Craft club topic of the month - knitting!
- Thread starter RubyToogood
- Start date
Lady in the shop is mad! Do as Ruby says and do a square before you have more crinkly wool to deal with
Incidentally, I feel your pain - just had to rip back 2 night's knitting as it was in danger of coming out the size of a campervan cosy.
Bleeding wool shop woman is going to feel my pain when I go in there.
Now realised that she had sold me a pattern for something with much heavier wool and not only that, that pattern cost me £16 for a book full!!
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
What's the wool and what's the pattern (and what wool does it call for)?
The wool is Natures Way chunky, from Stylecraft. The pattern is Rowan and it's called Paisley, it calls for Rowan Classic Cashsoft chunky.
Well in theory, they're pretty similar:
Nature's Way 20rows x14sts on 6mm needles
Cashsoft 20rows x 15sts on 6mm needles
Well I'm very
I think the Cashcroft wool had nearly 300 metres less per ball than the Stylecraft. That must mean if they are both 50g balls then the Cashcroft should be a lot heavier wool, does that equate to a lot thicker?
Oops, got my 300 mixed up with my 30
So, should I be able to knit the cardigan if I use the size needles that were on the pattern rather than the smaller ones that the woman told me too?
Also, I only have 15 balls and the pattern says 18 balls but the woman said that was ok because I'd have enough wool due to extra metres per ball
Are the needles specified in the pattern 7mm?
If so, get some and knit a square 14st x 20 rows, and measure it, then report back
At least if you start with the right needles and a square we know what we're up against
Yes, size 7mm
Will do
moose
like some cat from Japan
No, it's not close enough - that means the garment will come out approx 10% smaller than advertised. A 36" chest will be a 32"-ish. You can compensate for that by looking at the other sizes and choosing one that's 10% larger than you would normally wear. You can't really go up a size of needles if it already looks too loose.
Or you could go and kick arses in the wool shop
Or you could go and kick arses in the wool shop
Or you could go and kick arses in the wool shop
Looks like that's what I'll have to do
The trouble is, the wool shop is so crap it only opens part time and irregular hours. It should be open Saturday but I'm not sure that I'll be able to get any help even if I go back.
Also, I really like the cardigan in the pattern that she sold me but knitting that would mean buying more wool when I already have wool. I also don't trust her to help me look for a different pattern.
I think there's a shop in Halifax market that sells the wool that I have so I'll go there and see if they have a pattern that I like.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Is this the pattern? http://www.kimhargreaves.co.uk/acatalog/PAISLEY.html
I don't think the wool shop have given you such bad advice. In theory the wool you've got should work fine, albeit possibly with a different needle size. I'm not sure what's going wrong then. Are you sure you're counting the stitches right? It's a good idea to make the square a little bigger than you want.
As moose says, you can always just knit a bigger size in a tighter gauge.
You're doing the right thing looking at your swatch to see if you like how it looks, as it's important to see if you think it's going to work. It may be that having previously knit it and unravelled it has compressed it - oh no, you're doing the sleeves with the unknitted stuff aren't you?
I don't think the wool shop have given you such bad advice. In theory the wool you've got should work fine, albeit possibly with a different needle size. I'm not sure what's going wrong then. Are you sure you're counting the stitches right? It's a good idea to make the square a little bigger than you want.
As moose says, you can always just knit a bigger size in a tighter gauge.
You're doing the right thing looking at your swatch to see if you like how it looks, as it's important to see if you think it's going to work. It may be that having previously knit it and unravelled it has compressed it - oh no, you're doing the sleeves with the unknitted stuff aren't you?
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Also, having looked up both types of wool and the pattern on Ravelry, both wools call for 6mm needles and the pattern calls for 7mm needles, so it's probably meant to be relatively loose and drapey.
Yes, that is the pattern that I wanted to knit
Thanks for all the advice from you and moose.
This morning I went to Halifax market where a lovely lady found me another pattern for the wool I've got
It's a cardigan similar to the Kim Hargreaves one but not as nice. At least it should turn out alright When I finish it I think I may buy the proper wool for the Kim Hargreaves and knit that as I really like it
Thanks again moose and ruby.
moose
like some cat from Japan
D'oh - probably too late now, but according to Ravelry:
Yarns suggested: Rowan Kid Classic
Yarn weight: Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)
Gauge: 19 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette stitch on larger needles
Needle size: US 7 / 4.5 mm; US 8 / 5.0 mm
Yardage 1359 - 1812 yards
Yarns suggested: Rowan Kid Classic
Yarn weight: Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)
Gauge: 19 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette stitch on larger needles
Needle size: US 7 / 4.5 mm; US 8 / 5.0 mm
Yardage 1359 - 1812 yards
moose
like some cat from Japan
This morning I went to Halifax market where a lovely lady found me another pattern for the wool I've got
When I finish it I think I may buy the proper wool for the Kim Hargreaves and knit that as I really like it
How come getting sorted always means buying more wool?
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
I've gone for this one in the end but am a bit unsure as although the picture looks lovely, the crochet fabric is hulkingly thick in fact. I'll have to see how it goes. It'll be touch and go whether I have enough yarn as well.
Well it's all been going really well and looking good.... UNTIL... I realised I was going to run out of wool about halfway up the first sleeve
. It was going to be close but I was dead careful about the maths and should have been able to just about make the cardigan with the amount of wool I had, possibly buying an extra ball for the button bands. I don't know WHAT went wrong there.I've emailed everyone on the internet to try and find some in the same dyelot but no luck yet. In fact I can see people on Ravelry who HAVE the same dyelot and have emailed them, but I suspect they've all done what I did, bought a useful garment's worth from John Lewis in the sales, and don't want to part with half of it
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Panic over! www.mcadirect.com emailed me to say they had 4 balls and would send them to me. What nice people!!! They're a small chain of stores in Scotland and they must have rung round all the branches to see if any of them had it, because it's in Stirling. They get consistently good customer service reviews on Ravelry. Just got to hope 4 balls is enough...
