Craft club topic of the month - knitting!

[Callie]

Oh dear! Im a bit scared about going to the craft meet tomorrow now, I know nothing about knitting I hope whoever is going to teach me is very patient......cos I'm not

 

[madzone]

i'm knitting my first jumper ever at the moment - long sleeved mohair tunic in a really open guage, in this wool: look!

I've just done the front panel which is cool cos I got the neckline right first time, and now I'm doing the back

Pictures will be required!

 

[aurora green]

just found this sweet blog by a knitting enthusiast.

Haven't started anything myself yet, although I have been asked by a very artistic friend of mine, to make a T.shirt for a shop she is opening soon. Hmm.. <wonders if knitting could be incorporated into the design>

 

[Emma Herself]

Pictures will come, once it starts looking like a jumper!

 

[RubyToogood]

just found this sweet blog by a knitting enthusiast.

There seem to be loads of knitting blogs, and they're often very useful for seeing what other people have made of a particular pattern and problems they've encountered (plus pictures of the finished product).

 

[AnnaKarpik]

For a month or so now I've been knitting and unravelling something to wrap around me in the cold winter evenings from some variegated autumn colours wool that I picked up cheap in Abergavenny or Monmouth or something. I think I have finally settled on the size and increase style ( eyelets) and will finish in under 2 weeks. The garment might sometimes been called a poncho. Ahem. Sorry.

But I'm doing squares too, blanket squares. They're the aftermath of a foray into crocheted bedspreads which left me with very painful RSI.

 

[veracity]

I'm another one doing blanket squares - although I'm starting to think I might just knock up some cushion covers out of what I've done so far - I need some instant gratification.

Also on the needles at the moment is a hat to match the Manchester City scarf I did for Mr Snuffyzee at Xmas, although I've got a bit stuck with the pattern - hoping for some help of my knitting circle tonight on this one.

And finally I'm doing a little project for my mum's birthday, a make up bag in cross stitch pattern.

 

[Ms T]

Also on the needles at the moment is a hat to match the Manchester City scarf I did for Mr Snuffyzee at Xmas, although I've got a bit stuck with the pattern - hoping for some help of my knitting circle tonight on this one.

There's an idea. Maybe for my first project I could knit a Man City scarf for Hendo. Got any spare wool?

 

[veracity]

There's an idea. Maybe for my first project I could knit a Man City scarf for Hendo. Got any spare wool?

Unfortunately not now as I've used it for the hat! The scarf was in City's old away colours, red and black, and has had many admirers at the last few home games. PM me if you'd like the pattern, I'm happy to share, it's the first thing I've designed myself.

 

[moose]

Home-made footie scarves are becoming quite the thing again, I've noticed, this season. I did a red, black and white one for mr moose for xmas - cashmere and merino mix, natch!

 

[veracity]

Home-made footie scarves are becoming quite the thing again, I've noticed, this season. I did a red, black and white one for mr moose for xmas - cashmere and merino mix, natch!

Definitely v. popular. If I wanted to sit here knitting scarves for the next 6 months I could probably make a few bob. Oh for a knitting machine.

 

[Ms T]

Unfortunately not now as I've used it for the hat! The scarf was in City's old away colours, red and black, and has had many admirers at the last few home games. PM me if you'd like the pattern, I'm happy to share, it's the first thing I've designed myself.

Ooh yes please. Hendo is already excited at the prospect (although it probably won't be ready until the next season as I'm a total beginner).

 

[Mrs Magpie]

The scarf was in City's old away colours, red and black, and has had many admirers at the last few home games.

Blimey, I thought London was full of Dennis the Menace fans...I've been wrong all these years......

 

[Emma Herself]

And I thought they were all anarcho-communists

 

[Ms T]

I have a question! Which I think it a bit basic, but I am a beginner.

When joining on a new colour (I'm knitting a stripy scarf), how do you attach the new wool? Do you just tie it on and then cut off the old stuff? And what happens to the ends?

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[eme]

yep - you just start the new colour at the end, then after a few stitches you can tighten the first stitches up a bit, tie the loose ends together and then weave them in after...

 

[moose]

Your ends need to be about 15 cms so you've got enough to weave in properly. I do it like this which works really well unless your wool is exceptionally thick in which case this method adds too much bulk.

 

[RubyToogood]

I have a question! Which I think it a bit basic, but I am a beginner.

When joining on a new colour (I'm knitting a stripy scarf), how do you attach the new wool? Do you just tie it on and then cut off the old stuff? And what happens to the ends?

Any advice gratefully received.

Oh good, you've had your question answered. I've always just tied a knot close to the work and knitted the ends in as I went or hooked them in afterwards. It's probably trickier to do that well for a scarf though, because both sides are the right side, plus you can see the edge which would otherwise be hidden in a seam.

You need to get yourself a basic knitting book really, explaining all the techniques. Etnea got the Stitch and Bitch book for Xmas, that looks quite good (American though, some things might be different), or second hand bookshops are often a mine of excellent solid old-fashioned books on these subjects.

 

[calpurnia]

Stitch and Bitch is good. I got it a bit ago & I thought it was excellent at first. Then as I got more into knitting I found it wasn't as detailed as it could have been. But I've been doing fine using that & the internet.

There's good guidance here: www.knittinghelp.com. I couldn't figure out the S n B instructions for M1 so I found a video here that made it all boootifully clear.

So, I just knitted up a swatch for the jersey I'm knitting for Mr Cal, & the wool knits up fantastically. V excited! Abandoned the cowl I was knitting for a friend when the wool arrived for this project.

 

[Ms T]

Your ends need to be about 15 cms so you've got enough to weave in properly. I do it like this which works really well unless your wool is exceptionally thick in which case this method adds too much bulk.

Does that mean you knit a whole row with the two colours of wool, or just the first stitch?

I think I'm going to practice this first before I do it for real with my very expensive Rowan wool!

 

[Choc]

i have started today on a new trial piece, i was so happy that i remembered how to cast on...

however i don't seem to get this 2 knit 2 purl bundchen style right. do i have to follow religiously the 2k 2p pattern or will i have to start with the same type (knit or purl) every row again (that doesn't make much sense does it?)?

i went to spitalfield market today and finally got inspired as to what knitting project i could start with. i think i will do a (possibly) pink or green scarf using very big needles (40 mm).

i also figured out that it is very inpractical to knit in a bus/or tube if it is packed. nevermind...

 

[calpurnia]

If you're trying to get a rib then you need to start over again each row, yes. Stack the stitches on top of each other like this

row 1: k k p p k k p p k k p p
row 2: k k p p k k p p k k p p
etc etc

if you did it
row 1: k k p p k k p p k k p p
row 2: p p k k p p k k p p k k
you would get moss stitch rather than ribbing. It's a really nice bumpy stitch but takes forever! (At least it takes me forever)

 

[Choc]

thanks you

aha, so logically one has to cast on an even number of stitches, which i think i didn't do today..

moss stitch (makes mental note of the vocab). it is like learning a new language altogether. there is also an apparantly continental and uk style of holding the wool thread either dangling or twirling, innit

 

[RubyToogood]

If you're trying to get a rib then you need to start over again each row, yes. Stack the stitches on top of each other like this

row 1: k k p p k k p p k k p p
row 2: k k p p k k p p k k p p
etc etc

if you did it
row 1: k k p p k k p p k k p p
row 2: p p k k p p k k p p k k
you would get moss stitch rather than ribbing. It's a really nice bumpy stitch but takes forever! (At least it takes me forever)

That's really misleading! All you need to know is that if you knitted a stitch in the first row of rib, you have to purl it in the second.

Whether you start with 2 knit stitches or 2 purl stitches depends on how many stitches you're working with. As an example, if you were working with only four stitches, it'd be K2 P2 in the first row, and K2 P2 in the second. But if you had six stitches, it would be K2 P2 K2 in the first row, and P2 K2 P2 in the second.

But you don't need to understand or know all that, you only need to recognise on sight a purl stitch and a knit stitch from the wrong side, and remember to do the opposite!

 

[Choc]

That's really misleading! All you need to know is that if you knitted a stitch in the first row of rib, you have to purl it in the second.

Whether you start...But if you had six stitches, it would be K2 P2 K2 in the first row, and P2 K2 P2 in the second.

ah see i was wondering this. interesting, that even then it would still be a rib rather than a moss stitch. hang on this is complicated (it seems that you two are saying opposite things).

But you don't need to understand or know all that, you only need to recognise on sight a purl stitch and a knit stitch from the wrong side, and remember to do the opposite!

i realised today that this would be important as it is impossible to remember all the time what you have just done or ie when you get back to the work what was done last etc.

still ta for the advise i think i (kind of) understood .

 

[liberty]

From a website I managed to cast off so I'm onto the next piece

 

[Ms T]

I just ordered Stitch and Bitch from Amazon. Am feeling very impatient to start my scarf but think I'd better wait until the next Craft meeting so I don't fuck it up!

 

[liberty]

I looked at etnea's copy and it looked very easy to follow

 

[moose]

Does that mean you knit a whole row with the two colours of wool, or just the first stitch?

No, you tie the new colour onto the old colour, very close to the work, and start knitting with the new one. When you've finished, get a sewing-up needle and thread it with the end you need to hide. Following the diagram I linked to above, on the back of the knitting, weave the wool in and out of the corresponding coloured stripe for 4 or 5 stitches and then cut off close to the work. You don't actually knit with both colours.

 

[calpurnia]

That's really misleading!

Now I feel silly... But it all made sense in my head