Knitting in the Playground

[Kato]

So, more out of curiosity I was wondering how many Playgrounders take an interest in this hobby. (I will even be so generous to accept crocheting :smalltongue:)

A friend of mine brought me to it now about a year ago. As it's physically impossible for me to keep my hands at rest for more than a minute, yet I spend a large part of my spare time watching... lots of different stuff it's proven a much better way to waste my hand activity. Also, people are surprisingly amazed if I offer them even poorly made knitted items as presents. While I've done a few things (even on rather large project) I'm still pretty much a beginner.


So, am I the only one or...?

[noparlpf]

I have the same sort of thing, I have to be doing something with my hands. Or do two things at once. I tried to take up knitting last year but I got sidetracked with another thing and didn't get to it. Maybe I'll try again now winter is coming and I need a scarf...

[Castaras]

I love knitting. I'm not particularly great at it, but I love doing it. Wanting to learn Crochet as well, but haven't got round to teaching myself it. Knitting however... I'm currently in the middle of making a little ducky with a top hat and monocle and waistcoat. :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

I tried to learn how to knit, but I don't think so well in 3D space. When someone tells me to do something "Now go under and over" and such, my brain gets more than a little frazzled.

[Savannah]

I love knitting :smallbiggrin:

Crocheting is pretty cool, too (although I don't like the fact that I have to look at my project....I can knit without looking).

[Drakeburn]

I have tried to learn how to knit, but it isn't really something I would be very interested in (although I wanted to do a personal project to make a my own dice bag with some sort of fabric with dragon patterns on it).

To put it this way, I jab the needle into my fingers while others sew. That describes how bad I am with knitting. :smallfrown:

(But I heard that some kid in Middle school accidentally got their hands sewed with a sewing machine).

[Kato]

I'm not quite sure if I should be confused at the fact that I'm the only male who didn't give up on knitting :smalltongue:


For all those who gave up on it: Why did you? I guess it takes a bit of getting used to but as long as you don't try anything complicated it's really something you can learn to do in a few days. I made a (simple) dice bag a few months ago and it was pretty fast and easy. (Putting dragons on it... I guess the only difficult thing would be to get a chart and I'm sure there are a bunch of those around)


I'm still working on a pair of handwarmers I've started forever ago because I got sidetracked by other things which were more urgent to make... I tried to make gloves first but kind of failed, though I guess I could do them by now. Maybe the next project.

[noparlpf]

I'm not quite sure if I should be confused at the fact that I'm the only male who didn't give up on knitting :smalltongue:

For all those who gave up on it: Why did you? I guess it takes a bit of getting used to but as long as you don't try anything complicated it's really something you can learn to do in a few days. I made a (simple) dice bag a few months ago and it was pretty fast and easy. (Putting dragons on it... I guess the only difficult thing would be to get a chart and I'm sure there are a bunch of those around).

1. I was learning on my own using online sources and every video had a different method for starting the first row and none seemed to work.
2. I got sidetracked, probably with Pokémon or maybe with exams.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

My girlfriend is an excellent knitter, and she's teaching me. I've made my first swatch, but currently - I've more been painting while she's been knitting. It's not that I don't like knitting - I love it - but I just haven't found a lot of time to practice or do it amongst the many other things. :smallbiggrin: However, I'll sub, because I like knitting, and am familiar enough in it to want to be here. :smallsmile:

[Savannah]

1. I was learning on my own using online sources and every video had a different method for starting the first row and none seemed to work.

To be fair, casting on is the hardest part of the project. I think the ideal way to learn would be to have someone else cast on for you, so you can practice the stitches before you need to cast on yourself. (Not sure how much better it would be, but if you are ever interested in trying again and need a real person to talk to who can respond to your problems/questions, let me know -- I'd be happy to help.)

[noparlpf]

To be fair, casting on is the hardest part of the project. I think the ideal way to learn would be to have someone else cast on for you, so you can practice the stitches before you need to cast on yourself. (Not sure how much better it would be, but if you are ever interested in trying again and need a real person to talk to who can respond to your problems/questions, let me know -- I'd be happy to help.)

Well, I'm thinking of trying again this year before winter because I always think I could use a scarf and never have one. Any suggestions for yarn weight and whatnot for a newbie?

[Savannah]

Yarn

Yarn types:
Acrylic is cheap, but doesn't always feel the nicest in the final product -- feel some of the yarn and decide if you like it. If you're okay with the feel, I'd probably recommend this for a beginner, just because it's so cheap and you won't feel you're wasting it if you have to toss out your first attempt :smalltongue:

Most people prefer wool both for working with and wearing. I'm not fond of wearing it, though I do admit it's really nice to work with.

My personal favorite for wearing is cotton, but it's very "sticky" on the needle and I would not recommend it for a beginner as it's not the easiest to manipulate on the needle.

There are other materials (I have some absolutely lovely rayon and bamboo fiber yarn, for example), but the three I've listed above tend to be the most common and cheapest.

Yarn weights:
For a scarf, you basically have two choices, either the "chunky" yarns that are very thick or the worsted weight that's the standard size you probably think of when you think of yarn. Chunky yarns use really big needles (size 10 ish in the US) and knit up quickly because you need fewer stitches to create a given amount of fabric. Standard worsted weight uses smaller needles (size 7-8 ish in the US) and takes longer to knit, but tends to be cheaper and easier to find. It also produces a thinner scarf, which may or may not be what you want.

General
The general advice when buying yarn is to buy as much as you need for the project all in one go, as colors can vary slightly from dye lot to dye lot and it can be impossible to get an exact match later. (I have never seen this be the case for acrylic yarn, however.)

Regardless of material and size, I'd look for a yarn that is made up of tightly twisted strands, as that makes it harder to accidentally stick your needle through the yarn itself. (The aforementioned rayon and bamboo yarn is the softest, silkiest yarn I've ever felt, but a complete pain in the butt to knit because it's so loosely twisted that I constantly have to watch to make sure I didn't put my needle through the strand of yarn :smallannoyed:)

Needles

Needle material:
Plastic needles are extremely sticky and it can be very hard to move the yarn around if you knit even the tiniest bit tight.

Metal needles are slippery and you may find your project sliding around too much if you knit quite loosely.

Bamboo needles are somewhere in the middle (I find them a little bit on the sticky side, but I've heard that if you knit a lot of wool, the lanolin in the wool will make them more slippery over time. I rarely knit with wool, so I haven't had any first-hand experience.)

Generally, I'd recommend avoiding plastic if you can possible afford it. (Plastic needles are definitely useable, if that's what you already have or is all you can afford, they just make everything harder.) A lot of beginners tend to knit tight, so metal may be your best bet (and I think it tends to be slightly cheaper than bamboo.)

There are other materials used for needles, but they're all more expensive specialty items.

Needle type:
There are three types of needles: standard/straight, circular, and double-pointed, which are all pretty self-explanatory once you look at them. Circular and double-pointed are primarily used for knitting in the round, meaning that you make a single tube of fabric (useful for tube-shaped items like sweaters, as you don't have to have a seam), although you can certainly knit flat on a circular needle. For a scarf, standard needles or circular needles will work just fine. (I'm a HUGE advocate of knitting in the round if you possibly can for any tube-shaped project, so I'd personally advocate buying circulars if you need to buy something, as they can easily be used for both straight and round knitting....but that's just me. Also, circulars are more expensive than straights.)

Needle size:
If you're in the US, size is measured by numbers, ranging from 000 (tiny!) to 15 or something (huge!). If you're outside of the US, it's measured in mm. I'm in the US, so that's the system I know -- there are plenty of charts online to convert if you need to.

What size needle you need depends on a combination of the yarn, your personal knitting tendencies, and the gauge a project requires. Gauge is just a measure of how many stitches it takes to make an inch of fabric, and all patterns will have a gauge written on them along with a recommended needle and yarn. Don't just blindly use the needle size they say, though -- always knit a sample patch to check what gauge you knit with that yarn and needle size and adjust your needle sizes until you match the given gauge. If you're not going to be using a pattern, you can use pretty much any size needle you want that is workable with your yarn of choice -- just knit your own gauge patch in advance so you can calculate how many stitches you need for the size item you want.

...That was probably way more than you actually wanted to know. Hope it helped and let me know if you need any clarification!

[Coidzor]

I'm interested in learning how, I must admit.

[Kato]

Well, Savannah obviously is much more nowledgable than me so I'll leave the advise to her :smallbiggrin:
I'm still willing to help if anyone is interested.

But yeah, the cast on can be kind of tricky, especially if you try anything special... Though, for most of my works it was enough to use the sling shot method which isn't too hard... I did have a friend teach it to me instead of learning it from a video or another tutorial, though)
Tutorials in any shape can be difficult to understand just based on what you already know, really... I'd wager there is a good tutorial for any topic somewhere on the net to everyone's liking but it's sometimes hard to find.


I'm using wooden needles for most of my projects, only my circular needles are plastic. While, yeah, they feel different, I don't have too much trouble with them either.

[Juggling Goth]

Like the t-shirt says, I knit so I don't kill people. Plus it gives me something to do with my hands and my social anxiety.

I hate scarves. Scarves are the worst. You will be bored with it long before you're done (I always am) - if you must, then use chunky yarn and big needles so it goes faster (and you can see what you're doing a lot easier, which is helpful to a newbie). I favour small projects with scope for increased complexity - hats and socks* are good.

*Embrace four double-pointed needles! Not literally embrace; you'll get stabbed. But they're way less difficult than they look. You're only ever knitting with two just like normal; the other two are just there to hold the shape. Then you knit exactly the same as usual, but in a spiral of rows one after the other, instead of zig-zagging back and forth. And you don't have to purl.

[noparlpf]

Like the t-shirt says, I knit so I don't kill people. Plus it gives me something to do with my hands and my social anxiety.

I hate scarves. Scarves are the worst. You will be bored with it long before you're done (I always am) - if you must, then use chunky yarn and big needles so it goes faster (and you can see what you're doing a lot easier, which is helpful to a newbie). I favour small projects with scope for increased complexity - hats and socks* are good.

*Embrace four double-pointed needles! Not literally embrace; you'll get stabbed. But they're way less difficult than they look. You're only ever knitting with two just like normal; the other two are just there to hold the shape. Then you knit exactly the same as usual, but in a spiral of rows one after the other, instead of zig-zagging back and forth. And you don't have to purl.

Scarf seemed simplest for the first project, plus I need one. Learning to knit hats would be awesome though. Maybe eventually.
Hmm. Guess I should find a place to go to buy thick yarn.

[Kato]

Scarf seemed simplest for the first project, plus I need one. Learning to knit hats would be awesome though. Maybe eventually.
Hmm. Guess I should find a place to go to buy thick yarn.

While I do agree with Goth on scarves being kind of boring rather fast (especially if you are a Doctor Who fan and you doing the ONE THING every knitting Doctor Who fan will have to do) it's a good start. While I guess a real lace scarf might be a bit too difficult for a starter just some color work could mix things up a little. Ravelry for example has a few to chose from, like a belgian waffles scarf. (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/belgian-waffles-scarf) It's much easier than it might look and it's not entirely boring either, I think.


edit: I also prefer 4 double pointed needles most of the time by now... even though the edges always look a bit off when I'm using them.

[noparlpf]

While I do agree with Goth on scarves being kind of boring rather fast (especially if you are a Doctor Who fan and you doing the ONE THING every knitting Doctor Who fan will have to do) it's a good start. While I guess a real lace scarf might be a bit too difficult for a starter just some color work could mix things up a little. Ravelry for example has a few to chose from, like a belgian waffles scarf. (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/belgian-waffles-scarf) It's much easier than it might look and it's not entirely boring either, I think.


edit: I also prefer 4 double pointed needles most of the time by now... even though the edges always look a bit off when I'm using them.

Lots of New Who fans don't even know about the Fourth anyway. And although I may have a pattern saved somewhere on here I don't know what I'd realistically do with a scarf that long.
(I spent most of NYCC pointing out Fourth Doctors to a non-fan friend and critiquing their scarves for incorrect color, weight, length, &c.)

[sana]

While I do agree with Goth on scarves being kind of boring rather fast (especially if you are a Doctor Who fan and you doing the ONE THING every knitting Doctor Who fan will have to do) it's a good start.them.

Honestly that's the one thing I never did....

I went straight for the stuffed knitted Daleks. Hard to do, but way more fun than a scarf or some socks.

[Juggling Goth]

Scarf seemed simplest for the first project, plus I need one. Learning to knit hats would be awesome though. Maybe eventually.
Hmm. Guess I should find a place to go to buy thick yarn.

Beanie-type hats are pretty easy, if you can find a basic pattern. It's basically a rectangle, then you decrease as you get to the top, then sew up the seam. It introduces basic knitting (and maybe rib), but not like six feet of it, plus the decreasing gives you something slightly more challenging to do at the end.

Sorry, I sound really negative about scarves! I just don't have the patience, personally - I can knit basic rows for about a foot before I get too bored to carry on. If you want to knit a scarf, then knit a scarf :smallsmile:

[noparlpf]

I'd probably try a hat second. Scarves still work when you make mistakes or pull things tight unevenly. Hats looks bad when you make mistakes.

[Kato]

I'd probably try a hat second. Scarves still work when you make mistakes or pull things tight unevenly. Hats looks bad when you make mistakes.

I actually kind of screwed up my scarf because I knitted way too tight at the beginning... (and to be honest I'm not a die hard enough fan to recognize wrong colors on a scarf. I do have a Dalek as well, though).

A pretty nice, fun hat to get started with is Jayne's famous one from Firefly. I also did one of those pretty early (which came out so-so. Later I made on for a friend with more practice and it happened much smoother)

[Juggling Goth]

I feel kind of terrible for being all negative about your first project! You know what, knit whatever you like. Knitting is awesome. You starting knitting is also awesome. :smallsmile:

[Lycunadari]

I just started knitting this week. :smallbiggrin: My first "project" was this, just for practising plain stitches:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9871/ppd4.jpg

I have no idea where the holes come from...

Now I'm practising purl stitches.

[Kato]

Hm, yeah, I don't know where the holes and uneven parts or from either... Did you try changing stuff, like knitting tighter or something? (And I feel those holes should actually unravel if they were actual mistakes) Color me confused...
Anyway, I hope you'll be trying more stuff in the future :smallbiggrin:

[Juggling Goth]

Unlikely to be a dropped stitch; they tend to unravel all the way down and make a ladder shape.

Yarnovers, maybe? If you accidentally wrap some yarn around the needle, that makes a hole. Good if you're knitting lace and doing it deliberately, not so good the rest of the time.

[Proud Tortoise]

I'd like to be able to knit, but my fingers are amazingly undextrous with anything having to do with yarn or thread or fabric. :smallfrown:

[Helanna]

I like knitting, but I've very rarely managed to actually finish a project. I always end up distracted . . .

I want to try making a blanket though. I have a lot of free time coming up, so maybe if I focus I'll be able to finish it. Oh, and I want to try making socks. That would be useful.

[noparlpf]

I like knitting, but I've very rarely managed to actually finish a project. I always end up distracted . . .

I want to try making a blanket though. I have a lot of free time coming up, so maybe if I focus I'll be able to finish it. Oh, and I want to try making socks. That would be useful.

Knitting a whole blanket? A very small blanket is like, 6'x5'. Sounds tedious.

[Coidzor]

A shawl might be a good start though?

[Helanna]

Knitting a whole blanket? A very small blanket is like, 6'x5'. Sounds tedious.

I was actually thinking of doing a baby blanket for my cousin. That would be a little smaller, at least, and give me incentive to finish.

[Juggling Goth]

Yeah, I cannot do large projects, but I've done a baby blanket. I did a Debbie Bliss pattern that had big moss stitch (knit one purl one, next row purl one knit one - makes a chessboard pattern) hearts and stars on it, which also helped with not getting bored.

[Kato]

Yarnovers, maybe? If you accidentally wrap some yarn around the needle, that makes a hole. Good if you're knitting lace and doing it deliberately, not so good the rest of the time.
I was going to ask how you accidentally yarnover but then I recalled that's not so hard when you are getting started. :smallredface:


Knitting a whole blanket? A very small blanket is like, 6'x5'. Sounds tedious.
Ah, it's not that bad depending on what yarn/needle you use. With a properly large gauge you could do it in a day, I'd wager.

[Juggling Goth]

I was going to ask how you accidentally yarnover but then I recalled that's not so hard when you are getting started. :smallredface:


Yep! I didn't drop many stitches as a newbie, but I had an amazing ability to end up with more than I started with.

[The Succubus]

It sounds like something I'd like to try. With regards to blankets, is it possible to knit a blanket from lots of little squares? Had a cool idea to make a blanket with small versions of each of the LGBT pride flags but I imagine it'd be tricky. :smallsmile:

[noparlpf]

It sounds like something I'd like to try. With regards to blankets, is it possible to knit a blanket from lots of little squares? Had a cool idea to make a blanket with small versions of each of the LGBT pride flags but I imagine it'd be tricky. :smallsmile:

Now you're combining knitting and quilting, I think. Go for it.

[Kato]

It sounds like something I'd like to try. With regards to blankets, is it possible to knit a blanket from lots of little squares? Had a cool idea to make a blanket with small versions of each of the LGBT pride flags but I imagine it'd be tricky. :smallsmile:

Hm... not too sure how complicated the flags are but I'm sure not too hard. noparlpf is right, though, it would involve quilting as well which... I'm not sure, is there much more to quilting than sewing together pieces of fabric?

Anyway, sounds like a good plan! (I'm still trying to finish my gloves. I hate noticing three rounds later I screwed up something and then having to go back...)

[noparlpf]

Hm... not too sure how complicated the flags are but I'm sure not too hard. noparlpf is right, though, it would involve quilting as well which... I'm not sure, is there much more to quilting than sewing together pieces of fabric?

Anyway, sounds like a good plan! (I'm still trying to finish my gloves. I hate noticing three rounds later I screwed up something and then having to go back...)

Nah, quilting just means you're not only knitting at that point. I'm being pedantic. It is a gaming forum.
Most of the flags are just striped. So that's easy enough as long as you know how to switch over colors. Which I don't, but it can't be super-hard, right?

Gloves sound complicated.

[The Succubus]

This is encouraging, so far. Any recommendations for a starting point to learn, like books or videos?

[noparlpf]

This is encouraging, so far. Any recommendations for a starting point to learn, like books or videos?

I can recommend a few videos that didn't help me when I tried to learn casting on last year.
So yeah, I'd also be interested if anybody has some useful tutorials. :smalltongue:

[Kato]

Uhm... it's kind of hard to judge what is helpful and what not, I'm afraid. As I mentioned above, I quite like the slingshot method for casting on and a certain search engine suggested this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJEg1LE6gVQ) tutorial which I think explains it well enough. Then again. I'd have a really hard time explaining it in plain text or even with pictures better than the video but then I'm a pretty poor teacher.


Next step would likely be just knitting a few rows and purling a few rows to get feeling for it.

[Savannah]

I would actually suggest crocheting rather than knitting for making up a blanket of little squares. Knitting is almost always quite stretchy but primarily in one direction, and it's rare for a stitch of knitting to be the same height as it is wide, so you run the risk of the blanket wanting to stretch/not stretch in different directions, resulting in weird sagging, and your squares not being, well, square. Granny-square style crochet is commonly pieced together like that, and each square is both square and not very stretchy, meaning everything fits together and hangs well.

You probably could do it with knitting, but you'd have to plan it out very carefully, and it probably wouldn't be the best thing to try if you're just getting started.

[Kato]

How dare you suggest crochetting in this knitting thread, mudblood (http://worstedforwear.com/?p=65). :smalltongue:

But in all seriousness, yeah, Savannah does have a point. But in my experience learning crochetting (properly) is harder than knitting. I guess depending on what you use for your pattern you can also make a nice knitted quilt but yeah, it might be a bit more difficult getting perfect squares and such.

I'm not into t but a friend of mine is constantly making hexipuffs, which are basically stuffed six-sided quilt elements. (Don't ask why I bring this up. It has to do with quilts)

[Savannah]

I hate crocheting. Doesn't mean it's not better suited for some tasks than knitting :smalltongue:

[noparlpf]

Remind me what size needles are good for making something like a scarf or random strip of knitting to practice? I found a pair of size 11 needles I apparently nicked from my mum during their last move. Plus some yarn. No idea what sort of yarn. It's brown and about 3mm thick at rest.

[Kato]

Remind me what size needles are good for making something like a scarf or random strip of knitting to practice? I found a pair of size 11 needles I apparently nicked from my mum during their last move. Plus some yarn. No idea what sort of yarn. It's brown and about 3mm thick at rest.

Er... stupid American sizes? Okay, that's reasonable large (unless it's 11 in UK system or old US?). I'd say if you are just practicing larger needles are better as you can more easily see what you are doing... I wouldn't mind the yarn to be honest if you are not going to keep it. Or use it at least. Usually the yarn says what needles it is best used with.

[noparlpf]

Er... stupid American sizes? Okay, that's reasonable large (unless it's 11 in UK system or old US?). I'd say if you are just practicing larger needles are better as you can more easily see what you are doing... I wouldn't mind the yarn to be honest if you are not going to keep it. Or use it at least. Usually the yarn says what needles it is best used with.

The yarn is without any label or anything. Yeah, US 11. It says 8mm on the other side.

[Kato]

The yarn is without any label or anything. Yeah, US 11. It says 8mm on the other side.

Yeah, that's what I assumed. Yarn is usually measured by weight/length so it's a bit hard to judge but as I said, if you are merely practicing any yarn should be okay. Unless you want to start doing something for real, which is where you need to think about WHAT you want to do to consider what yarn to use. But for the moment I'd recommend just knitting with what you got and try the basic stitches.

[Kato]

So, desperate attempt not to have this drop into obscurity again :smalltongue:

I finished an at least somewhat elaborate lace cowl birthday present this week and am almost satisfied with how it turned out :smallbiggrin:

Next up I'll turn to the dark side and try crochetting a little Black Mage figure. Shouldn't take too long or be too difficult but I might have not much time the next days.

I'm actually thinking about trying to do an OotS character for fun but I'm not sure how well a stick figure translates into a model...


Any of the beginners have made any progress they want to share?

[noparlpf]

Well, I stopped by the clothing section last time I was at Target and the scarves cost $20+ so I need to get on with learning to knit so my face stops being cold. However, I have my mum's cats in my small apartment for another two weeks yet, so it's been nearly impossible to do anything with yarn without the kitten attacking.

[Helanna]

Well, the other day I was was at the craft store, and I decided to pick up some of that Red Heart sashay yarn, which is more like a lacy ribbon than yarn and is used to make these scarves (http://www.redheart.com/blog/sassy-sashay).

I always wanted to try knitting with that type of yarn, but I never did because I thought it was going to be difficult. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be insanely simple, I think the entire scarf took less than 4 hours to make! I was pretty pleased with the way it came out, too.

[noparlpf]

I managed to get a couple of (messy) first few rows out in spite of my cats. I think I did something wrong because there's a big loop somewhere, but otherwise it's not going too badly for a first try.

[Savannah]

Big loops are often the result of accidentally looping an extra strand of yarn over the needle (which is a legit increase known as a yarn-over...not ideal when you don't want it, though :smalltongue:).

This is what I'm currently working on:
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/7486/2c11.jpg
Six needles :smallbiggrin: (The picture only shows five, but you need a sixth to knit.)

[Juggling Goth]

Six needles :smallbiggrin: (The picture only shows five, but you need a sixth to knit.)

BOOM.

I'm doing a sock at the moment. Fakey fair-isle self-patterning yarn. I never felt inadequate about knitting on four needles before! :smalltongue:


The yarn is without any label or anything.

It's probably a bit late now, but there is a way to find out at least which of the 'standard' sizes the yarn is. (Working out the material it's made of is trickier.) If you wrap it around a ruler with no gaps or overlaps, you can count the wraps per inch (wpi). Knitting patterns won't give you the wpi; they'll say things like "DK" or "bulky". The first table on this Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_weight) translates wpi into sizes.

[Savannah]

Six is actually a little easier than four, as the angles aren't as extreme, so don't feel bad :smallwink:

Also, I love you forever for that chart.

[noparlpf]

It's probably a bit late now, but there is a way to find out at least which of the 'standard' sizes the yarn is. (Working out the material it's made of is trickier.) If you wrap it around a ruler with no gaps or overlaps, you can count the wraps per inch (wpi). Knitting patterns won't give you the wpi; they'll say things like "DK" or "bulky". The first table on this Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_weight) translates wpi into sizes.

Won't your wraps per inch vary by the width of your ruler?

[Savannah]

The length of yarn wrapped would vary, but as I understand it you're measuring the width of the yarn, not the length. All you care about is how many strands, lying alongside one another, make up one inch.

[noparlpf]

The length of yarn wrapped would vary, but as I understand it you're measuring the width of the yarn, not the length. All you care about is how many strands, lying alongside one another, make up one inch.

Oh, right. I'm kind of out of it today, don't mind me. I was thinking you'd somehow be measuring the length of yarn it would take but that makes no sense.

Edit: Seems like mine's about 11-12 wraps per inch. So that's..."sport" or "DK". And the needles I found are like, twice as big as recommended.

[Castaras]

Big loops are often the result of accidentally looping an extra strand of yarn over the needle (which is a legit increase known as a yarn-over...not ideal when you don't want it, though :smalltongue:).

This is what I'm currently working on:
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/7486/2c11.jpg
Six needles :smallbiggrin: (The picture only shows five, but you need a sixth to knit.)

I'm going to have to try doing this sort of knitting, looks like fun and would make it easier to do some of the stuff I like doing if it works for me...

[Savannah]

I'm about to rip part of this #%@^ thing out for the THIRD time :smallfurious::smallsigh:

Ahh, the joys of making up your pattern as you go along.

[Juggling Goth]

I'm going to have to try doing this sort of knitting, looks like fun and would make it easier to do some of the stuff I like doing if it works for me...

I love knitting in the round. I hate sewing up seams, and I mostly knit things like socks and hats and armwarmers. Holding circular needles hurts my hands, so double-pointed needles are my favourites. Plus, you can get stocking stitch without ever having to purl. BOOM.


Oh, right. I'm kind of out of it today, don't mind me. I was thinking you'd somehow be measuring the length of yarn it would take but that makes no sense.

Edit: Seems like mine's about 11-12 wraps per inch. So that's..."sport" or "DK". And the needles I found are like, twice as big as recommended.

Yeah, don't overcomplicate it :smallwink: You just literally count the number of wraps before you get to an inch tall.

DK ... I tend to use 4mm needles with DK (which stands for "double knitting". What is single knitting? NOBODY KNOWS. IT IS A MYSTERY). If you use big needles with small yarn, you end up with a very light, lacy fabric - good if you're doing shawls. If you use small needles with big yarn, you end up with a very dense, stiff fabric - good for things that need structure, like purses or bags.

Most yarn you find for sale will be acrylic DK. At least, that's true in Britain. If you're in a non-specialist shop and they have yarn, that's usually what it is.

[noparlpf]

Yeah, don't overcomplicate it :smallwink: You just literally count the number of wraps before you get to an inch tall.

DK ... I tend to use 4mm needles with DK (which stands for "double knitting". What is single knitting? NOBODY KNOWS. IT IS A MYSTERY). If you use big needles with small yarn, you end up with a very light, lacy fabric - good if you're doing shawls. If you use small needles with big yarn, you end up with a very dense, stiff fabric - good for things that need structure, like purses or bags.

Most yarn you find for sale will be acrylic DK. At least, that's true in Britain. If you're in a non-specialist shop and they have yarn, that's usually what it is.

I think what I'll do is practice a bit more on this and then improvise some smaller needles with chopsticks. I think there's a fabric and crafts shop a few miles down the road. I might look for it sometime but it's in the opposite direction from any way I normally go.

[Juggling Goth]

I think what I'll do is practice a bit more on this and then improvise some smaller needles with chopsticks.

Heh. I knitted my first socks on bamboo barbeque skewers, as they were the closest I had to 3mm double-pointed needles. I got a bag of about a hundred for a quid, which was good, because I tend to knit when I'm stressed and so non-metal needles get snapped.

[noparlpf]

If you hit the end of a piece of yarn can you just knot it to another piece with a square knot, trim the ends, and keep going, or is there some fancy way to do it "properly"? And what do you do with the loose end from the beginning?
Also I have experienced my first dropped stitch. Oops.

[Savannah]

You can knot it, but that results in a very awkward visible knot. The better thing to do, in my experience, is to lay the new strand alongside the old strand and knit with both for 5-8 stitches, then drop the old one and continue with the new one. Unless they're very different thicknesses, the join should be nearly invisible.

For all yarn ends, grab a needle with a large eye (the best are tapestry needles, since they have a blunt end, but you can use anything you can get the yarn through) and thread the yarn end through the back of the project until it's not likely to come undone, then snip off the excess. It's usually best to do this at the end of the project, so you can do all of them at once.

[noparlpf]

You can knot it, but that results in a very awkward visible knot. The better thing to do, in my experience, is to lay the new strand alongside the old strand and knit with both for 5-8 stitches, then drop the old one and continue with the new one. Unless they're very different thicknesses, the join should be nearly invisible.

This already has a messy first row and a hole where I dropped a stitch, so it's more for practice than anything. So the aesthetic appeal isn't particularly important. But I'll try that I guess. It's the same yarn. I finally found the actual end. Looks like the kitten chewed through a piece of it and the end I found was attached to the cut part and I just started knitting with a long loose piece of yarn at the beginning without knowing.
My other yarn is now stowed where she can't reach. (*knock on wood*)


For all yarn ends, grab a needle with a large eye (the best are tapestry needles, since they have a blunt end, but you can use anything you can get the yarn through) and thread the yarn end through the back of the project until it's not likely to come undone, then snip off the excess. It's usually best to do this at the end of the project, so you can do all of them at once.

Uhh. I have a couple of big upholstery or leatherworking needles but no blunt tapestry needles. I think I heard something about crochet hooks somewhere and I have some of those from my mum's stuff. How would you use one of those to deal with the loose end?

[Savannah]

With a crochet hook, the procedure is similar, but instead of threading the needle and thread under the yarn on the back of the project, you'd stick the crochet hook under one bit of yarn, grab your loose and and pull it through, then repeat. It takes a bit longer, as you have to keep sticking your crochet hook through and hooking the loose tail of the yarn.

[noparlpf]

When you're casting on, does it matter which way the slip knot goes on the needle? Or am I doing something else wrong? I was practicing casting on and doing the first row because on the piece I started the first row was a mess, and sometimes I end up with this huge loop left at the end of the first row. What am I doing wrong?

[Savannah]

Ooh, that loop drives me crazy! The secret seems to be in how you make your slipknot -- you want the end that you can pull to tighten it to be the end you're not going to be knitting with. That way you can pull on the tail and tighten the loop later.

[noparlpf]

Ooh, that loop drives me crazy! The secret seems to be in how you make your slipknot -- you want the end that you can pull to tighten it to be the end you're not going to be knitting with. That way you can pull on the tail and tighten the loop later.

I knew it was the knot. I'm gonna figure this out eventually.

[Juggling Goth]

You can knot it, but that results in a very awkward visible knot. The better thing to do, in my experience, is to lay the new strand alongside the old strand and knit with both for 5-8 stitches, then drop the old one and continue with the new one. Unless they're very different thicknesses, the join should be nearly invisible.

For all yarn ends, grab a needle with a large eye (the best are tapestry needles, since they have a blunt end, but you can use anything you can get the yarn through) and thread the yarn end through the back of the project until it's not likely to come undone, then snip off the excess. It's usually best to do this at the end of the project, so you can do all of them at once.

Thanks! I've been wondering about that for ages. I'm a 'make it up as I go' type and when I do try and look up the proper way, I don't always parse diagrams that well, so I've been tying knots for years.

[Kato]

Well, you learn something new everyday... I usually just drop my old strand and continue with the new one. But I think I'll try the double-yarn strategy next time.

The starting knot really can be a little tricky... As most of the stuff I've been working on lately was knit in the round I somehow manage to hide it well enough when I sew away my loose end from the beginning. I can still find it if I try but it works well enough for me, I guess. It can be trickier with other things unless you have a scarf with tassels or so where it's simple enough to hide.


Cats are a knitters worst enemy.

[noparlpf]

Cats are a knitters worst enemy.

The older one is no problem. It's the kitten.

[Kato]

So, I hope we are not beyond the point of thread necromancy now...

My crocheting project came out pretty good. Not perfect but better than expected and I'll be making another one as a Christmas gift. (Again, I'm amazed how happy people are about crafted stuff, even if it's poor quality :smallbiggrin:)

So, I wanted to try a new pattern and realized it's pretty difficult to find really large needles (at least around here). The pattern calls for US size 17 (12mm) but I couldn't find anything above 10mm in offline stores. So I'll kind of try to change the pattern as I go and... I'm sure I'll screw it up but we'll see.

[The Succubus]

My knitting is progressing well. Its mostly just been small squares - I want get the hang of it before starting a project.

[noparlpf]

I'm at around twelve inches so far, working sporadically a few rows at a time. I might just have a scarf before the end of the winter. And it doesn't look too bad after the first three inches, even if it is the simplest possible stitch.

[Juggling Goth]

So I'll kind of try to change the pattern as I go and... I'm sure I'll screw it up but we'll see.

I've mathsed my way out of a few projects where my yarn or needle was the wrong size. I just multiply the number of stitches by the mm of the needle that it's meant to be, then divide it by the mm I actually have, to get the number of stitches I should cast on. I don't know if it's right to do it that way, but I just successfully did a pair of socks *shrug* If there's too much of disparity between yarn and needle size you screw up the density, but it seems to mostly work.

[Savannah]

The pattern should give you a gage, which is far, far more important than the needle size -- for all you know, if you knit looser than the pattern's creator, the needles you have right now could be perfect! Check how many stitches per inch you knit vs. how many stitches per inch the pattern wants and you can usually figure out a way to adjust.

[Kato]

I've mathsed my way out of a few projects where my yarn or needle was the wrong size. I just multiply the number of stitches by the mm of the needle that it's meant to be, then divide it by the mm I actually have, to get the number of stitches I should cast on. I don't know if it's right to do it that way, but I just successfully did a pair of socks *shrug* If there's too much of disparity between yarn and needle size you screw up the density, but it seems to mostly work.

Yeah, that's basically what I did... I guess it is fine enough if not an exact match. Problem was/is that the pattern calls for a K2P2 repeat at the beginning, so my stitches need to be divisible by four, and then a 3-stitch repeat.
I tried to go from 32/38 stitches in the pattern to something like 4X but it seemed still too tight so I went up to 50-something. It's (supposedly) a hat which means I kind of have to guess the head size unless I want to inconspicuously measure the recipients head to get a gauge :smalltongue: Though, it's stretchy enough to fit, I think/hope.

[Juggling Goth]

Yeah, that's basically what I did... I guess it is fine enough if not an exact match. Problem was/is that the pattern calls for a K2P2 repeat at the beginning, so my stitches need to be divisible by four, and then a 3-stitch repeat.

Yeah, I have complications when doing socks, because I want it to be divisible by one thing for one bit of ribbing and by something else for a bit of cabling...


I tried to go from 32/38 stitches in the pattern to something like 4X but it seemed still too tight so I went up to 50-something. It's (supposedly) a hat which means I kind of have to guess the head size unless I want to inconspicuously measure the recipients head to get a gauge :smalltongue: Though, it's stretchy enough to fit, I think/hope.

Subtly measuring heads is a tricky one. I managed to measure my girlfriend's foot without her noticing (she's quite a bit shorter than me, and her foot turned out to be my handspan, which was useful). You can't just casually grab someone's head though.

[Socratov]

You know, if I had the time I'd maybe pick it up (or at least try to), an dmake myself a spencer. Sadly my time is so short I even had to diminish my gaming time... I do miss crafting with wood though...

[Kato]

You know, if I had the time I'd maybe pick it up (or at least try to), an dmake myself a spencer. Sadly my time is so short I even had to diminish my gaming time... I do miss crafting with wood though...

I guess it comes down to what you do in your spare time... I think I explained in an earlier post about how I basically picked it up because I need to fidget around with my hands all the time and while I'm watching a show or something knitting is the best way to be slightly productive at the same time.


Well, I finished my hat after starting over again a few times because of one reason or another (once when it was almost finished) It's a little tight on me but I guess it should work for someone with a slightly smaller head... Now to look for a new project.

[Socratov]

I guess it comes down to what you do in your spare time... I think I explained in an earlier post about how I basically picked it up because I need to fidget around with my hands all the time and while I'm watching a show or something knitting is the best way to be slightly productive at the same time.


Well, I finished my hat after starting over again a few times because of one reason or another (once when it was almost finished) It's a little tight on me but I guess it should work for someone with a slightly smaller head... Now to look for a new project.

I know, but still, mostly my hands are occupied with typing and/or writing. So unless I grow a second pair of hands I think it will be some time until I start at it.

[Taet]

I want to get a knitting gift. Yarn is personal and I would buy a gift card for that. But where? Or can I pick out a set of sizes of good needles and give them? It is Ok for this to be expensive but try to stay under one hundred dollars please. :smallsmile:

[Kato]

I want to get a knitting gift. Yarn is personal and I would buy a gift card for that. But where? Or can I pick out a set of sizes of good needles and give them? It is Ok for this to be expensive but try to stay under one hundred dollars please. :smallsmile:

Hm... while knitting utensils can be expensive 100$ is a lot even for that. I'm sure you could buy a whole lot of yarn for it but without knowing the person I guess it would be difficult to judge what's good. A quick google search suggest yarn.com for yarn gift certificates which might be a good option. I guess some people would consider some fancy needles a good gift but I've always been the type for functionality and a good set of average needles lasts y life time if you treat them properly.

[Lycunadari]

I finished my first project, a present for my sister:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/850/5mb6.jpg

[Juggling Goth]

I want to get a knitting gift. Yarn is personal and I would buy a gift card for that. But where? Or can I pick out a set of sizes of good needles and give them? It is Ok for this to be expensive but try to stay under one hundred dollars please. :smallsmile:

You can get sets of interchangeable different-sized needle tops for circular needles. Don't know about your recipient, but I would find that genuinely useful. (I knit in the round a lot and it drives me up the wall when I don't have the right needle size, and while I prefer double-pointed to circular, having a set of circulars would tip the balance.) Knit Pro Symfonie do some really pretty wooden ones.

I lose needles a lot, so I'm always happy to have more. Do you know what kind of things your recipient tends to knit on? If they mostly knit big chunky things you won't want to get them tiny little sock needles, and vice versa, although a set like the Knit Pros will probably always be welcome. (Unless they really hate circulars, of course.)


I finished my first project, a present for my sister

Nice!

[noparlpf]

I finished my first project, a present for my sister:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/850/5mb6.jpg

Nifty. Congrats on finishing a first project.

[Kato]

I finished my first project, a present for my sister:


Neat! :smallbiggrin: My first finished project is terrible... it has all these little mistakes all over :smallredface:

[Lissou]

Congrats, especially since the project involved making two of something. I hate these, I never want to make the second one after I'm done with the first. Heck, in all honestly, I never want to knit anything another time ever again after I'm done with it... All my projects are one-offs :P

I don't really like knitting clothing though, I find that it requires a lot of effort and is less "fun" to me. What I prefer knitting is toys. Although I've been known to knit funny hats of slippers, which I guess are somewhere between toys and regular clothes.

[noparlpf]

This knitting business is harder on the fingers than guitar. Or at least on my left index finger and thumb from pushing the right needle back and forth, and on the back of my right pinky's last knuckle from bracing it.

On the bright side I've well over a cubit of scarf now. Practically enough to wrap around my neck once if I don't mind it not staying.

[Kato]

This knitting business is harder on the fingers than guitar. Or at least on my left index finger and thumb from pushing the right needle back and forth, and on the back of my right pinky's last knuckle from bracing it.

On the bright side I've well over a cubit of scarf now. Practically enough to wrap around my neck once if I don't mind it not staying.

Yeah, scarves can take a while... Well, I hope you didn't start with a Doctor Who scarf, at least.

I'm actually not that troubled with finger pains when knitting. Yeah, if I spent the whole day at home and do nothing but knit and watch shows it might show but otherwise I don't notice it, really...


So, lacking great ideas for a proper new project I thought I'd try myself on something new just for the lulz: A sock!
I'd first started trying to do one for myself but then realized if I screw it up I need to make a huge sock again. So instead I just tried a baby sock instead. This heel is... tricky. Okay, I guess less tricky then it actually is if you just properly read the instructions and don't think midway "no, this can't work, I need to start over" even though you did everything right. :smallredface: I'm not exactly done yet (because I dropped a stitch and then messed up picking it up again so I decided to start over properly instead of trying force it to work) but I now know it works even if it looks weird in the middle of it. So, yeah, I theoretically can knit socks now. Hooray!

[Wookieetank]

Not a knitter but a crochetter (preferred pronounciation ryhmes with rocket, makes me think of grumpy old men playing with yarn) myself. Done a number of projects over the years ranging from stuffed animals to baby blankets and even a full sized blanket once (took like 3 months :smalleek:).

A trick I've found that works best for me with starting projects, is doing the first chain of stitches with a needle 2-3 sizes larger than you plan to use for the rest of your project so that you don't end up with the first few rows being all scrunched together and the rest of the project looking normal.

Haven't really crochetted anything recently, but I recieved 3 new needles and a book of hat designs for Christmas from my sister, so I've picked it up again after an extended hiatus. It seems I have the start of a bag leftover in my yarn bag, so I plan to finish that first and then move onto something cute from the hat book for my daughter. :smallsmile:

[noparlpf]

A trick I've found that works best for me with starting projects, is doing the first chain of stitches with a needle 2-3 sizes larger than you plan to use for the rest of your project so that you don't end up with the first few rows being all scrunched together and the rest of the project looking normal.

That's what my scarf looks like. The first three inches (aside from being ever-so-slightly slightly messy because I didn't know how to knit yet) are really tight.

[Kato]

Wow, this has gotten dusty. Needs some polish... Is it still before necromancy?

So, without much motivation recently I've been slowly working and dropping and starting a simple hat with just a few ribbings and alternating purl and knit rows...
And somehow I made a hole. Like, not a hole that leads to the whole thing unribbling or anything but a perfectly stable, vertical hole and I have no idea how I did it :smallconfused: It kind of looks like something I could make by turning then reversing y knitting but I don't think I did anything like that. It confuses the hell out of me.

[Savannah]

Could you have done an accidental yarn over? That would make a stable hole and get you one more stitch than you started with.

I recently learned to knit socks. Then I learned to knit two socks at a time on a long circular needle (then I messed up because the pattern was horribly formatted and didn't end up finishing them, but now I do know how to do them).

Then I got so annoyed at knitting that I started to crochet a hat. I'm about 25% of the way through and I want to go back to knitting....

[Kato]

Seems unlikely, if not impossible... I also don't get an additional stitch. It's more: There should be a purl stitch but instead there is an empty void of nothingness. And on the next round everything seems fine again... So maybe a slip but I'm not sure if it would look that clean nor why I'd accidentally slip a stitch?


Hehehe... ah, you'll surely make it! I always refused crochetting anything that's even slightly large, let alone actual clothing. Only small deco items so far, really.

[Savannah]

Even if you do accidentally slip a stitch, I wouldn't think you'd have a huge hole -- the stitch still takes up space, it's just stretched a little bit across two rows.

[Kato]

Even if you do accidentally slip a stitch, I wouldn't think you'd have a huge hole -- the stitch still takes up space, it's just stretched a little bit across two rows.

Hm... you're probably right. I'm actually much more curious about how this happened than finishing my work right now :smallbiggrin: I guess I'll play around with something to see if I can replicate the effect. As I am working on four needles and happens to be placed between two of them maybe I really accidentally wrapped my yarn to make a yarn over while swapping needles.

[Phae Nymna]

A knitter is me!

[Kato]

A knitter is me!

A little late from my side but... welcome! :smallsmile:

And to give this a slightly more relevant bump: I've failed to find one, so I tried making a simple yellow/black chocobo pattern. It looks... okay but I'm somehow not entirely happy with it without being able to say why. Can someone maybe give me hint what to improve about it?

http://s28.postimg.org/ej5mh9ky1/Page_1_chocobo.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/ej5mh9ky1/)

[Lissou]

I think the head is too long (not round enough) and too big for the body. No specific advice though, I thought you meant a pattern for a doll at first... I have no clue how this kind of pattern works.

[Kato]

I think the head is too long (not round enough) and too big for the body. No specific advice though, I thought you meant a pattern for a doll at first... I have no clue how this kind of pattern works.

Ah, my bad. Sorry :smallredface: I guess I should have been more precise.
Anyway, I made some changes and am fine with it now, so... :smallsmile: