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

[yelley]

*swoop* yes?

oh, amigurumi. fuck amigurumi.

[calenlass]

But... but... sea dragons!

Oh poo.

[Barmymoo]

Well I finished the scarf I was knitting for Edith (it's more than five feet long!) and I've started knitting a pullover but it will take me years to finish because I'm only halfway through the ribbing and I've been knitting it for three days solid.

[Ladybug]

I'm working on two pairs of socks right now (jaywalkers and brainless), but I was dumb and started the brainless ones before I finished the jaywalkers, and the brainless yarn is sooo pretty that working on the jaywalkers (even though I'm past the heel on both) sucks in comparison.


Kinda lies a little bit, as the yarn is darker irl, but still. Pretty yarn <3

[Ladybug]

Done! Kind of, haven't weaved in the ends, because I hate that, but I want them marked as finished on Ravelry, so I might do it soon.

[Barmymoo]

It is not really knitting or crotcheting or spinning but I didn't think it really warranted a new thread.

Jackets for rescued battery hens! They are made of felt but there was, at one point, a knitting pattern which I wanted to use. Sadly I didn't get to it quickly enough so I guess I need to buy some felt.

[Ladybug]

Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat, summer version? Sort of really boring to knit, though I'm not sure why.

[elizaknowswhatshesfor]

Thought I'd start my first post with something little but fun I made for my boyfriend (seen modelling here eh-hum!)



I used quite chunky wool, so it came out huge, but he has long fingers so it doesn't look too terrible. I have since made around ten of these (With fleash coloured wool & a fair bit smaller) for little presents. I need a really good project to sink my teeth into, but can't seem to find a single pattern that really inspires me.

[Eris]

I am trying to knit my first sock ever! I normally only knit scarves, but have gotten bored of that and socks seem like a good thing to try. Yelley gave me a link to Silver's Sock Tutorial, so I am following that with some yarn I bought years ago for a scarf that I never did.

Four needles are really awkward! I am kinda getting used to them, but still end up holding them strangely. Nowhere near as hard as my mum made them out to be, though; she said I would be better off doing a jumper rather than socks.

[Linds]

Socks really aren't too bad. The only thing I had problems with at first were the heels, because I kept getting noticeable holes, but then I found a better way to make heels, so that problem was solved. I need to photograph the ones I've been making for my mom properly. They are perty.

[Ladybug]

My biggest problem with socks was that I'd make the last/first stitches on the needles too loose, no matter how much I seemed to tighten them.. This mostly felt like a problem when doing stockinette stitch, but it always showed a bit. I thought making heels would be difficult, but once I actually found a decent explanation (YouTube-videos!), it was pretty simple - both the "normal" one when going toe-down and the short-row heel or whatever it was when I knitted toe-up. The latter was way prettier, though, and I think I prefer toe-up anyways.

Switching from four needles to magic loop fixed the loose stitches, though - I still make the first stitch too loose, but the last stitch on the "other side" ends up being too tight, so they even each other out. And it felt way less awkward.

What's your favorite way to bind off socks when going toe-up? I've only tried two methods, and one of them (knit/slip one, knit one, pull the first over the recently knitted one, knit one, pull over..) always ends up being "too" tight (not unwearable or anything, just feels awkward), while the other one I tried was basically the same, but in pattern, and I managed to make one sock loose enough, but the other one ended up tight..

A couple of better (?) photos of the two most recent projects, both of which I'm pretty satisfied with - especially the socks, because I learned a lot and love the yarn:

(My summer hasn't included any knitting so far :/)

[Linds]

I've never knit toe-up. I start at the cuff, do a short row heel, and bind off with kitchener's stitch. That way the loose bind on stitches are useful as they don't make the cuff too tight.

[Ladybug]

The ones where I've started at the cuff are also too tight, so I guess I might need to try casting on in a different way or making it way looser than what feels necessary at the time or something. I've got huge calves, so it's really annoying.

[Eris]

Sock! all done! Now I want to make more, but I also want to make a pretty scarf with this yarn, so I am probably gonna unravel it and roll it back up into a ball.

[Trevlordyte]

[Linds]

It's so dead at work, I'm teaching my coworker how to knit. Sadly it's with size 0 needles from the sock I'm working on and he has large hands, but he's doing it!

[Elizzybeth]

So I've been getting back into crocheting and have begun teaching myself to do amigurumi.  I'm working on a granny square afghan (a bunch of 13-row squares in a bajillion different colors), so little amigurumi projects provide a nice break from endless rows of double crochet.

Here's my giraffe, rabbit, and frog:


And a better picture of the frog:

[Barmymoo]

I did some knitting today for the first time since I started uni! It looks like my jumper might be finished by the time I graduate.

Earlier today I was looking at a girl's knitted dress and wondering whether I could make one, but I think it might be a bit beyond me to invent a pattern. Plus I've been making this jumper since last November and I have done maybe a quarter of one side.

[Linds]

It's ok, I've got a pair of socks I've been "working on" since January and they are 3/4 of the way done. I am hoping to have them done by the end of the month.

Also, I'm teaching my 11 year old cousin how to knit! He knit a bit in the car today (we had a 3 hour drive to a funeral today) and I taught him how to bind off properly. Next weekend I'm going to give him some yarn from my ever growing stash that I no longer use and teach him a bit more. Maybe I'll get him to start a scarf or something.

[Jimor]

My great-aunt taught me how to knit when I was 9 or 10, still have the needles in fact. I thought it was cool, but I never had the patience to finish anything (unless you count a 2 1/2 foot scarf).

LOTS of knitters at sci-fi conventions, and last one I went to I actually got to see somebody finish a sock. 

There needs to be an Alton Brown of knitting.

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[elizaknowswhatshesfor]

I've made a couple of skirts by knitting squares & sewing them slowly together to make it up, it's much easier than trying to work out a huge pattern...it's also nice as you can finish a square really quickly and you feel lot's of little casting off satisfaction moments!

[Linds]

I've got a pattern for a skirt where you knit a bunch of strips and then sew them all together, which is good because sometimes I barely have enough patience for a pair of socks.

[Ladybug]

I have since the last time I posted found an awesome bind-off when knitting toe-up socks, that is super stretchy and great. It takes a little it longer, since you do it with a tapestry needle, but it's so worth it. Elizabeth Zimmermann's Sewn Bind-off, as mentioned last on http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html. It's superb.


Hat I knit for my brother. I liked the look, but the yarn was weird cotton mixed with silk and something, so the shape ended up being weird. But he chose the yarn, and refuses wool of any kind, so..


Socks I improvised, sort of. Knit toe-up.


Super-simple hat, and I really hate ribbing, but these hats fit so well.


Mitered Mittens. Long ones, and I liked the idea of the length (which is why I knit them long...), but I'm not so sure about the result. My arms are fat.


Short, but awesomely soft scarf knit out of 50 grams Noro Silver Thaw. I kinda like that it's not long, because I rarely know what to do with long scarf ends.