Craft club topic of the month - knitting!

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Grrrrrr, I've begun on what is described as a a baby's kafttan out of the debbie bliss baby book, a change in needles and a slight enlarging of the number of stitches has enabled me to size the pattern for great lump and use the merino 4 ply, rqather than the cottom merino the pattern suggests and make it for great lump , as the pattern stops at 12 months.

However, she has already shown a keen interest in my work, I now have a baby who says NI!, i suppose that is babyish for knit, she has also done something to a whole 50 gram ball that is more commonly associated with cats. if it tangles ny tighter i think i'm going to cry.

Oh, and on the subject of cats, Mrs T might wast to be aware of the dangers of cats getting at wool, Surgery to remove long lengths of wool from cat's guts is often necessary once they have eaten a quantity. This is generally not plesent for the cat, or easily affordable.

And as for future crafy nights, I could probably teach the making of macrame potholders if anyone is desperate to recerate the 70's retro look in their home. I'd have to find somewhere that sold the rope for them though.

 

[gaijingirl]

Need knitting help!!!

OK.. finally got my wool and managed (by the skin of my teeth and with a great deal of cajoling) to get my needles from Morleys just before it shut tonight.

Anyway, I got 15mm and also 6.5mm. I think I've started knitting....

First I did a slip knot and then single cast on from here

Then I did English method from here

It looks like knitting I think.. but not sure...

Should I be doing the "knitting on" instead of the "casting on"... what's the difference??

Also, if Ms T is reading this... did you actually use 15mm needles for your scarf? I think at craft club I was using smaller ones... and I think I prefer them... so I could just use those instead right??

Sorry for being such a divvy....

 

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if you use smaller needles it won't have the same tension, you will make something with much smaller stitches and much thicker and less flexable and flowing. , you will aslo use a lot more wool to maek the same ammount of scarf. Basically, if you want to make one that looks like the picture, you need to use the same needles, the same grade of wool, and preferably one made out of the same mix of fibres.

Yeah, knitting with really thick needles takes some getting used to, I've been knitting for years and I ripped my rowan nelly hat (made with 15mm needles) back 5 times before i was even vaugely comfortable with the result, i made a second hat that i'm slightly happier with the tension on, although the edges of it look appauling. While knitting with really small needles is hard, knitting with the really big ones and getting a good result isn't massively easy either, the only real advantage is that you complete the item really fast rather than it taking hours and hours to do.

 

[gaijingirl]

Actually.. it is beginning to look a bit better now. I'm just wondering now about how to change from one colour to another.. think i'll give this felting thing a go.

I don't have a picture... I'm just doing a scarf and from what I remember of what Ms T said, it's 17 knits per row (although I'm doing 20) and I'm going to change colour every now and then...

..and hope for the best....

That site is really helpful....

Thanks for your advice...

 

[Ms T]

It's two rows of one colour, two rows of the next until it's the length you want it.

 

[gaijingirl]

Ahh.. just pm ed you about this..

oops... so 9 rows of one colour would be a bit much then...



arse

 

[RubyToogood]

Well I don't think it matters, it's just how you want it to look. The other advantage of doing 2 rows is that it's easy to carry the wool up the side so you don't have to tie the new colour in each time.

I gave my mum the lace scarf and thankfully she loves it. It looked fabulous on. She also brought me back four skeins of Colinette point five in different colours - what to do with it? Anyone got any bright ideas/nice patterns? <looks at moose> I was thinking I'd do the Nelly hat again, but I've already got one of those now!

 

[Pieface]

It's two rows of one colour, two rows of the next until it's the length you want it.

did some of your rows kind of "stretch"??

I'm doing the same thing but my fifth row is about twice as wide as my first. Is the weight of the wool just stretching it??

 

[toggle]

hmmmm, that sounds like you could have cast on too tightly or you are now holding the wool far too loosely. possibly a combination of both

 

[Pieface]

The variations of a novice

You're not allowed to laugh when you see it......

 

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promice.

i'm well aware of what my first efforts looked like, I'm sure my grandad absolutely loved the lurid, multicoloured acrylic scarf i made him with all the dropped stitches and short rows that made it so unique.

I'm still freaking at the thought of making something in lace mohair for my mother, although i've about settled on the idea of a mobius scarf, all i need to do now is find a pattern. I've found a few contenders, but i'll keep looking

 

[RubyToogood]

There was one on knitty.com I think

 

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thanks ruby, i'll have a look.

 

[gaijingirl]

Special knitters-only screening of Ocean's 12
date: Saturday, 19 February
new time: 1.00pm <= new time!
venue: Ritzy cinema
Address: Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW2 1JG
Directions: exit Brixton tube, turn left - cinema is two minutes walk, located at the first set of lights
Tickets £5.50 Bookings: 020 7733 2229

I would be tempted... except that I heard Ocean's 12 is a bit pants...

But having brought my knitting to work, I've discovered that I don't want to knit without at least the radio to listen to, if not a tv to watch or people to talk to.... sitting alone in a room knitting in silence isn't much fun...

 

[innit]

I'm quite tempted... so what if it's pants - it's George Clooney!

 

[gaijingirl]

I'm quite tempted... so what if it's pants - it's George Clooney!

Hmm.....there is that...

 

[acechick]

george clooney at lake como.
mmm... yum.

 

[Siouxsie]

Oceans 12 is shit but you should never pass up a knitting opportunity, especially in the company of George and Brad .

 

[gaijingirl]

He he... from Holy Moly's (gossip bulletin) press release of the week:

Future in Bath (makers of Total Guitar Magazine) are currently launching a new knitting magazine called Simply Knitting.

It is aimed at a young, trendy market and features patterns, books and competitions.
We're keen to feature music to knit to.

If you could suggest any ideas/send us any Easy Listening/Compilations/Pop CDs that would be great.

Christ! Here's a few!

'Needle and the damage done'
'The stitch is back'
'I get along without you very wool'
'Darn. I wish I was your lover'

 

[liberty]

I will now attempt to start some knitting again done nothing since the last meet

 

[acechick]

I got a pattern published in knitty!

I'm pimpin' it all over town - I'm just so very excited!

 

[innit]

I got a pattern published in knitty!

I'm pimpin' it all over town - I'm just so very excited!

Congratulations! That is very
It looks great as a scarf, and then when it's cold enough for a balaclava, who cares what you look like anyway? You have a 3 in 1 convert.

 

[gaijingirl]

Hey... that's dead cool!! You do the knitchicks thing?

Me and Innit are going tomorrow....

look for pretty lady (Innit) and large half finished brown and red scarf on massive 15mm needles and a confuddled looking beginner... (me)

When I grow up I wanna knit a 3-in-1 Noa

 

[Siouxsie]

Congratulations acechick .

I'm going to have a bash at making one, it's such a good idea!

 

[RubyToogood]

Ooh very nice! It reminds me a bit of a hat that a mate brought back from Japan once, which was a peaked cap that could be rolled down into a balaclava.

Yesterday I knitted another "Nelly" hat for a friend who's been eyeing up mine since I made it. I used a double strand of some strange discontinued thick and thin yarn. Never has a present been so well received. Looked very good on too. Using double thick and thin yarn (a) gives an interesting chunky texture and (b) makes the dangly bits come out really cool.

Now getting on with the Birch shawl, after a couple of false starts - the first row was really hard as I had no reference points for where the different stitches were meant to go. Had to cast on those 299 stitches three times over - and decided to scale it up to 329 the last time, just in case it was a bit on the small side. Hopefully it will get easier from now on (famous last words).

 

[Pieface]

My scarf is going well dodgy

It looks really amateur and the bits where I've changed colour wool are crap. I feel like wrestling it to pieces and starting again - I don't think I was being careful enough

 

[RubyToogood]

Well take it as a practice piece, then unravel it and do it again.

 

[Pieface]

M'kay.

I might do one all one colour instead.....

I hate not being able to fly before I can walk

 

[RubyToogood]

I know. But if you're learning a new skill, I think it's better to be ambitious and try to do something you really want to do, than play it safe, because you'll have the motivation to work at it and crack it.

 

[Pieface]

damn good point

Excellent - this was like knit therapy for me - I'm out of my sulk