Favorite Patterns
Dec. 16th, 2012 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
untonuggan posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
knittingI'm curious - what are some of peoples' favorite patterns? I have some folks in my circle who just started knitting, or who just got back into knitting, or are curious about knitting.
So here's some musings I have, if folks are up for it amidst holiday knitting and general revelry/chaos:
(P.S. I hope the mod is okay with this.)
So here's some musings I have, if folks are up for it amidst holiday knitting and general revelry/chaos:
- What are you knitting right now? (Unless it's super sekkrit)
- What's a pattern you've knit before and have knit/want to knit again?
- What are some good patterns for beginners?
- What's a knitting skill (cables, bobbles, lace, reading charts, entrelac) that you're interested in learning (perhaps because the patterns are sooo pretty/interesting/whatever), and you want to learn? Perhaps other folks can offer good suggestions on how to learn that skill...
(P.S. I hope the mod is okay with this.)
I guess I should reply too...
Date: 2012-12-16 03:40 pm (UTC)Re: I guess I should reply too...
Date: 2012-12-17 04:10 am (UTC)Re: I guess I should reply too...
Date: 2012-12-17 01:21 pm (UTC)Re: I guess I should reply too...
Date: 2012-12-17 07:44 pm (UTC)Re: I guess I should reply too...
Date: 2012-12-17 07:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-16 04:02 pm (UTC)Also, related to my recent question, I am in fact playing with double knitting, and finding it a *lot* easier than I was thinking I might. (though I did something deeply weird to a stitch last night, and need to figure out how to fix it.) This would be my answer to "Skill you wanted to learn" - the current application is a dishcloth, and again, folks on Ravelry can see photos.
I am sort of a huge fan of dishcloths as a method for learning technique, personally. They're smallish projects, done in fairly substantial yarn (I really like KnitPicks Dishie line, - they've got some lovely non-pastel colors). And if I'm making a dishcloth, I find it's easier for me to go "Meh, that's a weird thing, but it'll hold together" if I mess up, where I get a lot more finicky and perfectionistic with anything else.
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Date: 2012-12-17 05:09 am (UTC)- Doing English style (throw, and I am right handed, so working yarn is normally in my right hand)
- I keep both strands in my right hand. It took a little to figure out how to twist so things come out cleanly, but not very long. (like a row or two.) Working with two different colors, though, this is not that hard. (Though I'm starting with dishcloth cotton because it is big and easy to see.)
- Mostly, they stay in my hand and I adjust them as I go (twisting my hand, etc. as I move them back and forth - for people not familiar with double knitting, you start with them both in the back, knit the knit stitch, move them both to the front for a purl stitch, make the stitch with your purl yarn, move them both to the back for your knit stitch, etc. You're only actually making a stitch with one yarn at a time [1], but you move both strands.
- I do not have wrist/etc. issues, but I do notice I have to be careful with tension for double knitting - more than I am for other projects - and I am keeping an eye on signs of wrist strain. (and shoulder strain and neck strain, and ..yeah.)
[1] Except on the ends of the rows: I'm doing a K2 with both yarns together. I am not crazy about what this looks like, but for my actual application, where they'll be joined on the edges, it'll be fine.)
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Date: 2012-12-17 05:21 am (UTC)I want to learn double knitting, but a lot of the instructions seem to be for people who knit with the yarn in their right hand. I knit with the yarn in my left hand, and there are plenty of fair isle instructions out there for continental knitters, so it looks like I'll learn fair isle first. =)
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Date: 2012-12-16 04:05 pm (UTC)Irulan In Dune is a nice buttoned cowl pattern that I'm doing in another discontinued yarn (lol stash busting). I really, really like this one, and it's fairly simple.
75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts are great, and a good way to use up scraps of yarn, too.
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Date: 2012-12-16 04:55 pm (UTC)Repeaters:
Hats and fingerless gloves are good for beginners; socks knit in worsted weight are also fast and gratifying.
My next skill needs to be double-knitting so I can make this cowl for my son's birthday.
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Date: 2012-12-17 04:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-16 05:08 pm (UTC)Patterns I've knit before and will again include Juju and Bloom. I've knit five pairs of Juju pants, and I've knit Bloom once but will again in the next few months because someone I know is expecting a girl. (Don't have any pics of my Bloom project; I knit it in the medium size, Bendigo Luxury 8ply, colourway Aquarium.)
Oh, gosh, I am a bad person to ask that, because I tend to pick up techniques quickly, and I like throwing myself in at the deep end. For example, the first socks I ever made were Skew, and they're really not an entry-level kind of pattern by most people's standards.
I've not done entrelac, or illusion knitting, or fair isle yet. Fair isle or Scandinavian style colourwork would be a real challenge for me, because I'm a tight knitter, and tight knitting + colourwork doesn't tend to add up to successful projects.
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Date: 2012-12-17 01:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-16 06:04 pm (UTC)I want to knit the Earl Grey socks again, actually, but for me this time. So I need to do some sizing down because I don't have size nine (UK) feet, or need that many stitches around the calf. And I wouldn't mind knitting another owls.
I'm not sure about beginners patterns, to be honest. I sort of went straight from scarves to the easy-peasy cardigan from Stitch and Bitch. I think hats are probably a better beginners option than scarves though, because they are much quicker.
I want to learn stranded colourwork, because I have seen so many lovely patterns that I look at askance. Alas, every time I try I end up with all the tension issues in the world. I also want to master Judy's Magic Cast-On for socks, because every time I try it I end up in a tangled mess.
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Date: 2012-12-16 07:29 pm (UTC)Boneyard shawl in recycled sweater yarn - DK weight lambswool/angora, light brown/beige with gold sparkles. Most of the way through, I'm a little dubious about if it'll be wide enough for the length but I suspect that will work out in blocking.
Joris in more recycled sweater yarn - about sockweight, wool/alpaca blend that I've dyed dark blue. Only got the head done so far so it's sitting there, eyes staring at me...
A fairly plain brioche stitch scarf in blue King Cole Big Value Chunky. Only just started so less than a foot in, plus I have to knit it in secret because it's for my housemate. (Plan to pour on the knitting while she's out at work tomorrow.)
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Date: 2012-12-16 08:11 pm (UTC)Morgan - After many swatches in which I never got gauge, I'm sort of winging it with a "close enough" result. Hopefully.
Berroco's Surplus Blanket Coat - I'd link it but they redesigned their site and I can't find it. Good thing I downloaded a copy of the pattern. ^.^;
A raglan sweater for my new ball jointed doll.
And I have a couple projects I haven't touched in months. They're both knit with doubled sewing thread, Al Fresco Camisole on 5/0 needles and Omelet on 4/0 needles.
2. What's a pattern you've knit before and have knit/want to knit again?
Yarn Harlot's An Unoriginal Hat - I have knit it several times. It's quick and cabled, two of my very favorite things.
Actually I tend to repeat patterns a lot, it's a habit I am trying to break.
3. What are some good patterns for beginners?
Well the Surplus Blanket Coat is really just a pair of sleeves that you sew into blanket, so that's a quick project. The sleeves are knit top down and are just trapezoids, if you can cast on, knit, purl, and decrease you can knit them (you need to do increases too if you do the turn back cuffs, but I'm leaving them off).
I'm a fan of dishcloths or afghan squares for beginners because they are quick and you can try out all sorts of new skills with them.
1. What's a knitting skill (cables, bobbles, lace, reading charts, entrelac) that you're interested in learning (perhaps because the patterns are sooo pretty/interesting/whatever), and you want to learn?
Actually, I can't think of anything. Maybe illusion knitting, since I haven't done that yet, but it doesn't require a skill I haven't already learned.
Oh, maybe double knitting with more than two colors and with different patterns on the front and back. I already double knit but I haven't gotten that complex with it yet.
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Date: 2012-12-17 01:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-16 08:51 pm (UTC)A ribbed striped Noro scarf was one of the earliest things I knitted in my recent resurgence of knittery—two balls, two rows of each, and see what happens to the colours as you knit. I've done two in different colourways, and I'm currently nearly finished with a scarf in more or less the same design, except it's double rib and it's a stashbuster rather than a Noro knit, as I have a bunch of subtle beiges and pinks which work together rather well.
I've knitted three of these hats! I even managed to hold one yarn in each hand. I can't claim to be actually competent that way, but it was a source of pride!
I've also done a couple of Entrelac scarves, because they're such fun, and they look so very clever even though they're delightfully simple to knit. A couple of these Easy Drop Stitch Scarves as well, for a nice open, light effect, and a couple of the Not-A-Celebrity Scarf, though I haven't been entirely satisfied with the way those have turned out. Wrong yarns, I think.
I love knitting scarves, because they're small and quick, and can use up a bunch of leftovers or one fabulous skein (I did my first proper lace scarf in a luscious Silk and Baby Camel yarn I found at a show). But I do have intentions for grander projects, specifically some more shawls and some seamless sweaters. I love the idea of knitting without having to sew up afterwards!
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Date: 2012-12-17 01:10 pm (UTC)One I'd recommend as an easy baby cardigan (note: does involve picking up stitches and doing buttonholes, but it's not too bad) is this Garter Yoke Baby Cardi.
I'm hoping to make Brick for myself sometime soon, although I may throw in a cable or pattern stitch to keep it interesting.
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Date: 2012-12-16 11:57 pm (UTC)and I'm knitting Maia http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maia-shoulderette
and Loopy & Luscious http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTloopy.html
I've knitted Branching Out twice now. It is supposed to be a beginner lace pattern but I found it difficult as a beginner.
I have used the technique from Loopy & Luscious (scribble lace) twice. I find it is easy and makes an impressive looking fabric. But it's kind of fiddly because of using small yarn with large needles.
I like the slip stitch colorwork method for impressive looking but fairly easy knitting.
I second the recommendation for Unoriginal Hat.
I'm trying to learn how to design lace garments. I'm interested in learning double knitting and brioche.
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Date: 2012-12-17 01:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-17 04:09 am (UTC)Current projects:
Metallicar Illusion Scarf for
Shipwreck Shawl - the first part was easy and fun and now I'm pushing 3000 beads around every time I want to knit, and I have another 50 rounds of yo, k2tog left. /o\
Snowflake Stars for holiday cards. I've made about a dozen and have another 13 left to do. Sigh.
Patterns I'd like to make again:
I'd like to try Jared Flood's Rock Island again when I have the time to actually finish it.
Good patterns for beginners:
Drop Stitch Scarf for true beginners
Hermione's hat is a great first time cable project - it's quick and satisfying and super cute
Next skill to learn:
Enterlac, two handed knitting, and socks!
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Date: 2012-12-17 01:02 pm (UTC)Snowflake stars are gorgeous and I may just try some! *rifles through stash for a good yarn to use*
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Date: 2012-12-17 07:46 pm (UTC)The snowflakes are looking great, but I've had to do them on #10 crochet thread - fingering was too thick and I didn't have any lace-weight yarn.
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Date: 2012-12-17 08:13 pm (UTC)I'd like to learn a lot of things branching off from the socks. My next project will probably be fingerless mitts, which aren't much of a stretch. I'd like to do gloves but they seem a lot fiddlier. The new skill I'd like to learn is how to make socks with heels -- there are a lot of ways of going about turning heels so I'll have to pick one to try.
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Date: 2012-12-18 01:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-17 08:49 pm (UTC)Patterns for beginners? I dunno, besides something small that finishes quickly, depends on the beginner, what they enjoy, want to practice on, will find charming and/or useful. The first thing I made was a sweater. It was awful; it just took too long.
I want to do more double knitting and color work, try entrelac (how hard can it be?), make garments in addition to accessories --but I have enough projects that take too long to finish already. Baby clothes, I guess.
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Date: 2012-12-29 12:42 am (UTC)