Craft club topic of the month - knitting!
- Thread starter RubyToogood
- Start date
Siouxsie
Fashionable objector with a uniform fetish
Finished the man shawl (waiting for blocking) but still not decided on pattern for my summer cardigan. I am testing my fear of fine wool by using the last of my Mabel and Ivy and some 2ply Danish wool - Holst Garm supersoft (actually exactly the same as M&I). Have been looking at patterns for weeks but after the FairIsle fiasco, I am feeling a bit trepidatious.
Me76
Not very good lurker
That's lovely.
On Monday I'm going to start my next project even though the old one isn't finished yet. I feel naughty.
But I'm travelling so starting my friends Christmas wrap is going to me much easier to carry around than the end of the back of my jumper that's getting to the fiddly decreases and is quite heavy.
They use the same needles though, so I'm going to whack the jumper on some old yarn and then do the same to the shawl when I get back. At least that means the jumper should get finished.
On Monday I'm going to start my next project even though the old one isn't finished yet. I feel naughty.
But I'm travelling so starting my friends Christmas wrap is going to me much easier to carry around than the end of the back of my jumper that's getting to the fiddly decreases and is quite heavy.
They use the same needles though, so I'm going to whack the jumper on some old yarn and then do the same to the shawl when I get back. At least that means the jumper should get finished.
Daughter only marginally enthused about handmaiden shawl but otoh, my beloved red Noro scarf blew off the back of the fucking pick-up last week so I bought another skein of Handmaiden, plus 100gr of Vice variegated grey and also rounded up some kidsilk from daughter (from one of my futile knitting teaching attempts) and am now knitting myself a bloody lovely sideways swingy tunic...although it is veering dangerously close to old lady bedjacket territory, it feels lush. Also, after several pattern fails, have gone back to not using them but actually measuring stuff and working out proportions.
Mindless knitting though - have to keep swapping with the dragonwing thingy.
Mindless knitting though - have to keep swapping with the dragonwing thingy.
polly
Well-Known Member
It's been a bit hot for knitting but I've just got back from a week away with a lovely friend, who sent me a crocheted necklace on my return, so I'm knitting her some fingerless gloves using wool from the sheep on the farm we were at. Unfortunately I have half forgotten how to knit, and the fucking wool is also apparently much thicker than they think it is, so have had to adapt patterns massively and do some embarrassingly simple maths on the page for all to see and judge (43-22=?? 
). But nice to be knitting again, despite all the kvetching.
). But nice to be knitting again, despite all the kvetching.
Hellsbells
World's best procrastinator
I love this. And the room you're doing it in. Do you have a pattern? How long did it take? (think it take me a million years!)
Thank you Hellsbells. No, I didn't have a pattern but any basic shawl pattern, with 6 stitches being increased every 2 rows ( 2 at each end, 2 on each side of centre line) will give the same shape - many free patterns on Ravelry. What lifted this shawl, I think, was the surprisingly cheap Estonian wool...which has a long striping effect with very subtle and gradual colour changing. It was Kauni wool, 600grammes for around £10, mixed with some random purple 4ply stuff I had lying around - cost less than £20 and took around 3 weeks of (mindless) colourwork - 2 stitches of 2 colours. If you can do basic knit, purl and increases (I used yarn over), then you can certainly make one similar in weeks, rather than months...and certainly not years. Can send you details of yarn stockists if you like.
Hellsbells
World's best procrastinator
polly
Well-Known Member
I've started knitting again now it's got autumnal. I'm doing something quite straightforward but with loads of fucking knitting into the front and back of a stitch - like 29 in a row, several times. Has anyone got any advice on how to do this without it being ridiculously tight? I've got sore finger tips!
polly
Well-Known Member
Thanks moose. My tension isn't that tight though, generally, and I have tried keeping it looser but when I get to the kfb stitches it doesn't seem to help. The finger pain is from having to force the stitches along the needle
which is obviously far too tight. I'm probably just out of practice. Maybe my tension is a bit inconsistent.Just keep thinking consciously about knitting loosely. Deliberately knit over-loose till you get the hang of it. You'll probably knit right straight away. I used to be a really tight knitter, still knit quite tight but I like it because it produces tough objects. Push through it!
polly
Well-Known Member
Thanks 8115. I'll try that on the next one. I'm using smallish needles (3mm - small for me!) and magic loop, which always makes me knit tighter. I'm trying to knit looser but I don't want to mess up the tension and size. I think this is probably going to improve as I go on - tension is suffering after a few months off 
This shouldn't be happening polly. The key thing is to keep the tension loose in the (new) stitch loops you are making with your right hand. Do the first knit forward and loosely pull the yarn through so their is an element of 'give so you are ready for the next part of the stitch - knitting through the back. Because you have been generous with the right hand yarn, knitting in the back of the stitch should feel the same as going in through the front - none of the initial stitch has gotten tighter because you have knitted through the same loop twice... because you control the tension in the fist knit forward. Actually pretend you are just doing a normal knit stitch - it is that amount of pulled through,right hand yarn, which dictates the tightness of Kfb - not prior knit stitches you did on previous rows...and consequently, 'you are mistress of your own knitting' (the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmerman).
Apols for the garbled waffle - hope you can make any sort of sense at all.
I am using 3mm myself. Although I am not usually swayed by brand loyalty (and was highly sceptical that there could be any difference at all between what are essentially sticks)...but I am using the bloody marvellous Addi fixed circulars - light, smooth with a precision tip. A bloody joy...and worth every penny (£6 or so).
Apols for the garbled waffle - hope you can make any sort of sense at all.
I am using 3mm myself. Although I am not usually swayed by brand loyalty (and was highly sceptical that there could be any difference at all between what are essentially sticks)...but I am using the bloody marvellous Addi fixed circulars - light, smooth with a precision tip. A bloody joy...and worth every penny (£6 or so).
polly
Well-Known Member
Thanks campanula - that's not garbled at all and has given me a bit more insight into it. I'm knitting (the twee-est thing imaginable) vintage style Christmas lights (for friends with twee taste), so I will have plenty of opportunity to try your advice out because there are loads of the bastards. Cheers! Glad your needles are lovely! Mine are all cheapo shite from China.
polly
Well-Known Member
campanula That has solved my weirdly tight kfb stitch issue, thank you! In case it helps anyone else, I realised that I was holding the yarn a way that tightened the first stitch while I was going into the back to make the second. I think because of how it's anchored on my little finger, so there's not much give unless I pay particular attention to it. So thanks for solving the mystery and helping my fingers out 
edit sorry that is actually very garbled! It might make sense to someone having the same problem though
edit sorry that is actually very garbled! It might make sense to someone having the same problem thoughGood stuff, polly. I trundled through a 50 year knitting life, feeling I had learned most of what I would ever use...until the last couple of years when youtube invited an explosion of creativity and knitting refinements...including use of tools. I honestly don't know why I was so sceptical that great needles could make such a difference (well, partly because my wealthy stepmother-in-law used to bang on about them
) but when I caved in and bought my first Addis, I was shocked and annoyed at my earlier resistance. HiyaHiya are good too...but I don't care for those fancy wooden KnitPros...or any of the circulars with removable cords...as I inevitably unscrew the ends somewhere in the middle of a row causing chaos.
Intrigued by vintage christmas lights?
) but when I caved in and bought my first Addis, I was shocked and annoyed at my earlier resistance. HiyaHiya are good too...but I don't care for those fancy wooden KnitPros...or any of the circulars with removable cords...as I inevitably unscrew the ends somewhere in the middle of a row causing chaos.Intrigued by vintage christmas lights?
polly
Well-Known Member
Ignoring advice for a long time, caving and then bitterly regretting my stubbornness is the story of my life. So I might put expensive needles on my Christmas list.
The lights! I can screen shot the whole pattern if anyone wants it (it was a non-free ravelry pattern). I secretly like them but Christmas in this house is much less tasteful, so I'm giving them away.
The lights! I can screen shot the whole pattern if anyone wants it (it was a non-free ravelry pattern). I secretly like them but Christmas in this house is much less tasteful, so I'm giving them away.
Cripes...I don't manage repetition well (I did a granny square blanket once and after 94 squares, I abandoned the idea, turning it into a seat cover with a velvet backside. Second glove/sleeve/sock is a tricky enough one to get around - and has been a stumbling block in the past - several single socks and gloves still hang about in my knitting baskets.
If you do go for nice needles, don't ask for an expensive set (you will never use most of them) and yeah, avoid those circulars with removeable cords until you have tried some (I can pop a set in the post for a tryout if you like).
If you do go for nice needles, don't ask for an expensive set (you will never use most of them) and yeah, avoid those circulars with removeable cords until you have tried some (I can pop a set in the post for a tryout if you like).
polly
Well-Known Member
No, they are killing me with boredom too. And even in my short knitting career have two single gloves and half a mitten abandoned in my bag.
Thank you, that is incredibly kind! But don't worry - my husband will be glad to have an idea of what to get me for once. I thought I'd just ask for a single pair of circulars in a common size, to test them out. (I'm scared of removable bits too, which is ironic really, as one of my shitty circular needles did once break mid-row
)
Me76
Not very good lurker
I am starting to regret making a scarf. It is a pattern that changes every row so it's not entirely dull, but I feel like I've been making it forever and I reckon I'm only half way through.
I do have a jumper to sew up cos it was too hot to do that over the summer, but that's not that much more exciting.
I do have a jumper to sew up cos it was too hot to do that over the summer, but that's not that much more exciting.
