ and a set of 7 tips and 40 inch cable for now... i want to try them out before i commit to buying the whole set.

and i'm working on a new project. it will someday be a blanket... maybe? if i finish.

the squares are about 11 inches on a side, so i think maybe 20ish squares for a throw size blanket?

[TwinkyToes]

well on new year's eve, i got mightily stoned and finished my scarf. i also took some acid and did some drawings but i can't find those drawings at the moment and that's another story.

anyway, this scarf measured out to about 5 feet and 7 inches. it took me about 3...4 months? i am kind of slow






bonus "work in progress" pic!

[yelley]

wow, that is an epic scarf! did you spin all the yarn for it yourself?

i finished one sleeve of my oblique sweater today! it only took me a month... ^_^

[Ally]

Guys, I'm knitting a cardigan from Fitted Knits. Unfortunately, I did not check errata, and missed this:

Under Center Back Decreases:
“Row 8: Knit.
Row 10: Rep Row 2—109 (117, 125, 131, 137) sts.
Row 11: Purl.”

In the book, it tells you to purl row 10. As you can imagine, it REALLY fucked things up. I realized something was wrong but I was in school so I kept knitting, thinking that I'd make it work. Now I'm thinking about frogging. It's disappointing but I think I'll be happier with the end result, eh? DAAAAAANG

[yelley]

do you think you could use a smaller circ to pick up all the sts from a row or 2 before it so you don't have to frog the whole thing?

[Ally]

I'm not planning on frogging the whole thing, but I'm pretty far past it. I will have to frog a solid few hours of work. :[

[lilibet23]

That grasshopper/chronic wool would look so good for toy dinosaurs! 

 I've just started knitting again for the first time in ages, also moved to a new city and haven't found a wool shop I like as much as my old one, can anyone suggest a good website for cheap supplies?

(I'm the UK if that makes a difference!)

[yelley]

www.knitpicks.com

[Edith]

Sadly, knitpicks only ships within the US.

I see a lot of good prices on eBay in the UK, even with shipping to the states I sometimes buy stuff from eBay stores.

[Eris]

I have started knitting again! I haven't for a while, so it took a bit to get back into the rhythm. Unfortunately I started knitting the scarf late-ish at night, and after having to undo about 4 rows to fix up something, I am going stitch blind, and think that I have knitted half a row in purl instead of plain (or vice versa). But I couldn't be bothered undoing even more, so I have left it and am going to get Mum to look at it. Hopefully she won't do heaps of it while I am not looking.

[kelseyleigh]

I just started teaching myself how to knit about four days ago.  I am a pretty slow learner, however, and am about to try to master the purl stitch.  After this, I'm hoping to make a scarf because that seems pretty simple enough.  Wish me luck!

[Caiphana]

I'd like to state for the record that a plain hat is really easy and fun to make... and a lot less tiresome than a scarf.

[Linds]

I have to second that. Hats really are quick and some of them don't have to be knit in the round, which is better for beginners, and they are more fun. Scarves are easy, too, but they can get really boring, because they can take a while to finish.

[imboden]

Would it be weird for me as a 23 year old male to start knitting?

[yelley]

no. if anything, it would add to your attractiveness.

i recently taught jason (my boyfriend) how to knit. he is making me a dishcloth. it's starting to look like a well-made dishcloth! i'm so proud of him.

also... i received my harmony wood needles from knitpicks. in case you were wondering, they are amazing.

[Linds]

I actually was wondering, because I need some DPNs. Hopefully they have the size I need.

Edit: And they don't. Size 13 DPNs are kind of rediculous to try to find.

[yelley]

you could get a really long size 13 circ and do magic loop instead of using dpns.

[Linds]

Well, it's to start off a hat, but this magic loop thing sounds interesting, as I have a 13 circular. How do you do it?

[yelley]

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques

there is a video that shows you magic loop knitting on that page. you need to have a really long circular needle with a flexible cable. i haven't tried it yet, but i ordered new needles that i can do magic loop with so i will be trying it soon!

[Caiphana]

*stares*

omg, yelley, I love you. I hate using dpns whenever I get the itching for a hat, and I have this fantastic kit of circulars, but no small ones. I usually just crochet them (which I hate, because they're not stretchy enough) I have the perfect chunky yarn for a hat, too. I'm excited, now.

[Linds]

Ok, that's just awesome. And I can pick a circular with a longer cable at work tomorrow, as I work in a craft store! Yay! I can finally start this hat I've had yarn sitting around for finally! (This stuff in sky blue. I have a tweed winter coat, and there's some flecks of color that the blue matches.)

[Caiphana]

...I made half of a hat today with that spiffy needle thing. Then I realized I needed more yarn. I walked around wearing the half-hat on my head, attached to my needles.

And Linds, I love that yarn. I actually made my mum a scarf with the very same color. It knits up super quick and warm, and I love the way it drapes (not that it matters much for a hat, but still).

[Linds]

Yeah, I made a friend a scarf out of it a few years back and I liked both how it felt and how it draped, which like you said, is pretty nice. I can't make sweaters out of it, as it's too bulky for my body type, but I found a hat pattern I liked, so I decided to get some again! Plus, thicker hats are good things when it's cold out up here.

[Gemmwah]

This thread really makes me want to start knitting again, I used to do it when I was younger but I stopped because I lost my needles or something. Anyway, I can't find my other needles, or my mum's needles, which makes me think my dad threw them all out when he moved out of our old place, which is a real shame. I might ask my granny if I can borrow some from her, and some yarn so I can make myself a hat and scarf or something, just to get back into the swing of things.

[Linds]

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques

there is a video that shows you magic loop knitting on that page. you need to have a really long circular needle with a flexible cable. i haven't tried it yet, but i ordered new needles that i can do magic loop with so i will be trying it soon!

Ok, tried this today, and it works really well! The top of my hat is done and now I'm working on a brioche rib for the bottom, which is something completely new for me. Hopefully it works out ok.

[Caiphana]

I finished my hat.



I have a crappy webcam. And a messy desk.

But I like my hat ^_^



That's what it looks like without a person in it.

I love magic loop knitting. I would have been angry and have a bit less money without it.

[yelley]

the hat looks great cai... what sort of yarn is that?

[Caiphana]

Thank you!

It's Landscapes yarn from Lion Brand. The kind I used is Autumn Trails.

The only cruddy thing is that it felts if you wash it too vigorously.

[yelley]

and crochet too... i guess? guess?

[Trillian]

Pinwheel Sweater

I really want one...except in big people size.    That is so adorable.  And I am pretty sure that if I could do it I would wear it all of the time.

I am in the process of spinning for the first time, so we shall see how that goes.  I also am knitting a hat.  Pictures to come when all is finished.   

[yelley]

there is a free pattern for the sweater in big people size too... and you could totally make that... it's just knitting a big circle and then knitting sleeves in the round. there is no seaming! it gets boring, actually...

i made some thingssssss...

an amigurumi frog. his name is cedric. yaaaaaay.

a knit dishcloth and a scrubby thing. lame, but yaaaaaay.

i finished one of the sleeves for my oblique cardigan. yaaaaaay.

i am making good progress on the back piece too. yaaaaaay.

[Vouk]

omg it's kerotan! Oo <3

[peonyandocean]

yelley, the granny-type squares you are knitting are beautiful, really nice colors.

Do you have a ravelry account? It's great fun.