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Craft club topic of the month - knitting!

I am going to learn to knit this weekend. Gonna get a mag later that has some free wool and knitting needles with it...the wool looks quite funky :cool:

Has anyone got any good links for an absolute noob to learn from? :)
 
Cheers madz, I'll print that out and bung it in my folder.

I know it's really tiny, but does that look about right?

clipboard01adt.jpg
 
madzone said:
I'll send you some fleece as a welcome to the world of spinners :)
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That would be cool, except that I haven't really figured it out yet :oops: I'm not at all sure it's set up right and I had a stab at it for a few days and then sort of lost interest :oops:

I think it's the bobbin brake/band or something... it's a wheel that can be used for either double band or, uh, whatever the other one is, but the instructions are rubbish and I haven't a clue what I'm doing.
 
RubyToogood said:
That would be cool, except that I haven't really figured it out yet :oops: I'm not at all sure it's set up right and I had a stab at it for a few days and then sort of lost interest :oops:
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What kind of wheel is it? It's a shame I'm not coming up for a bit I'd have had a look at it for you.
 
It's a Westbury, which I don't think exist any more. It's 40 years old but looks to be in pretty good nick. I should be able to find a spinner round these parts really - in fact I know some from a knitting group I go to, but one of them is incredibly busy and the other is a bit nuts.
 
RubyToogood said:
It's a Westbury, which I don't think exist any more. It's 40 years old but looks to be in pretty good nick. I should be able to find a spinner round these parts really - in fact I know some from a knitting group I go to, but one of them is incredibly busy and the other is a bit nuts.
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There's a place nearish Stoke Newington that sells spinning stuff - can't quite remember where it is or what it's called - will check later. It might just need oiling.
 
I know the one you mean and in fact I think that's where the wheel came from 40 years ago! I think it's in Leytonstone or somewhere.
 
Advice needed please :)

I have almost finished knitting a cardigan I started about 3 months ago. I realised last night that the reason it's taken me so long to knit it is because I don't like it :( I love the wool but I bought the pattern off a site and the picture wasn't very clear. When it came I was disappointed but just thought I'd knit it anyway and maybe it wasn't so bad.

So......now that I've decided I really don't like it I want to pull the whole thing back and get a different pattern. I don't know how to compare wools though :(
What I have is something called Natures Way chunky for Stylecraft. It's 100% undyed virgin wool. What should I look for on a pattern that will compare to this?

I am now impatient to get another pattern and start agin.

Oh, and will the knitting look funny because the wool will be all crinkled from having been knitted already. Ta :)
 
If you're knitting with used (crinkly) and unused wool, you will be able to tell the difference where they meet, particularly if it's stocking stitch. If you wrap the wool into balls, tightly, as you're unravelling, it might straighten it out a bit.

Otherwise, you can do something complicated where you wrap it round a glass jar and steam it, but you don't want to go there :D
 
moose said:
If you're knitting with used (crinkly) and unused wool, you will be able to tell the difference where they meet, particularly if it's stocking stitch. If you wrap the wool into balls, tightly, as you're unravelling, it might straighten it out a bit.

Otherwise, you can do something complicated where you wrap it round a glass jar and steam it, but you don't want to go there :D
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I have now unravelled it and I did pull it tight. If it looks different where they meet, will it look better once I've washed it? I don't want to spend time knitting another cardigan that I won't wear because the knitting looks odd :(

You're right though, I'm not interested in jam jars and steaming, I'd rather chuck it away than do all that complicated stuff :D


If I knit an arran pattern or similar will the difference in wool not be so obvious?
 
Right then....I think I'll be posting on this thread quite a bit over the next few days :oops:

I've been and bought a pattern and it's a bit complicated.

Any answers to the following will be appreciated.

Is a cable needle the same thing as those needles with a point at each end that you use when knitting on 3 needles?

Do cable needles have to be certain sizes or are they standard?

If the pattern says 'inc once in each of next 3 stitches' does that mean increase each of next 3 stitches by knitting between each of the 3 so I have 6 stiches? If it dosen't mean that, what does it mean?

Thanks, that'll do for now :D
 
Shirl said:
Is a cable needle the same thing as those needles with a point at each end that you use when knitting on 3 needles?
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Yup. you can get one with a wiggle in it which stops it dropping out, but normal double-pointer is fine.

Do cable needles have to be certain sizes or are they standard?
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It's only for holding stitches for a second, so doesn't really matter.

If the pattern says 'inc once in each of next 3 stitches' does that mean increase each of next 3 stitches by knitting between each of the 3 so I have 6 stiches?
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Yes.

If you have a roughly equal amount of crinkly and non-crinkly wool, you can always knit in stripes of 2 rows of each to disguise it. Or knit sleeves in crinkly and body in non-crinkly.
 
moose said:
Yup. you can get one with a wiggle in it which stops it dropping out, but normal double-pointer is fine.


It's only for holding stitches for a second, so doesn't really matter.


Yes.

If you have a roughly equal amount of crinkly and non-crinkly wool, you can always knit in stripes of 2 rows of each to disguise it. Or knit sleeves in crinkly and body in non-crinkly.
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Thanks chuck.

I think I'm going to have enough difficulty following the pattern without having to change wool every two rows :D

I have two thirds crinkly and one third none crinkly. Do you think I'll be able to manage that with the body crinkly and sleeves none crinky? I cold always knit a scarf and then pul it back if I don't have enough crinkly :D
 
Yes, should be ok. I'd do the non-crinkly sleeves first to give the crinky stuff longer to chillax in the balls. :D
 
Does the crinkliness really matter? I don't usually worry about it too much unless I've actually finished the thing and blocked/washed/pressed it. After all you have to unravel a bit and reknit it often enough.
 
RubyToogood said:
Does the crinkliness really matter? I don't usually worry about it too much unless I've actually finished the thing and blocked/washed/pressed it. After all you have to unravel a bit and reknit it often enough.
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I just want it to look the same all over :oops:
 
I have started knitting my new cardigan but I think the calculations for needle size and wool may be wrong :mad:
The woman in the wool shop told me that the wool I had would be suitable for the pattern I bought if I just used half a size less in the needles. I am knitting on 6 and half needles instead of 7. According to the tension on the pattern 20 rows and 14 stiches each measure 10cms. I've just knitted 20 rows and they measure 10ms but 14 stitches are 8cms at most! Is my cardigan going to be an odd shape? I've just started with a sleeve and the first 20 rows sort of look about right even if the tension isn't right :confused:

Moose? anyone else who knows about these things?

By the way, the label on my wool also says 20 rows and 14 stitches to 10cms.
 
This means your tension is wrong and you need to change to a different sized needle. This is normal as lots of people either knit loose or tight. (I always knit loose and have to go down two sizes). You're knitting too tight if 14 st is only giving you 8cm, so you need bigger needles, maybe one or two sizes bigger. You need to do a test square before you start any pattern. Yes it's dull but better than knitting a whole jumper that doesn't fit you and you never wear it.

Worry less about the row gauge than about the stitch gauge. Most patterns just tell you "Continue until body measures 25cm" or whatever for any bits where the length is crucial, but the stitch gauge will determine things like whether it's too tight.

Edited to say: hang on - if your wool states it should be knitted to the same tension as your pattern, why on earth did the lady in the shop say you should use different needles? I'd try again with the recommended needles.
 
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