|
Look Under The Rock posted:Today I had a Yarn Snob Moment -- I am teaching my boyfriend's six-year-old to knit and she began playing with the cat by teasing him with my brand-new ball of Lamb's Pride. She's totally oblivious, just throwing it around the room and I'm feeling my sphincter tighten and I'm going "Wait Lily, that's actually nice yarn, take this instead..." and start looking around for some acrylic... I had that same moment twice this week. My nephew came to me asking for yarn I didn't need to use in a weaving project for art class. My initial reaction was "But I need all of it!!!!" Even though my stash numbers over 300 skeins at the moment. My next reaction was "I'm not giving up my hand-dyed wools, silks and alpacas to be covered in glue and tempera paint" But after consideration, I did find a few skeins of fun fur and some other novelty skeins that I was unlikely to use, and even a few ends of my nice skeins . And it felt good to be rid of them. Today, I visited my mum for her bday. She offered me a garbage bag full of yarn that was my grandmothers. Had to be at least 30 to 40 skeins. All acrylic. UGH. I took it though. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it all. All acrylic sport weight in garish 60s and 70s colors. I can't help being a yarn snob. It's one of the few areas where I can actually afford the nicest stuff available (except quivit). It's my only luxury
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2008 18:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 12:20 |
|
|
Bad Mitten posted:
If you don't want it, you may want to consider donating it to a retirement home or someplace similar. Retirement homes have a lot of old people who like doing knitting or crocheting, and they're often used to using Red Heart and stuff like that. I did that with a few skeins of Red Heart Super Saver that were given to me. I saved two skeins though, which is what I'm using to practice new stitches and techniques on. I also wound a few balls off of it, and used them to teach other people how to knit/crochet with.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2008 00:24
|
|
|
Bad Mitten posted:I can't help being a yarn snob. It's one of the few areas where I can actually afford the nicest stuff available (except quivit). It's my only luxury Hahaha, this cracks me up because last night I had a dream that I was at a craft fair and was trying to decide between teeny tiny skeins of qiviut. The whole time I was trying to brainstorm with my mom about what we could make from 20 yards of the stuff. I've never actually seen any in person, does your LYS carry it? I've only read about it/heard the legends. ETA: Mnemosyne, the nursing home thing is a great idea. I did use some ghastly thrift store acrylic to learn on and to teach my husband on, but there's still a mountain of it here. Aardvarklet fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Nov 24, 2008 |
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2008 15:14
|
|
|
Finally got around to taking some pictures of my stuff in progress (except I forgot the shawl I'm still not done with and the neckwarmer I made in a day and a half but still haven't put the button on). I need to work on my photography skills.  Hemlock Ring blanket. If anyone is planning on knitting this, be aware that the chart Brooklyn Tweed offered to go with the original line-by-line instructions is correct but it's sort of lined up wrong. This is Cascade 220 I bought because I was totally going to design and knit a cardigan for myself. Ha.  Scarf...this is the "fern lace" pattern on Ravelry - very simple, made with Art Yarns. 100% silk/70% mohair 30% silk. Gorgeous stuff, quite a splurge though.  Wine and Roses mitts in nice orange Alpaca Sox that I got on sale - I love these but if I made them again I'd do something different with the bottom (it curles) and do more repeats at the top (my fingertips get cold, too, dammit). Also I'd probably use a smoother yarn, this is nice stuff but it's fuzzy and that sort of obscures the lace pattern. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 00:43
|
|
|
Hey there, new knitter here. Been knitting for about a month or two and all I've made so far is scarves and beanies. Working my way up to a nifty cardigan soon, but I was wondering what you guys use to stitch up pieces. Iv watched youtube vids and read how tos, but with all the amazing knits I see here I figure I should ask the goons. Iv been "Mattress stitching" if you want to call it that. My pathetic excuse for a mattress stitch leaves hideous gaping holes in all my beanies! Any alternatives? perhaps I'll start working them in the round.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 19:26
|
|
|
philkop posted:Hey there, new knitter here. Been knitting for about a month or two and all I've made so far is scarves and beanies. Working my way up to a nifty cardigan soon, but I was wondering what you guys use to stitch up pieces. Iv watched youtube vids and read how tos, but with all the amazing knits I see here I figure I should ask the goons. Iv been "Mattress stitching" if you want to call it that. My pathetic excuse for a mattress stitch leaves hideous gaping holes in all my beanies! Any alternatives? perhaps I'll start working them in the round. I would definitely reccomend knitting them in the round - even perfect seaming leaves a line of selvedge inside, and that's ok for sweaters but on a hat or gloves or socks I wouldn't want it. Well, maybe a hat with a seam is less objectionable, depending on how much hair you have and such. Mattress stitch shouldn't leave big holes though - maybe check out a tutorial in case you learned it from a bad source or something? Here's one from knitty that I used: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/mattress.html
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 21:00
|
|
|
Is anyone else thinking about participating in Lion Brand's current knit-along? http://blog.lionbrand.com/2008/11/13/join-us-for-our-knit-along-and-get-the-pattern-free/ The pattern is only free until 11/27/08. I'm not sure if it's something I would wear, but I'm going to have a lot of time off for the holidays and I could certainly use a nice, challenging project that could be a potential gift for someone else.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 21:14
|
|
|
Oh man, aha that's not quite how I was doing it. Yeah this is much better, not bad for ski beanies when you can seam right near thew earflap and have it barely noticeable. I think i"ll finally invest in some circular needles, I've wanted to for a while, but I just cant commit to a needle I can only use for one type of thing. I dont know, I always thought that would be irritating, having to get a 16 inch for beanies and a larger for sweaters and things. Maybe I'm overthinking it :P or mayyyyybehh I just need to go and buy 100 CIRCULAR NEEDLES!!! yes I think that'll work
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 21:17
|
|
|
philkop posted:Oh man, aha that's not quite how I was doing it. Yeah this is much better, not bad for ski beanies when you can seam right near thew earflap and have it barely noticeable. I think i"ll finally invest in some circular needles, I've wanted to for a while, but I just cant commit to a needle I can only use for one type of thing. I dont know, I always thought that would be irritating, having to get a 16 inch for beanies and a larger for sweaters and things. Maybe I'm overthinking it :P or mayyyyybehh I just need to go and buy 100 CIRCULAR NEEDLES!!! yes I think that'll work But you can use circulars for everything! You can use them as circulars, as regular needles, and as dpns (magic loop). I bought two sets off ebay, just plain bamboo circulars, 15 pairs for about 12 dollars inc shipping.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 21:55
|
|
|
Sweet deal, yeah I checked out ebay after you said that, lots of circular packs! yeah I can definitely get used to circulars at that price :P I was going to micheals and shelling out like 8$ for one! Ever ebayed yarn? I suppose it couldnt be much worse than buying sweaters from thrift stores and unraveling them. Mmmm I think i have more fun unraveling things than knitting things :P
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2008 22:38
|
|
|
Antis0ciald0rk posted:Is anyone else thinking about participating in Lion Brand's current knit-along? http://blog.lionbrand.com/2008/11/13/join-us-for-our-knit-along-and-get-the-pattern-free/ I'm mad about that, because I bought that pattern and made the sweater a couple months ago. Of course it's been sitting in my to-be-seamed pile because somehow I never get around to that part. For all I know, it'll turn out to be too small or something.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 00:33
|
|
|
Antis0ciald0rk posted:Is anyone else thinking about participating in Lion Brand's current knit-along? http://blog.lionbrand.com/2008/11/13/join-us-for-our-knit-along-and-get-the-pattern-free/ Thanks for pointing this out. I liked this pattern when I saw it about a year ago and then promptly forgot about it. It's gonna have to wait until after Christmas, though, because I've still got a gift to make. I kinda swore off cables, but I'll probably still make it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 01:41
|
|
|
ahhh god I have so much knitting to do before christmas. Why do I get myself into this. Every time I'm out I wind up with MORE YARN and MORE PATTERNS because it would be just perfect for my brother, mum, sister-in-law, coworker.... Help me goons  I need more time
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 04:11
|
|
|
I have a knitting question! I made a bag from one of the Stitch N Bitch books. I wanted to knit a flower to put on it but have no idea how to go about doing it as all patterns seem to call for a crocheted flower. Any recommendations on how to knit a flower? Or any recommendations on how to learn to crochet? I bought the Happy Hooker book but it's not helping me learn. At all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 09:56
|
|
|
Aardvarklet posted:Hahaha, this cracks me up because last night I had a dream that I was at a craft fair and was trying to decide between teeny tiny skeins of qiviut. The whole time I was trying to brainstorm with my mom about what we could make from 20 yards of the stuff. I haven't seen it in person. I think yarnmarket.com carries it. I usually shop online, or make the 2 1/2 hour trek to Webs (yarn.com) when I need yarn. I don't think they have any. From what I have seen you can get a ball of lace weight for about $80 to $100. Thank goodness I am not a lace knitter (yet). I also think that donating the acrylic is a nice idea. I have also considered redying it and knitting some charity items as well. If I push it, I can knit 4 worsted hats in a weekend.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 12:17
|
|
|
Lackadaisical posted:I have a knitting question!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/norwayneedles/121174825 http://flowerstoknit.blogspot.com/
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 15:07
|
|
|
Rockets posted:ahhh god ME TOO. I was all excited because as of tonight, I will have completely finished the gifts I am planning to make...for ONE PERSON. That leaves 11 people, and that's just in our immediate families. And it's not like I can make presents for some people and not for others, because then the people who didn't get a handmade gift will feel left out. At least that's what I have been telling myself. Thankfully I have the next four days to pretty much knit continuously. My husband has promised to ice my hands for me in between projects (which is the least he can do, considering all the money I'm saving us by making the presents this year).
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 15:44
|
|
|
I really like this stitch pattern, but I can't figure out what it is. Does anyone recognize it?
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 19:32
|
|
|
awapplesauce posted:I really like this stitch pattern, but I can't figure out what it is. Does anyone recognize it? That's an awesome pattern and a great cowl. It seems to be knit sideways: row 1: purl row 2: *k1, p1* repeat to end I just ordered yarn yesterday, now I'll have to order some more to make this cowl! e: the neck part seems to be 1x1 rib, by the way. elbow fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Nov 26, 2008 |
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2008 20:08
|
|
|
Lackadaisical posted:I have a knitting question! Which SnB book is it? I think it's SnB Nation that has a pattern for a headband with knit flowers on it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2008 04:55
|
|
|
elbow posted:That's an awesome pattern and a great cowl. That's probably what's throwing me off, I thought it was knitted in the round. I'll try that, thanks It's from etsy, but I can't find the listing now. gum bichromate fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Nov 27, 2008 |
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2008 06:33
|
|
|
Lackadaisical posted:Any recommendations on how to knit a flower? Or any recommendations on how to learn to crochet? I bought the Happy Hooker book but it's not helping me learn. At all. You know, I didn't really have luck with learning how to crochet from Happy Hooker, either. I learned to knit really well from Stitch 'n Bitch (it was the first thing I looked at that the directions for continental actually sunk in), but crochet just wasn't clicking. It doesn't help I know I skipped some text--I think I kept on missing the part where it said to chain 1 at the end of the row when crocheting flat. My recommendation for learning how to crochet? Watch YouTube videos. I had the best luck with them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2008 17:30
|
|
|
Does anyone know any good patterns for a stuffed Octopus or a stuffed dog/wolf? I have two birthdays coming up and I was totally distracted by Christmas present making and forgot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2008 12:26
|
|
|
I don't know about wolf, but this lady on etsy has great patterns. I recently purchased the owl pattern, it is way over my head but I'm hoping that by next Christmas I'll be able to make everyone an owl for their stocking. She has Octopus and Dumbo Octopus. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2008 19:41
|
|
|
I posted an octopus I made earlier in the thread with a pattern from hansigurumi. It's true that the patterns are for more experienced knitters, but I think it's definitely managable if you're comfortable with knitting in the round and have the patience to make all those legs. The result is worth it. Everyone I've shown it to loves it, and it's posable! I took a break from making Christmas presents to make myself some fingerless gloves. I learned that my hands are apparently not very proportional.  Click here for the full 963x562 image. And I've made another little toy, but it's for SASS, so I'll have to wait until my santee gets it before I post it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2008 19:53
|
|
|
Cute mitts, Octopi!
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2008 21:35
|
|
|
I just happened to run across this octopus on Ravelry, if you want to buy the pattern for $6: http://www.moltingyeti.com/shop/pulpo.html
|
|
#
?
Dec 1, 2008 07:53
|
|
|
Rockets posted:I don't know about wolf, but this lady on etsy has great patterns. I recently purchased the owl pattern, it is way over my head but I'm hoping that by next Christmas I'll be able to make everyone an owl for their stocking. She has Octopus and Dumbo Octopus. I love her stuff, but the octopus is going to go to a baby. I think I'm just going to make a ball with legs for maximum chewage. And I can't find a dog patter anywhere. Guess people don't think dogs are cute.
|
|
#
?
Dec 2, 2008 06:02
|
|
|
I've got a question about an increase in this pattern I'm following. I think I'm doing the right thing, but I could use some other opinions. Here's the line: k8, k1 p1 k1 p1 k1 p1 into next stitch (1 to 6 st increase), k8, k1 p1 k1 p1 k1 p1 into next stitch, k8. What I'm doing is basically treating it as a knit-front-and-back type of thing, but times six. I was worried about the loop getting all stretched out, but so far it's still pretty flat. Anyway, does this sound right, or am I going about this the wrong way? Edit: had another question, figured it out. Gently Used Coat fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Dec 4, 2008 |
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2008 06:08
|
|
|
Z Is Overrated posted:I've got a question about an increase in this pattern I'm following. I think I'm doing the right thing, but I could use some other opinions. I'm no expert, but you're doing exactly what I would do. I'm kind of a tight knitter, so that pattern sounds like torture to me! What are you making?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2008 15:15
|
|
|
Aardvarklet posted:I'm no expert, but you're doing exactly what I would do. I'm kind of a tight knitter, so that pattern sounds like torture to me! What are you making? A horse, of course. I kept going anyway and it looks good so far, so thanks.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2008 21:22
|
|
|
Z Is Overrated posted:A horse, of course. I have that on my to-do list after Christmas is over! I love some of the anticraft patterns...I wish there were more books or websites with similar things.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2008 00:52
|
|
|
I'm doing that police tape scarf so that I can teach myself intarsia. I'm only on the "O" and I already hate my life.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2008 05:29
|
|
|
Mnemosyne posted:I'm doing that police tape scarf so that I can teach myself intarsia. I'm only on the "O" and I already hate my life. To add insult to injury, lately I've seen mass-produced police tape scarves for sale. The only reason I made it in the first place was that I wanted it but couldn't buy it anywhere 
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2008 09:57
|
|
i like nice words
|
Anne Whateley posted:Ahahaha, I hope that wasn't my fault -- it took me MONTHS. Literally; I finished it tonight . . . although that's because I kept putting off finishing it. There are thousands of ends to sew in and then like six feet to stitch together. I was wondering, do I really need to weave in the ends? I'm making the double-sided version, so they'd be inside the scarf where no-one can see them and nothing can snag on them. I'm just a slow knitter (probably because I'm new to it), and I fouled myself up by using the wrong kind of yarn. Red Heart Designer Sport was on sale for $1.50, and it came in bright yellow, so I bought it. I wasn't planning on keeping the finished product, so I didn't really care if it was done in crap yarn. This project is such a pain in the rear end though, that I can't see myself giving it away. The yarn I bought though, is way too thin for this to come out right. So I had to double up the strands to make it more like the right thickness. That's not a problem when I'm kitting with just one type of yarn all the way, but when I have all those strands dangling in the back, it just doubles the amount of hanging yarn and is a serious pain in the rear end.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2008 03:34
|
|
|
I also made the double-sided version. I wove the ends in not because I was afraid they'd show (they wouldn't, obviously), but because I was afraid things would start to unravel -- I figured trying to fix that would be an even bigger bitch than weaving in the ends. I also didn't want strange lumps and bumps inside the tube of the scarf; I wanted it to be as flat as possible. As you go, you'll see that between the colors you sometimes get little gaps/holes, and I also wanted to use the ends to close those up more. Bottom line is that it's up to you. I sewed them in and I think it's a good idea, but having twice as many ends would definitely tempt me to take my chances with unraveling. PS: I also thought I'd give mine away ("this is just for practice, then I'll make myself a perfect one") but you're completely right,  If you're brave, you can look into "killing" the acrylic, which may make it feel nicer.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2008 09:17
|
|
|
I just can't seem to finish anything nowadays, so I made a washcloth. At least it's a fast knit, and something I can put in a christmas present with some nice soap or something.
Midnight Sun fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Dec 6, 2008 |
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2008 15:48
|
|
|
Midnight Sun posted:I just can't seem to finish anything nowadays, so I made a washcloth. At least it's a fast knit, and something I can put in a christmas present with some nice soap or something. That's a pretty washcloth! I was having the same issue (lots of larger projects for holiday gifts) so I decided to make a few iPod cases for my family. Fun, quick, and a good way to experiment with color combos and stitch patterns, not to mention a great use of scrap yarn...and every iPod should have a knitted case anyway.
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2008 00:14
|
|
|
Wandering Knitter posted:Does anyone know any good patterns for a stuffed Octopus or a stuffed dog/wolf? I have two birthdays coming up and I was totally distracted by Christmas present making and forgot. If you are looking for something really realistic, look for an alan dart pattern, he's got crazy realistic dogs. There's quite a bit of finishing but it's worth it. He has downloadable patterns on his site now. http://www.alandart.co.uk/products/
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2008 04:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 12:20 |
|
|
And I can tell you that Alan Dart writes wonderful and clear patterns. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. like Bagpuss: 
|
|
#
?
Dec 7, 2008 17:34
|
|
