Knitting

knitting @ 2014-02-06T16:12:00

2014-02-06T21:15:30Z

Posted by: ghoti

Am I being overly ambitious (or wasteful with my money) if I get the Try It KnitPicks set of interchangeable needles?

It would make me feel more like a Serious Knitter. (But am I a Serious Knitter? Jury's still out.)

The project I'm working on right now needs at least a 47" size 7 circular needle - I've pretty much shoved as many stitches as possible on my existing 29".

comments

Patterns for project bags?

2013-02-06T05:27:36Z

Posted by: ciaccona

Today was my first day of classes for the semester, and I brought my scarf (almost 24in now!) along to work on during lectures. So far, the plastic bag from the yarn store is holding up as a method of transportation, but I expect my needles will eventually end up punching through like they always do.

Does anyone have favorite patterns for (sewn, fabric) bags to hold knitting? My sewing skills aren't really up to the same "make it up as you go" skills as my knitting, and while I'd love to knit/felt my own project bag I somehow don't see that happening soon.

I'm looking for both large bags, and smaller bags for projects like scarves/hats/etc.

Thanks!

comments

Question about the order of steps in knitting a seamless cardigan...

2013-01-28T13:34:22Z

Posted by: untonuggan

So last night I was gifted 750 yards of Malabrigo Silky Merino. Yay! It had been sitting in someone's stash for a year and they thought I could make more use of it I guess. Anywho, I would like to make a cardigan out of it - probably with short sleeves given the yardage and because the colors are hard to match.

I am thinking of making Knitty's Amiga cardigan, which calls for 2 skeins of 437 yards (874 yards) each for sizes small, medium, and large. I would like to knit size medium. I think probably going to be knitting shorter sleeves to compensate for any difference in yardage, unless the pattern is just really non-specific because of how big the balls of yarn are given in the pattern.

Here's my question: the pattern is a seamless design, and calls for one to knit the body, then the sleeves, then the button bands. Is there any reason why I couldn't knit the body, then the button bands, then divide what yarn I had left into two equal amounts and knit the sleeves until I ran out of yarn/decided they were long enough?

Thank you in advance for any responses!

comments

How much yarn for a blanket?

2012-12-05T19:41:36Z

Posted by: jenett

I am toying (ok, I am planning, but I'm not quite at the 'buy the yarn' stage) with doing a series of blocks to be joined into an eventual blanket. My goal is about 63" by 63", so that I can do 7" squares. (9x9, with a border of black around the edges, and then colored squares with simple charted designs in the middle.)

I've got a grip on most of this, but I'm trying to figure out how much yarn I want to budget for, since I'd like to ideally get it all at once (or at worst, a month or so apart.) I'm currently planning to use the KnitPicks Palette yarn (fingering weight, wool) for the combination of color range and price point.

I'd originally thought about intarsia, but the more I think about it, the more doing it as a double knit would solve some other problems (more possible detail in the design, a thicker weight of blanket, don't need to worry about stockinette rolling.)

What I can't figure out is how much yardage to plan on. Various calculators have told me everything from 3500 yds to about 4500 yds (that's not assuming double knit, so I would double that.)

What I'm not sure about is:

1) Is that a good estimate? Too high? Too low?

2) How much is my needle size going to change things? (The estimates seem to assume US1-3 as the needle size: I'd prefer to knit on something slightly larger, but I'm not sure how much of the background colour would show through. Is swatching on US 5s even worth my time?)

3) My current plan is to order a few balls to do a test run with (knitting to the end of at least one color, so that I have an idea how many squares I can get with that.) and then place my order from there. (In this mode, double knitting actually makes the calculations a lot simpler in some ways, since it's full squares of each color used, not "mostly X color with a little Y, how do I calculate that?")

4) Is there anything in this equation I'm missing? Or other test knitting I should be contemplating? Or some other piece of this project I'm missing? (I have some existing yarn in the mail that I will practice double knitting with shortly.) I admit to some nervousness about joining the whole thing together at the end (leaning towards invisible stitching) but I am also okay with crossing that bridge later.

comments

So I cast on for another pair of socks...

2012-09-14T14:15:00Z

Posted by: untonuggan

And I have a question. If I I'm knitting a sock and I like the pattern on the "inside" better, when I get to the heel flap couldn't I just do a wrap and turn or something and flip it inside out and work the rest of the sock the other way out? I know it might affect gauge, but other than that can anyone see any problems?

(This is what happens when I experiment with yarn.)

comments

wool alternatives

2012-08-22T02:49:39Z

Posted by: daeseage

I decided ages ago that I was going to make my girlfriend a pair of mittens for her birthday, and recently settled on a pattern and some lovely wool yarn in red and cream. Unfortunately, I just learned that she is very allergic to wool, and I really don't want to give her a gift that will make her break out in hives! So now I need something fairly inexpensive, warm, ideally water resistant, and nice and soft, but I don't know if she will have a reaction to other common animal fibers. I thought about baby acrylics, but I don't know that they'd stand up to the abuse that a comfy pair of wool mittens undergoes, and I don't really care for working with them.

Is anyone allergic/knit for someone who is allergic and have recommendations for wool alternatives?

ETA: Thank you so much everyone for the ideas! She was willing to test out swatches (for science!) from scrap yarn as I had time to knit them, and it looks like alpaca will work for her. Those of you who thought it was the length of the fibers might be right, since the swatch of the wool I'd originally purchased resulted in hives. =[

For those of you that asked about acrylics, part of the reason is that I've had issues with using them in colorwork patterns, and also because there's a good chance that she'll be wearing these while around a stove or open flame. A singed mitten is a lot easier to repair and less hazardous than a melted one!

comments

smashy guitar icon is relevant

2012-01-26T01:59:44Z

Posted by: izzy

so i'm making the ringwood gloves, and i seem to be having issues with the main stitch pattern, which goes like this:

Round 1: Knit.
Round 2: [K1, p1] to end.
Round 3: Knit.

however, the photos on knitty look (to me) like round 3 isn't being worked at all, and we're just supposed to work rounds 1 and 2 over and over.

i've knitted up a few rounds the way the pattern tells me to, and it doesn't look like the photos. it just looks like i have an extra K row in there.

has someone else made these? how did you do it? even if you didn't, what do you think, o hive mind? am i just being a total idiot for some reason? i've had a look on ravelry, and i can't find anyone who's having my particular crisis. and i don't really want to go any further until i figure this out, because i'm supposed to be placing the thumb gusset now, and i'm about to smash my knitting a la pete townshend, argh.

comments

Felting a seamed object?

2012-01-24T17:45:47Z

Posted by: kareila

I'm about to try felting for the first time, and I'm wondering if it's better to seam with the yarn beforehand, or wait and sew the seam with thread after the fact. I'd prefer the former but afraid it might encourage puckering along the seam during the process.

Has anyone tried one or the other? What were your results?

Also, should I baste around the edge of the buttonhole to prevent it from closing, or will it be OK?

TIA :)

comments

a yarn question

2012-01-14T15:54:17Z

Posted by: taste_of_water

hello all!

I'm new a newbie when it comes to knitting clothes and after being caught out in the rain in my new-made bakers boy cap left me smelling like a wet sheep I'm wondering what kind of yarn you use for your outer wear projects?

thank you in advance for any input :)

Danni

edit: THANK YOU for all of your answers! I'll wear my wet sheep smell with pride in the future ^^

comments

Intro + ideas for small non-wearable items

2012-01-03T07:02:35Z

Posted by: pebblerocker

I've just re-learnt how to knit, having made nothing since the ghastly scarflike object I made at age 8 and then bootees for three newborn relatives at wide intervals over the next couple of decades. I'd bought some hand-knitted socks and I love them so much I want to make myself some more, so in the last week I've been learning the magic loop method and making a pair of toe-up heelless spiral ribbed socks which I'm extremely excited about. Yay me!

Having used up that wool, though, I'm keen to keep knitting. I'm staying with my mother-in-law for a week and she no longer knits, so she gave me her leftover wool to do what I like with. However everything she had was acrylic and I'm somewhat rabid about only wearing natural fibres, especially on my feet, so socks are out. Can anyone point me to some patterns for non-wearable items I can make out of the acrylic? Maybe tea cosies or, I don't know, ipod cosies and things? Something fast and fun.

I don't know much about wool weights (DK, 8-ply, worsted... it's all Greek to me) and there are no labels on the balls, but it looks fairly thick. My only available needle is a 3.5mm circular so I hope it'll work for what I have to knit with. And I'm at pretty basic skill level: I can knit, purl, increase, decrease, and look up stitches on Youtube. What things can I make while I'm staying here?

ETA: vampirefan suggested toys -- I have a half-grown cat who will bite and fight my fluffy scarf any chance he gets, so I'll try making him a cat toy or two! Even I should be able to make something up without a pattern: magic loop method, little ring, increase, decrease, stuff and add tassels. He'll love it.

comments

what can i knit?

2011-12-24T09:00:22Z

Posted by: izzy

i have a hankering to make myself a hat. the tools i have available are as follows:

mostly worsted weight yarn (other yarn is sock weight which isn't terribly helpful)
mostly wool
dpns US sizes 3 through 9 (missing a couple in there, can't remember which right now) and one circular size 10 or thereabouts

i am a fan of most types of hats (cloches are an exception). i love silly things like earflaps and pompoms. i'm not big on super detailed colorwork. i've looked at the hats on knitty, and nothing is catching my fancy.

i just wanna whip myself up an easy hat, any suggestions?

comments

Suggestions plz.

2011-11-16T00:37:00Z

Posted by: ghoti

Does anyone have suggestions for baby-related things for one scheduled to arrive late-june-ish in a hot/humid climate? My usual blankets would probably be too warm.

comments

help, oh help

2011-11-05T18:31:51Z

Posted by: izzy

i finished this scarf exactly a week ago, and i've been wearing it almost every day since. this morning i discovered a HOLE in it where no hole should be! it looks like the yarn just broke. if anyone has any tips for fixing it, i would be terribly grateful.

i have some similar weight and color yarn, but none of the original stuff (there was only like a foot of it left anyway). also i don't know why the image is on its side. it's right side up on flickr. sigh.

comments

looking for advice

2011-08-25T02:17:56Z

Posted by: theliterator

Hi again! Lurker still... though less of one since this is my second post?

The thing is, I've recently moved to the arctic and I think I need warm... things. I kind of want a balaclava, actually, and I'm probably going to end up making one, but I was wondering if anyone had advice regarding what sort of yarn I ought to use? (I'm open to the idea of a scarf, but I don't like how hard it is to keep them in place. Maybe a neck gaiter type thing?)

I'm a casual knitter, but I just found out my tuition for fall semester is paid, so I have an unlimited budget (I've bought a new coat and fur-lined cap and everything first, the balaclava idea is secondary, promise!) and I don't have a pattern either but I figure I can find something in my book of random patterns the person who taught me gave me or online if I had too, I was mostly at a loss on fiber, given how I mostly just stick with cheap acrylics (or more expensive acrylics) given the casual nature of my knitting.

Also, I live in a dorm, so something that requires minimal post-knitting care would be nice. Warmth though, would be good. I hear it gets cold here.

So any advice before I give up and throw the internet out the window would be awesome. (There was a muskox one at the store, but it is scratchy in its warmth which is not an ideal balaclava, in my opinion.)

ETA: according to wikipedia muskox yarn is qiviut, but i think the stuff they're selling at dundas hasn't been seperated from the guardhairs like what you can buy elsewhere. i'll consider picking something like that up in qanaaq or having someone else do it for me, but it seems prohibitively expensive otherwise.

comments

Advice on seaming 100% cashmere yarn?

2011-08-21T04:50:50Z

Posted by: fish_echo

Sometimes I leap into things without thinking all the way through, without reading all the instructions, or without thinking ahead for all what the instructions might be...

Which is why I now have a patchwork blanket made with a variety of yarns to piece together, and I'm looking at the patches made with 100% cashmere yarn, wondering what to do next. I reclaimed the yarn from a jumper at a second hand store and the shoulder seams were reinforced with some non-cashmere yarn. Of course, it's not until now, when I've knit everything up, that I'm wondering if maybe that means that seaming is complicated when working with 100% cashmere yarn. (My original plan was to use blanket stitch on all the seams.)

So, does anyone have advice on what I should be doing with regards to seaming the 100% cashmere patches?

Cheers!

x-posted to fish-echo and knitting

comments

Question about knitting for charity

2011-08-12T22:47:51Z

Posted by: rokeon

I'm brand new to knitting, but I learned when I got into making chainmail that my ideal project is not one that has an overly firm due date; I'm the sort of person who starts a project, forgets it exists for six months, then finds the supplies buried under a stack of books and sits down to finish the whole thing in two days without sleep. So I'm looking for charity programs that either accept donations continuously or reoccur every year.

I can find a million search results about charity knitting, but some of them (like helmetliners for soldiers) seem to be defunct and others are just hard to judge from their webpages. Does anybody have any organizations they'd recommend?

comments

Fluffy (mohair and similar) yarn

2011-06-02T17:17:54Z

Posted by: aedifica

I've done a couple of shawls in sockweight yarn now, and I'm thinking I'd like to make one with laceweight yarn next. It turns out my mental image of laceweight yarn is the fluffy stuff, mohair and the like (for example this stuff), because when I looked at non-fluffy laceweight yarn something inside me was saying "that's not right!"

I've never worked with that kind of yarn before. Is it easy or hard to work with? Does it require special care?

comments

Blocking lace with points

2011-05-18T19:30:50Z

Posted by: aedifica

Hi, all!

Last year I knitted the Argus Shawlette when we had that knit-along (speaking of which--that was fun, we should do it again!). I blocked it with points along the lower edges like in the pictures, but it lost its decorative points very quickly after blocking. Do you have any advice how to make it keep the decorative points? I suppose I could try starch, but I'm hoping not to need to.

It was my first time blocking lace, and I'm quite prepared to believe I did something wrong--but I can't see what it would have been! (I got the shawl thoroughly wet, gently squeezed out some of the water--though I realized later I could have taken out a lot more water--and pinned it into shape on a clean sheet on a bed, and left it til it was dry.)

comments

sock help?

2011-05-06T01:25:54Z

Posted by: ghoti

So I'm working on a pair of socks, and I'm still new enough at socks that I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the pattern or if I'm not reading it correctly, or what.

Pattern is "Just Yer Basic Sport Sock" (ravelry link to pattern).

I've just gotten to the part where I want to start the heel flap ... and it says:

The heel flap is worked over the first 24 (28) stitches of your round. The other 24 (28) stitches are the instep stitches, which will be held in place on the needles while you knit the heel flap. When you reach the end of your last round for the leg, continue as follows:
Set-up:
Row 1: Knit across 12 (14) stitches. Turn your work – you’ll knit the next row on the wrong side (purl bumps) of the sock.
Row 2: Slip first stitch purlwise, purl across remaining 23 (27) stitches. (You’ll be working back across the first and fourth needles of your round.) Turn your work – you’ll be knitting on the right side again on the next row.

If I'm reading this correctly, you knit your first needle, then turn around and purl your first and fourth needles. Wouldn't that make the heel just *slightly* imbalanced, having that extra row on needle 1?

comments

"chest" measurement

2011-03-19T12:29:52Z

Posted by: afuna

I'm thinking of making the Diamond Halter pattern, but I'm unsure about sizing.

Where it says chest measurement, does that mean to measure across the bust, or is it for around the portion right under the bust?

comments

Scarf Patterns?

2011-02-05T11:20:26Z

Posted by: glinda

Hello!

I'm seeking the wisdom, experience of the comm, with regard to scarf patterns. A few months ago when I was up on Shetland I bought some Shetland (Marl) wool with the intention of making a scarf. I'm looking for a pattern for a long scarf, preferably with some sort of cable pattern (I've not done a lot of cabling - mostly only in a swatch for a jumper I never ended up making - but I enjoyed it and would like to do some more without worrying about lots of increases/decreases etc). It's been four months since I bought the wool and I've found nothing that grabbed me and suited the wool. So, if anyone has used a pattern like that they'd recommend, or knows of one that looks like it would work? Any suggestions gratefully received.

PS My knitting skill level is about Knitty 'tangy' grade.

( wool below cut )

comments

What does "as set" mean?

2010-12-10T09:27:05Z

Posted by: vilakins

I'm making the Knitty Klein Bottle Hat, but the following instructions puzzle me:

Round 1: [K1, p1, m1, place marker, k1, p1, m1] 3 times. 18 sts.

6 sections have been formed, 2 on each needle. Each marker indicates the end of one section; the end of each needle indicates the end of another section.

Round 2: Work in rib as set, working new sts in pattern.

Round 3: [Work in rib as set to end of section, m1] 6 times. 6 sts increased.

Repeat Rounds 2 and 3 six times more. 60 sts.

Do I:

1) knit the stitches as they appear (knit the knits and increases, purl the purls)

or

2) just do 1x1 rib regardless?

[Edit] Answered - thank you!

comments

holes in thumb gussets

2010-11-15T14:50:50Z

Posted by: to_love_a_rose

It seems like every time I knit a pair of mittens or gloves, I end up with a gaping hole in the thumb gusset. Picking up more stitches in surrounding stitches helps, but doesn't solve the problem (maybe I'm not picking up enough?) and sewing it shut looks ugly. Help?

comments

dyeing cotton

2010-09-20T14:07:04Z

Posted by: threepointonefour

I have a massive skein of bernat handicrafter cotton in a natural off white type tone. I am using it to knit up little washcloths for my cousins kids as holiday gifts. I was wondering if anyone who has experience dyeing cotton yarn with tie dye kits has tried painting the dye onto knitted items rather than dip dyeing the unknitted yarn? Or, if that won't work any suggestions for dye methods that might allow me to, for example, make the duck yellow and the water blue on this?

comments

pattern request

2010-08-13T16:37:11Z

Posted by: astro_noms

*request retracted because, well, it's not really quite legal and I don't want to get myself or anyone else into trouble*

comments