knitting

Last year, could best be described - from a knitting perspective - as the year of projects started and never finished. I spent most of the first 6 months of last year working on one project, an enjoyable but slow-moving fair isle, double-thickness - ie. knit in the round - scarf. Before getting distracted by other projects. Which is probably a good thing, otherwise I might never have actually got anything but that finished last year. The second half of the year was marked by me having a bad case of 'oooh shiny' and starting lots of different projects, most of which I never actually finished. I realised when I started making this post that I actually only finished 3 objects last year. Admittedly one of those was a large chunky cardigan, but that was actually a really satisfyingly quick knit that I made in about 6 weeks.

This year I've set myself the target of finishing five projects I'd already started. Some are big projects (like the fair isle double-thickness scarf) and others are small (like the socks where I'm half-way through the second sock of a pair, but have mislaid it somewhere in the house...). Some are relatively new (currently working on a cushion cover that I started over Xmas) and others have been sitting half knitted for considerably longer (there's that lovely lacey jumper that I started in 2008). So there's quite a variety of projects to pick from. I just need to resist the urge to cast on something new...

( things I actually finished! )

Current Mood: hopeful

lizcommotion

I am currently knitting SweaterBabe's Covetable Cape.It is a lovely pattern, and I cast on with some trepidation as I was watching Downton Abbey Season 4 Christmas Special while knitting a new pattern (i.e. counting, adding stitch markers, etc.) that also included a large cable pattern and two lace sections. It went swimmingly. I even watched about half of X2 and got about 15 rows into the top-down pattern without any major errors. (OK, so perhaps I missed the first row of the button band -- no one will know that kind of thing.)

Then I went to Knit Night -- the place where I tend to get tons of knitting done -- and things went downhill quickly. I purled where I should have knit on the cables; I lost track of where I was on the lace and cable charts even though I was marking it down on the pattern (somehow that didn't match up to my actual knitting); I dropped stitches; in attempting to fix things everything got worse. My attempts to insert a lifeline were very frustrating.

Yesterday I finally yanked out the needle and re-cast on. I decided to try watching Tin Man, a fantasy miniseries about Oz. Again, things went swimmingly (except somehow the cable is now on a garter stitch background instead of reverse stockinette, but that's less annoying to knit, so I'm good with that as it still looks great.)

Today I sat down with the Madonna Pandora station on, and I tried knitting the next row. Just the next row. It took about 20 minutes to get through the first lace section (somehow I had one too many stitches, I could not figure out why, eventually I fixed it with the time honored tradition of knitting two together ;) ). Then I got to the cable section, and OMFG. I dropped a stitch, found it, tinked agonizingly back (tinking is not kind in cables), knit again...and there was another dropped stitch. Found it, tinked back again, the same thing happend.

At this point I yelled (literally) at my knitting that if it didn't behave it was going in the closet for a week while I knit hats. From handspun. So there.

I fixed the dropped stitch (which took time, it was cantankerous), and finished the row with no further problems.

This seems very odd to me, because it's completely opposite of my usual knitting experience. TV = mistakes ; knitting people = progress; late nights = waking up in the morning to regret and bizarre knitting errors and wondering what the heck I did the night before.

I can only draw one conclusion from this turn of events:

My knitting has gained sentience, and it (she?) enjoys late nights and watching geeky TV. To optimize the knitting of this project, I should take her to the new Captain America movie and leave an assortment of comic books in my knitting bag for when I'm not able to knit.

That way, we'll both be happy. And there'll be no need for closet exile.

peaceful_sands

I'm what's called a slow knitter... In the case of these items though, slow took on a whole new meaning. They were both part done projects for more than two years. But no Longer! I have finally finished them and in time for a friend who's expecting a baby in the New Year.

One was a simple baby jumper in white with patches of pink, green, purple and blue with a simple cable up the front and two stripes where the knit becomes purl to create a relief pattern (Is there a technical term for that?)

White Baby Jumper

( Cut for further projects and pictures )

Current Mood: relieved

lizcommotion

I just finished knitting Color Affection, which I know most people do in a lot of different colors...however, I picked lots of shades of blue with some variegations of purple and green mixed in. Why? (1) Stashbusting. (2) Zomg blue is my favorite color and it will match a lot of my wardrobe. (I did end up buying the third color, because I couldn't find a set of three that matched in my stash.)

Enough talking. Moar knitting picturez!

Color Affection shawl in blues being modeled by yours truly, front view
( You want even moar knitting picturez? Sure! )
Note that I was unable to get gauge, despite swatching twice. Apparently when I knit large, heavier objects it really messes with my gauge, and I don't know how to compensate for this.

It's a fun knit, I got to practice carrying yarn and learned the difference between "make 1 right" and "make 1 left". (Side note: if you do make this, it does take a concerted effort to have your make 1's be loose while you're carrying the yarn. This is worth the effort.)

\o/

cross-posted to my journal

vampirefan

i started this shawl in march of 2011 and it got worked on occasionally while i finished various other projects but i'm finally done! and OMG I ONLY HAD ABOUT 12 - 15 INCHES OF YARN LEFT OVER! although i had done my best to measure/estimate how much yarn i would be using toward the end of the project, i was so worried that i had calculated wrong so i was freaking out as i finished binding off, watching that tiny ball of yarn get tinier and tinier, but it worked out perfectly! \o/

i love the subtle variegated colors and it works out perfectly for this lacy design. you can see my project notes and more pictures here: ravel.me/vampirefan/gan (or you can click on the picture to visit flickr and see the pictures in full size). i plan on getting more pictures of it off of the blocking wires.

( on to the pictures! )

rileybear67

There is a scarf pattern that someone posted on their FB page and I picked it up.

I have been wanting to learn Entrelac for some time and this looked like a great simple project to start with. The pattern page included a link to Very Pink where she explains how to make this scarf in simple easy to understand terms.

Yesterday I completed the first pattern repeat for the scarf. It is loose and messy, but I get it! I understand how Entrelac works now!

And to make things even better, I get how to pick up stitches! This means that heel flaps for socks suddenly make sense to me!

I have 5 projects that I want to get done first, but this scarf will be sitting in the sidelines waiting and I have ALL these sock patterns that now do not seem so daunting anymore!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: work

rileybear67

I finished one of the Totoro mittens.

It is my hand in the picture, since the lady I am making them for has hands about the same size...

Here is the back of the hand:
Totoro-done2

And this is the palm:
Totoro-done1

The stranding makes for an interesting fit, but I hope she likes them...

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: work
Current Music: Billy Joel

lizcommotion

I cast on with some Malabrigo that had had an unfortunate tangling accident, so I wasn't too sure how things would turn out. I was initially intending to make a manly ribbed hat until I realized the yarn had a lot of purple hues mixed in with the blues. It ended up being this cowl:

(For basketweave pattern and a close-up of the stitch check out my Flickr stream.)

Which is super duper comfortable, and I am so close to not giving it away. I wore it all afternoon after I finished it. I had some yarn left, so I decided to make a matching headband. I cast on what I thought was 90 stitches (as the pattern requires a multiple of 6). I realized it was actually a multiple of 6 minus 2, but I was curious as to what stitch that would make if I just kept knitting around (and let the pattern rotate around.) It makes this:

Which is lovely and super stretchy and I want to make more. (For the curious, it's K4, P2 on a multiple of 6 stitches minus 2. So when you get to the end of the round you start with P2...and keep rotating around. It's fun!)

Unfortunately I had not cast on two less than I needed as I blithely thought (and didn't check for some bizarre reason unknown to me). So I ended up with this:

Which is at least 26" long and too big for a human head. But at least I found a new stitch. And now I can rip it out and recast on the correct number of stitches.

Does anyone know what the above stitch is? It's some sort of mistake-stitch-double-seed-stitch something. Any help would be appreciated.

rileybear67

I am discovering an interesting trend to my knitting and I am hoping that it will actually go away...

I knit in fits and starts. I'll go like a week and knit every day for a couple hours and then I won't touch any projects for like another week or so.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get past it? I want to be able to finish my projects in a more timely manner, but I get stuck in this rut.

Anyway, just musing.
Thanks.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: work

rileybear67

I got a little further on the mittens today.

Here is where I am at now. Once I get into a groove, the faire-isle actually goes rather well and the way I am knitting them, I can check for sizing and stretch as I go...

Totoro Mittens

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: work

rileybear67

My next project is to finish a pair of mittens for a friend of mine.

She doesn't knit and found the pattern, so I said I'd make them. They are faire-isle done in a Totoro pattern... SO cute.

Here is about as picture of where I was when I stopped to make the sleep sacks. I am a little further now but haven't taken another pic yet.

Totoro mittens

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: home

rileybear67

A friend of mine now has twin girls at home and I have made two sleep sacks. I am just finishing the second, but I did remember to take a picture of the first.

The colors were selected by the parents and I wanted to make something nice.
Someone told me that the one looks like an eggplant and now I am a little self-conscience about it.

Anyway, I would post a picture, but there doesn't seem to be an option to select from computer and I don't have it posted anywhere...

I'll look into putting some stuff up on Flickr for this...

EDIT: Now that I have created a group on Flickr...
The completed Sleep Sack (eggplant version 1)

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: work

glinda

So I actually remembered to not only take some photos of the scarves I've been making recently, but also to take them off my camera. I thought I celebrate by posting them here and realised that I haven't actually posted here since several people here were kind enough to answer my puzzled questions about scarf patterns months and months ago. Thus a scarf pictures post!

( Irish Hiking Scarf )

( frilly efforts )

Current Mood: pleased

lizcommotion

I realize I'm probably opening up a whole kettle of fish by asking this, but I am new to knitting and wonder whether it's worth it to bother buying stitch markers. Right now I'm just using a loop of a contrasting scrap yarn as a stitch marker. It can be a little cumbersome, but I don't have to worry about losing it (can always get more small bits of yarn). Annoyingly, the acrylic yarns tend to fray a bit.

I've read that it's much smoother and faster to use the commercially made stitch markers, but I do wonder (a) if that is just slick marketing, (b) about the wasted plastic/shipping/processing costs to the environment, (c) about what happens when I lose the expensive little things.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: Thanks for all the suggestions and input, folks! I think I will go crazy if I try to respond to every reply, so I'll just say thanks here!

lizcommotion

During World War I (and I believe World War II as well) people at home were asked to knit socks for soldiers. I don't know all of the hows and whys because I still haven't started the knitting history book I checked out of the library.

However, I do know where you can find a book about it written in 1915. With instructions. So if you ever wanted to know how to knit socks for soldiers (which I assume would have to be sturdy), there is a guide out there for you. It is entitled How to knit socks: a manual for both amateur and expert knitters by Maud Churchill Nicoll, and if that alone doesn't make you want to view it for free I don't know what will.

As I have not knit socks myself, I don't know how good the guidelines are. (Full confession: I haven't read all of it either, as I'm working through library books first so I don't get fines). I'd be interested in hearing what other folks think of it.

crossposted to

crafting_the_past

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?

fish_echo

I've got a pattern which calls for using the Twisted German cast on, which I don't know. (I know could use some other cast on but I would really prefer to follow the pattern on this one...)

So please, oh dear wise

knittingers, any help you can throw my way would be much appreciated!

I'm looking for instructions on how to do the Twisted German cast-on (it may or may not have other names, but only that one was given) which are actually useful in explaining how to do it. I've looked at some of the instructions I could find online but I haven't had any luck actually following along and reproducing the cast-on properly (erm, as far as I can tell, given that I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to be doing. But at least it doesn't look quite like the photo, which I assume isn't a good sign...).

My preference is for vids which I can watch with the sound off (and thus learn entirely from the motions), but annotated pictures/diagrams or written instructions could also work. Books/offline references are much less instant-gratification, but I do have access to a library, so, sure, why not leave them too.

And if you have links (or off-line references) to instructions for this cast-on which are useful/instructive but don't match up with my preferences, please do leave them anyway so that this might be a useful reference post for those who don't learn the same way I do (marking them as 'not likely to be useful to Fish' or something similar would be useful, I suppose).

ETA: I think I've figured it out, thanks everyone! :) If you have a favourite resource(s) for this cast on that you'd like to share, feel free to still drop them in the comments so that others viewing this entry in the future can check them out.

Current Mood: frustrated

katemonkey

I knitted a small hanging planter to go on my fence.

Because most of my back garden is concrete, I need to use a lot of nontraditional concepts for gardening. I could do the traditional hanging baskets, but I can knit, and I had twine, and I wanted to see what was possible.

It had a plastic bag as the liner, with a hole in the bottom for drainage.

I don't know how long it'll last. I'm assuming it won't last through a harsh winter, but, to be fair, I doubt the plant will last past the first frost either.

So, if it works, I'll write it up as a knitting pattern. And I'll make a bunch for all over my fence and plant a lot of long trailing basket-based flowers. Or strawberries - I'm thinking strawberries could be a really interesting thing to put into something like this.

(I also love the fact that I can cross-post this in

gardening as well as

knitting...)

iamshadow

I present to you,

The Cutest Bear In The World

More pictures here...

Current Mood: accomplished

flying_fox

I have just knitted a child's cardigan in a double knit cotton yarn, and I now need to sew in a zip.

My question is, should I sew the zipper in by hand with cotton thread, or is it possible to do it on a sewing machine? If I use the sewing machine should I place it on the machine with the knitted garment under the zipper, tacking the zipper to the knit first? I am really worried about setting the tension correctly on the machine, but if I hand sew I know it won't be as neat.

Any advice anyone?

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
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15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Finished Objects of 2016

My Fandom Knitting (not what you think)

Intrepid Adventures into finding lost projects (and finishing them!)

Color Affection/Infection/Affliction - just in time for a cold snap

gail shawl

Success!!!!

One down - one to go!

Playing with yarn

Knitting Fits....

Totoro Mittens - progress...

Totoro mittens...

Just finished a project...

Rather Remiss of Me

Stitch markers

How to knit WWI Army socks

Question about knitting for charity

Twisted German cast on? [AKA German Twisted and Old Norwegian]

My latest knitting experiment

AND NOW...

Help! Some advice needed.

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October 2017

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