Craft club topic of the month - knitting!

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Giotto?

 

[gaijingirl]

I ebayed all my giotto. Couldn't get on with it at all.

 

[Biddlybee]

Giotto?

Yep... have I made a mistake? The colours looked nice and thought my mum would like them.

*worries*

 

[toggle]

I'ts quite a slippery ribbon. Takes a bit of effort just to get it wound.

 

[Biddlybee]

I'm in for a treat then

I've got some bamboo needles, they're a little less slippery aren't they.

 

[toggle]

better than slidey metal ones yeah.

 

[moose]

see, i knew you would give me duff instructions

it urned out alright though

I hardly 'gave you instructions' - I mumbled drunkenly at you

 

[aqua]

and I made a scarf

now tell me what I should have done

 

[moose]

I've instructed my phone to remind me at 8.30 tonight to post the instructions, so you'll have to wait. You have to wrap the end stitch on short rows so you don't get holes.

Biddly, i love Giotto - got married in it, in fact!

I think you'll definitely only need 10 stitches max. What size needles, and how much Giotto have you got?

 

[Biddlybee]

The bamboo ones are 6mm (or maybe 6.5 - I can't remember); I've got two skeins (is that the right word?) so 200g - hope that's enough and the needles aren't too thick.

Is this the right sort of wrapping a stitch? http://www.dnt-inc.com/barhtmls/knit/shortrows.html

A lot of things I look up mention the purl side.

 

[moose]

That's it, except you are knitting throughout on this scarf - same technique though.

Your needles might be too thin, if anything - I think they recommend 8mm for Giotto, which will give you approx 10 st to 10cm IIRC.

 

[Biddlybee]

Bugger... I've got 6, 10, 12 & 15

 

[gaijingirl]

Bugger... I've got 6, 10, 12 & 15

That's the first law of knitting. No many how many needles you have - you won't have the right size for your new project. I must have a couple of hundred needles now after buying a massive pile from ebay and still seem to end up buying more...

 

[Biddlybee]

Oooh, ebay, now that's a good idea. Won't be able to start this weekend though I'll play with my double point needles instead

 

[Biddlybee]

That's it, except you are knitting throughout on this scarf - same technique though.

Do you mean knitting on both sides?

(sorry, my questions even sound a bit stupid to me)

 

[Biddlybee]

oh, I went to i-knit today... they have about double the amount of wool they had when we all went together. And gg they have some of the rowan bamboo stuff too

edit: and they're having a film night sometime soon, I'll keep an eye on their website.

 

[moose]

I'd probably try it on 10s rather than 6s, then - do a swatch first. You'll have plenty to do this weekend winding your skeins into balls, anyway, if you want to get 8s next week

The thing about giotto is you don't want to be knitting it too tight, cos you don't see the lovely shiny bits and it gets a bit scratchy.

 

[moose]

For the interested parties who saw my curly scarf at the Hathersage meet up:

There's a pic of someone else's here

It's made up of triangular segments that build up into a long spiral shape after more than 6 triangles have been worked. The outside edge of the scarf grows quickly, the inner edge very slowly, so it takes a while to get it long enough, as Aqua found out

It's best made with something fairly chunky - you want to have roughly 12 stitches x 24 rows to 10cm on 6mm needles in stocking stitch.

At the end of each of the short rows, you need to wrap and turn (wrp-t) to make sure you don't get big holes.
To wrp-t:
bring the yarn to the front, as if to purl. slip the next stitch from the left needle to the right purlwise, turn your work over, bring the yarn to the front again, slip the stitch back to the other needle. So you're not working the stitch, just wrapping the yarn round it.

(Where I've numbered the short rows, obviously each is actually 2 rows cos you're turning!)

Cast on 10 stitches.

*Row 1: (wrong side) K10
Short row 1: K8, wrp-t, k8
Short row 2: K7, wrp-t, k7
Short row 3: K6, wrp-t, k6
Short row 4: K5, wrp-t, k5
Short row 5: K4, wrp-t, k4
Short row 6: K3, wrp-t, k3
Short row 7: K2, wrp-t, k2
Short row 8: K1, wrp-t, k1
Next row (right size) Knit across all ten stitches

Repeat from *

(Don't forget the 1st and last rows, in your haste to get to the short rows, or the orientation of the triangles will go hideously wrong )

If this is gibberish, let me know.

 

[Biddlybee]

Ok inevitable silly questions form me:

You've said stocking stitch at the beginning, but then it's just knit and knit.. is it garter stitch?

On the first and last rows for each triangle do you only knit one way?

Once I get the right size needles and get my head round wrapping a stitch I'll give it a go

 

[AnnaKarpik]

Hats and Fair Isle stylee stuff

I knitted a hat for one of the children (top down, in the round)- far too big it was, but she's happy with it. For the next child I decided to try two colour knitting other than simple horizontal stripes for the first time - a very pretty norwegian star. Problem is I adjusted the size downwards to a number that would be ideal in stocking stitch (I fondly imagine) but which made the hat too small when using stranded knitting.

Is there a magic formula for deciding how many more stitches you need in stranded knitting?

This goes on - if I increase the number of stitches by one pattern repeat I've got 16 stitches extra which I think will be too big but I can't see where I could insert fewer extra stitches into a continuous pattern

If I go with 16 extra stitches is there any way to tighten up the bit that goes round the head so the hat fits snugly? I've got as far as ribbing; a bought hat we have has super thick ribbing around the bottom with no evidence of it being a sewn hem, is this a machine only technique? I think elastic would be rejected by the intended recipient

 

[eme]

Ok inevitable silly questions form me:

You've said stocking stitch at the beginning, but then it's just knit and knit.. is it garter stitch?

On the first and last rows for each triangle do you only knit one way?

Once I get the right size needles and get my head round wrapping a stitch I'll give it a go

I think the stocking stitch is referring to the guage, not the actual scarf....

not sure about 1st and last row though... Moose?
Looks like a great pattern though - thanks for posting it up!

 

[aqua]

see, mine doesn't have any big holes in it, its lovely

*ignores mooses tricky instructions*

 

[moose]

Ok inevitable silly questions form me:

You've said stocking stitch at the beginning, but then it's just knit and knit.. is it garter stitch?

On the first and last rows for each triangle do you only knit one way?

Once I get the right size needles and get my head round wrapping a stitch I'll give it a go

Sorry, yes - the pattern gives the gauge as if for stocking stitch. The scarf is in garter stitch.

Yes, only one way for first and last rows. With some yarns you can get away with not doing the wrap because the yarn hides a multitude of sins, but that's the proper way of doing it, so it's a good habit to get into. Try it without on the first triangle and see how it looks if itis easier

 

[toggle]

wrapping isn't that hard, double wrapping is giving me a real headache though.

 

[Biddlybee]

Double pointed needles

I've got to this stage with casting on 45 stitches, which I think I've done right - 15 stitches on each needle and one spare to knit with?

In the book I have (not where the pattern is from) it says:

Draw the first of these cast-on stitches close to the last cast-on stitch.

How do I do that? The first and last are on separate needles. Then it says:

Using the spare needle, knit the first cast-on stitch, thus closing the 'circle'

I know once I've done this I can then start knitting (and tackling a bit of cabling ), but I don't really understand how to get to this stage. Can someone explain it to me in easier language? Or is it the sort of thing you need to be shown?

Cheers

 

[madzone]

put your needles together like a traingle pointing towards you (careful not to twist the stitches) the last stitch you cast on will be on the right hand needle. Put the spare needle into the 1st stitch on the left hand needle and knit it with the yarn from the right hand needle. You've now joined all the stitches together into a tube

eta there's a vid here
http://www.knittinghelp.com/dynamic/php/video/index.php?file=/adv-tech/knitting-on-dpns-rds.mpg

 

[Biddlybee]

cheers madz I think I've got it... when I knit 15 stitches, the needle they were on becomes free and then I use that one to knit with - is that right? And carry on round and round?

It's bloody fiddly

 

[madzone]

cheers madz I think I've got it... when I knit 15 stitches, the needle they were on becomes free and then I use that one to knit with - is that right? And carry on round and round?

It's bloody fiddly

You got it

Once you've cracked it it's a doddle and slightly addictive

 

[Biddlybee]

You got it

Once you've cracked it it's a doddle and slightly addictive

cool - thank you

Might have to fiddle with the pattern though - just slipped my wrist through and it's massive

I see what you mean about addictiveness... I need to put it down to do some college work!!

 

[toggle]

once you start cables, that will reduce the diameter of it, like rib does.