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Craft club topic of the month - knitting!

Jeez I have a whole bag of those somewhere that my entire family ripped out of their clothes at the end of the 80s!

Cardigan looks really good and not really too small in my opinion. Forties styles were tight.
 
On Saturday I went to Knit Nation, which was a knitting event thingy at Imperial College. I just went on impulse cos I had nothing to do. It's a strange parallel universe, the current knitting scene.

There were workshops and stuff but I'd have been too late to sign up for those even if I'd been interested, so I just bought a ticket to the marketplace bit. £8 for the privilege of going shopping! Then it was full of wildly expensive and mostly hideous "artisan" yarns. I really don't understand the obsession with heavily variegated wool. It doesn't even look that nice knitted up, it looks like someone scribbled on it with a bunch of crayons. People were flocking to the Wollmeise stall. This stuff seems to be regarded as the height of knitting chic. It is frankly ugly. There is such a thing as too much colour saturation.

Then there's the odd phenomenon of the knitting star. Two of the founders of Ravelry were there looking sheepish and being accosted and gushed at periodically. It's all just really really strange. And I cannot say that the profile of the people present exactly contradicted the traditional image of the knitter... but perhaps that's the demographic of people who can afford to go to these things.

I did enjoy myself in the end though. I had a long chat with the editor of a mag called Wild Fibers, which is about fibre production. She travels the world doing stories on the decline of the Bactrian camel in Mongolia and the like. And I talked to the designer Ysolda Teague who was there with all the garments from her new collection knitted up for people to try on and discuss the fit of. Oh yeah and of course I bought some very expensive wool that I didn't need...
 
Cheers Ruby, wasn't sure if the colours would work or not, but he was dead cute. Already packaged up ready to be sent away :(
 
Excellent elephant, Bee! :cool:

Know what you mean about knitting stars, Ruby - specially those cruises you can go on with a Celeb Knitter on board! Ysolda seems pretty normal, and I like her patterns. I once met Debbie Bliss and took the opportunity to ask her why her yarn has so many knots and joins in it :D

Knitting an Ysoda pattern at the mo, as it happens, Veyla smoking gauntlets in a nice charcoal alpaca from Devon...
 
:oops: I thought Ruby meant knitting stars, and I did wonder if there was a sudden craze...

starwashcloth.jpg


:facepalm: :D

Pretty gauntlets moose.
 
lovely elephant and that glove pattern is cute as. i have loads of bits and pieces of handspun i really should use up on something like that...

i'm totally with you on variegated yarn ruby, can't stand the stuff, although i'm rather partial to self striping and heathered, anything with between one stitch and a full of row or two looks shite knitted up imho.
 
hey everyone, can anyone recommend any easyish pattern for a hooded jumper for a 18month to 2yr old please?

Doesn't matter if the pattern is online or in a book, I'll try the library for the book. I have a bit of Debbie Bliss wool left over from knitting some of her baby jumpers & could get some of the same.

I like that knitted star!
 
I think you'd be ok with any aran weight - just do a tension square obviously to check. Cotton behaves differently from wool as it's heavy and drapey, so gets longer under its own weight, but I don't think it'd make much difference on a garment for such a small person, and the pattern is mostly "knit for 7 inches" anyway.
 
i havent been able to go through the hole thread-its a bit looong so apologies if this has already been covered somewhere ;-) but just wondering if anyone could help me out with a really simple sock pattern...ideally like some kind of tube pattern- so i could avoid heels etc- i've only ever knitted scarves before-its getting kinda dull tho and as autumn looms i want to try something new but easy!

thanks x
 
just find any 'top down' sock pattern that's suitable for the yarn you want to use. Most sock patterns start as a simple tube anyway, and have the same number of stitches round the foot as round the ankle, so just miss out the heel instructions and keep knitting till the tube is long enough, then follow the toe instructions to finish it off. You'll need either a set of 4 double pointed needles or a circular needle.
this one is suitable for double knitting weight yarn
The fit won't be great - you could make it better by knitting in a K2 P2 rib rather than just plain knit - it'd be stretchier round the wider parts and cling to the narrower parts.
 
hello oh knitting gurus! can anyone recommend me a pattern for gloves/fingerless gloves using a chunky yarn? I want to knit some for my fella which match his hat and scarf. if the pattern is already stripey - all the better :)

I'm trying to graduate on from scarves :oops: still haven't managed it !
 
I'm suffering from terrible yarn indecision. I'm going to knit myself a shawl-collared, belted cardigan and I've got the pattern. Here is someone's version from the blogosphere:

4078731480_f6c9d52d21.jpg


It's an aran weight and I've boiled it down to 2 choices. One is King Cole Merino Blend Aran, which is just a bog standard type of wool, much like Rowan Pure Wool Aran or any of those, in a deep purple, nice and soft and squishy. It's dead cheap so would work out quite affordable.

Option 2 is to knit it from wool I've already got, which would be Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in a heathery shade of light sea green - same wool as my earlier February Lady cardigan which I don't wear because it's too big for me now:

D_YARN004291.jpg


If the green, I was thinking I might jazz it up by putting some pink and red flowers on the front like the ones on this baby cardi:

P1010001.JPG


The thing I'm hesitant about is how flattering it would be in the tweed, because it's a lighter colour and a thicker, sturdier, less drapey wool. But I kind of feel I ought to use the wool I've already got rather than buying more. Any second opinions?
 
My opinion would always be to buy more :D
The pale green is a bit summery for a cardi like that, imo.
 
Oh, I don't know - something lacy?
Anyway, soft, squishy purple sounds ace. Gwan!!

In other knitting news, now I've got my 'camping knitting' small pieces out of the way, I'm back on this pleated top in fine black mohair with a few 'jet' beads to decorate, in the middle of the neck.
 
Oh I really like that. It's very similar to one that was in Vogue Knitting last year, that I was thinking of to use my stashed Kidsilk Spray, but in the end I settled on this, which is what I'm really knitting at the moment:

974987403565.png
 
That's lovely - I like the yoke! Are you doing it on circulars?
Mine is the one from Vogue last year.
 
Orly? Someone at a knitting group I was at on Saturday had just bought some from Lidl and it was really very pretty and 100% wool.

Meanwhile in other news, the blousey thing is coming on great. It's actually dead easy after you've done the yoke (and yes it's on circulars, so you just knit knit knit round and round forever).

Also my wool has come for the belted cardigan: I actually bought more Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran, in a dark red with lots of purple in it, because it's discontinued so it's quite bargainaceous. I do sort of feel I want to do something to the pattern though - add a cable or some colourwork or something. Not sure if the flower idea would really work with a belt tied across them though.
 
I have just discovered the joy of Ravelry!

cannot believe I had never had more than a cursory look at it before! :eek:

Anyway - I wondered where you guys get your interesting buttons from, I have just about exhausted my stash - remember I live in the middle of nowhere.

is ebay the main choice? obviously I know that I can get very expensive ones online but I'm hoping (probably forlornly) for cheap deliciousness.

i am going to Leeds at half term so shall visit Kirkgate market, hole in the wall shops there are always good - but interested to hear other peoples' opinions.


i am overwhelmed by the skills on this thread :cool: - I have just ploughed my way through it all as I have come down with a new attack of knittingitis. :)
 
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