Knitters in the Playground

[Syka]

So...I finally got corralled into knitting after several of my friends have picked it up. Right now I'm practicing just a basic knit with some kinda crappy yarn so I can eventually make a nice soft scarf with nicer yarn I picked up.

Any other knitters out there? If so, I totally have a question, haha. :) At the end of a row, the stich always seems to be suuuuper loose but looks like it tightens up after I finish the next row. Is that normal?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I'm wearing the epicly cabled black wool sweater my mother finished knitting for me a few days ago, right now. It's wonderful.

[Syka]

Before I had ever knitted a stich, Oz requested a Jayne hat (just in black and green instead of yellow, red, and oranges). My reaction was ":smalleek: Good God, man, let me knit something easy first!"

I hope I can do epic cable sweaters some day. :)

[THAC0]

I keep trying every few years. Can't do it. So I do fur-sewing instead.

[dish]

I was first taught to knit at a young age - around 8 or so, I believe - and I've been doing it on and off since then. Unfortunately, though, it's mostly been off. About once a decade or so I take out my needles and wool and knit something small, but every time I try to tackle a larger project I just get bored and give up in the middle of it. :smallredface:

I can knit patterns of medium difficulty: I've done lacy patterns, increasing, decreasing, changing colours and stuff of that sort. I've certainly never attempted cable stich or anything of that sort. Most recently I managed three pairs of baby bootees and two baby hats, but I got bored and distracted in the middle of making a matching baby cardigan. At the rate I knit, it might be finished in time for my grandchildren.

However, I can offer a little advice to Syka. It's normal for the end stiches in each row to be looser than the rest. Many patterns ask you to keep the tension firm by knitting the stich at the end of the row, but slipping it onto the other needle without knitting when you start the next row. That way each end stich is only knitted half as often as the internal stiches, and it tends to keep the tension firmer.

[Gaelbert]

Any other knitters out there? If so, I totally have a question, haha. :) At the end of a row, the stich always seems to be suuuuper loose but looks like it tightens up after I finish the next row. Is that normal?

I knit. Not well, but I do. I have mostly the same experience, so I don't think it's terribly out of the ordinary.
My main problem is I knit incredibly tight. Everything I do bunches up really close. I think I'm just a little too tense or something when I do my knitting.

[Castaras]

Yes, it's normal to have a stitch looser at the ends. I've got into the habit of just slipping the last stitch onto the other needle instead of knitting it - makes it a little less loose and has the added advantage of when perling the fabric won't curl up as much.

I've been meaning to get back into knitting. Been a while since I did it. I mostly knit toys. :smallsmile:

[blackfox]

I knit! And crochet! I make hats! Lots of hats! Also ponies and other stuffed things!

[Melayl]

I tried crochet and knitting for a while some time back. I wasn't very good at it, particularly crochet -- I had trouble counting stiches correctly.

I should start trying knitting again. My oldest daughter is learning while her sister does gymnastics, and looks to be doing well so far.

[Savannah]

Yes, it's normal. The easiest way around it is to learn to knit with circular and/or double-pointed needles :smalltongue: They're way more fun, and you don't get annoying seams in your cylindrical objects!

[ShortOne]

I've been knitting on and off since I was six, when my grandmother taught me. I have trouble with projects bigger than a hat. Scarves are pushing it. I have all the skills I would need for more complicated things, and I start lots of them, it's just the finishing... :smallannoyed:

[Juggling Goth]

Ooh! Me! Meeeeeeeeeeee!

I knit. Mostly to keep me calm. I got the idea from a lovely social phobic boy I know. Also I like to have something to do with my hands.

I'm knitting jumpers for chickens at the moment. I'm getting 4 rescued ex-battery hens on the 15th and going from a big overheated shed to a coop-and-run in October would probably be a horrible shock even if they had all their feathers, which they probably won't. Thus, little chicken jumpers. Seriously. There's patterns and photos on the internet.

I recommend not knitting scarves. They seem like the obvious thing, but they stop being challenging long before they're done. I've completed maybe three scarves, and I was horribly bored with all of them long before they were finished. I like socks and hats for little portable challenging projects, but you do have to learn to knit in the round. (Not as hideous as it sounds. Also, cos you're knitting spirals rather than back-and-forth, you can have stocking stitch without ever having to purl.)

Also, patterns look intimidating, but you totally have to have faith. Just jump in there, cross your fingers, follow the instructions, and trust that it'll look sort of okay when you get to the end. (With a glossary, preferably. You've never seen so many abbreviations in your life.)

I made one baby blanket. And then forgot to give it to the baby in question. And it annoyed me intensely. At the moment, the founder of my roller derby league just gave birth, and one of our blockers is pregnant, so I'm also knitting little roller-skate-shaped booties in the league colours.

[Nix Nihila]

I tried out knitting when I was younger. I mostly did it to keep my hands busy, but I've always liked working with textiles. When I was younger, I always enjoyed knitting after some tea by the fireplace, but now I'm more of a seamstress. I'd love to see some of the things any of you have knitted though!

[Weezer]

I knit a lot, I was introduced to it a few years ago by a friend when I was having a panic attack, she felt that giving me something repetitive and new to concentrate on would help me calm down, turns out it did. Since then knitting has become my prime stress relief outlet, though I haven't learned how to anything other than the basic stitch and perling, no real motivation to do so. The reasons I knit mean I don't often do actual projects, but rather just end up turning whatever yarn I have into long strips of knitting which then go into my drawers. However I just finished my first big project, a replica of the 4th Doctor's scarf (the scarf my avatar is wearing) and it's awesome :smallsmile:

[Savannah]

The reasons I knit mean I don't often do actual projects, but rather just end up turning whatever yarn I have into long strips of knitting which then go into my drawers.

If you ever decide you want to do something else with your knitting, I know there are various groups that collect squares people knit/crochet/whatever and make them into blankets that are then donated to homeless shelters and similar. I've thought about doing that in the past, but I get bored if I'm just making squares, even if they're fairly small :smalltongue: (And as I understand it, you just give them the completed squares and don't need to do anything with stitching them together if you don't want to.)

[Syka]

I'm a scarf-a-holic, so I'm actually looking forward to knitting at least one scarf. :)

Unfortunately, the last few days have not given me any real amount of time to knit. But my friend is part way done with what was supposed to be a scarf but is turning out to be waaaay bigger.

I'll post pictures once I get something more than a square!

[Helanna]

I really enjoy knitting, but I have a tendency to start a project, work at it enthusiastically for a few days, and then ignore it until I've completely forgotten what I'm working on and have to start over. Right now, I have one fingerless glove that I made and that I actually really like (this pattern (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owlings)). I have three rows done on the next one and they've been sitting on my desk for like a month.

My biggest problem with knitting is finding interesting projects, though, so if anyone has any suggestions, leave 'em here. I tend not to be too interested in making clothing and whatnot, so I try to find really interesting things to make. I started making a weighted companion cube once, but I lost the pieces . . . I should start another one.

[missmvicious]

so first of all yeah that is normal, and an awesome trick to help make that cheap yarn you are using now softer is to give it a bath with a fabric softener rinse. I have been give TONS of yarn over the years and its almost always basic 4 ply worsted weight acrylic and that makes it notably softer.
Personally though I have been very into this blend of wool and alpaca which on the website I buy on its only like $4-$5 per skein. And the stuff felts like a dream.

[THAC0]

If you REALLY want some nice stuff, get your paws on some qiviut. It's expensive as heck, but so dang soft.