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madlilnerd posted:It's best not to carry yarn over more than 2 rows or you'll end up with big loose floats at the edges that will get caught on stuff. You could work 2 rows each colour with only 2 colours, or another option would be to use 3 colours and work only 1 row with each- you pick up whichever colour is waiting for you at the end of the row. If you're using a yarn that felts, just get close to the end of the row, say, a few inches. Measure out your working yarn so that you have about 3 times the length to the end of the row, and cut it. Un-ply the yarn at the end for about an inch, and cut or break off half of the plies at that point. Repeat that last step for the new color. Hold the two ends together, facing each other, with the half-plied parts overlapping. Apply a little water (or spit, if you don't mind being a little gross) and rub the two ends together. They should felt together into a single strand. You may have one or two stitches where both colors are visible, so it depends on the situation, but I do most of my joins this way. Between that and discovering seamless sweaters, I have all but eliminated the weaving in of ends. If my explanation sucks, try http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/01/steeking_chronicles_the_should.html
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Jul 27, 2009 08:02
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It's hard enough being on a yarn diet, but MUST Ravelry taunt me with all the pictures of Dye for Glory/Sock Summit entries?! Were Etsy not down for maintenance, I'd have already ordered that black/orange/purple yarn in the Pooling category. HALLOWEEN SOCKS!
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Jul 27, 2009 10:46
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I have the set of Harmony woodsock DPNs from KnitPicks and am a regular-tightness knitter and they work really well!
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Jul 28, 2009 01:55
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I made a Spockboy Click here for the full 558x776 image. (on ravelry) I'm not entirely pleased with the face (he looks very... scowly). Other than that, I'm really surprised at how well he turned out.
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Jul 28, 2009 13:47
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Admiral Goodenough posted:I made a Spockboy I think he's quite adorable. As for the scowliness of the face, well..  Spock isn't really the most smiley of people. I don't think it's very out of character.
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Jul 28, 2009 16:47
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Cynodont posted:I think he's quite adorable. Thanks! And I reckon you're right about the face. Now I can at least claim that he's *in character*. By the way, is there a SA group on ravelry?
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Aug 1, 2009 13:46
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Admiral Goodenough posted:By the way, is there a SA group on ravelry? Yup, it's called Show me your knits. 
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Aug 2, 2009 09:08
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combee fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2009 13:33
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combee posted:I've got a really dumb question. I did a teeny bit of knitting a few years ago and I'm trying to get back into it, so I'm starting with a simple baby blanket (ravelry link) as a warm-up project. The pattern uses two strands held together. What you're really looking for is anything that'll give you 4 sts per inch. That's slightly tight worsted weight (10 ply). I'd try it on US 7s, but everyone's gauge is different, so it'll take some trial and error. If you want a looser, lighter blanket, go with DK weight (8 ply). Don't stress too much about gauge, though. It's a blanket, so it's not like it has to be a perfect fit.
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Aug 2, 2009 14:18
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So how many men do this stuff? Because I actually think it all looks really cool and want to start learning. If I go to a yarn shop and take a class, will I probably be the only guy there? Not that I mind I just want to know how much of an oddity it would be.
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Aug 2, 2009 22:57
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Chin Strap posted:So how many men do this stuff? Because I actually think it all looks really cool and want to start learning. If I go to a yarn shop and take a class, will I probably be the only guy there? Not that I mind I just want to know how much of an oddity it would be. Go for it! Guys who knit are so sexy! If you're self-conscious about learning with a group of women, it is entirely possible to learn to knit on your own with books like Stitch N Bitch and sites like knittinghelp.com.
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Aug 3, 2009 02:45
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I could have sworn some people on SA Mart had knitting services but I thought I'd ask here - I'm looking to pay someone to knit me a scarf, around 6'-7', based on the Harry Potter movies (juvenile, I know). I noticed a lot of people on etsy make them for $20-$30 but I'd rather consult a goon. If you're interested in making some extra money on the side please PM me.
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Aug 3, 2009 03:29
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combee fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2009 01:48
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You're doing great! That's the look of every row a knit stitch, usually called garter stitch in the US. When you learn to do purling, you'll knit a row, then purl a row, and you'll get the look you're looking for. Keep it up!
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Aug 5, 2009 01:50
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I was wondering if someone can help me track down a pattern or just give me instructions. I'm looking to knit a tube thats open on one end and closed on the other. It needs to be about 2-3" in diameter. Help? edit: I should mention I don't have DPNs and have no idea how to use them anyway Lackadaisical fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Aug 5, 2009 |
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Aug 5, 2009 06:31
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combee posted:But that looks like a purl stitch to me. Definitely not the V shaped stitches of a knit stitch. I don't know what I'm doing wrong This confused me to no end when I was just beginning! The backside of a knit stitch is (and looks like) a purl stitch, and vice versa. So when you do a knit stitch and flip your work around, it has magically turned into a purl stitch on the other side. If you push the rows of purl stitches apart you'll be able to see the V shape of knit stitches in the row between them. If you want to have a side that looks only like knit stitches, do as guaranteed said and alternate rows of knit and purl. You'll end up with one side of entirely knit and the other side of entirely purl stitches. The downside is your item will want to curl up on itself, boo (unless you want it to do that).
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Aug 5, 2009 20:16
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combee fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Aug 5, 2009 22:58
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Lackadaisical posted:I was wondering if someone can help me track down a pattern or just give me instructions. I'm looking to knit a tube thats open on one end and closed on the other. It needs to be about 2-3" in diameter. DPNs are really what you are going to want for this, but I guess you could use a circular needle too. The beginning is probably going to be hell with a circular needle though so be prepared. Basically, you want to cast on six stitches and knit in the round. In the first row you want to increase in every single stitch. From there on out, every odd row, you want to increase another six stitches. Evenly spaced, of course, so round three will be like K,increase,K,increase etc. and round five will be K,K,increase,K,K,increase, etc. Even rows should just be plain knit. Once you've got the diameter you want, you can stop increasing and keep knitting until your tube is as long as you want. Because of the curling that comes with stockinette stitch the "hole" you made at the beginning will more or less seal itself so that it looks perfectly closed. Note that you can also do this the other way around, starting knitting the "open" end of the tube and then decreasing when you get toward the end. It's harder this way though because you have to plan in advance exactly how many stitches you're going to start with and how you're going to increase. Starting with the "sealed" end is better for the lazy. (like me)
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Aug 6, 2009 01:17
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Lackadaisical posted:I was wondering if someone can help me track down a pattern or just give me instructions. I'm looking to knit a tube thats open on one end and closed on the other. It needs to be about 2-3" in diameter. Yeah, the easiest way would be DPNS. They're easy to use though! It's exactly like knitting flat except you have some extra needles acting as stitch holders on the other sides, basically. You only ever knit with two needles at a time, just like you would if you were using straights or circs. The best thing about dpns is that you can knit down to whatever tiny number of stitches you want, even just three. Oh, you could do it with two circs too. In that case half the stitches go on each needle and the only rule you need to remember is only use ONE circ at a time to knit - don't knit stitches from one onto the other. Personally I'd start with the open end and then decrease every other round until it was like three stitches and just sew it up.
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Aug 6, 2009 15:42
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What's a decent knitting speed? I'm self taught and I'm the fastest knitter I know, but even small projects like washcloths take hours. I feel like there has to be a better way to go about this, but I'm not sure what I can change about my technique to get more speed. I mean, people used to be able to dress their entire families in knitted goods and take cartloads of fair isle sweaters down to market somehow. Continental style is supposed to be faster, and I do notice a difference in speed on large areas of garter stitch. The problem is that I only know how to do the knit stitch in Continental, and most of the stuff I do is more complicated than that so I usually have to knit English style. I don't do that thing where you drop the yarn between every stitch; I have it resting over my index finger and use the other fingers to control the tension. Other than generally speeding up the motions and maybe learning to do everything Continental, is there anything that will help?
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Aug 6, 2009 19:12
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Slaughtermelon posted:What's a decent knitting speed? I'm self taught and I'm the fastest knitter I know, but even small projects like washcloths take hours. I feel like there has to be a better way to go about this, but I'm not sure what I can change about my technique to get more speed. I mean, people used to be able to dress their entire families in knitted goods and take cartloads of fair isle sweaters down to market somehow. http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/purl-stitch Continental definitely has the potential to be faster, as its a more efficient movement. Whether or not the increase in speed is worth the trouble, only you can know. If you're really going for insane speed and don't mind adjusting, try the combination method. The people who use it swear by it, though it looks like too much of a pain in the rear end for me to want to learn it. On another note, is anyone else here going to Sock Summit this weekend? NumbersAndNoise fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Aug 6, 2009 |
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Aug 6, 2009 20:30
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Slaughtermelon posted:What's a decent knitting speed? I'm self taught and I'm the fastest knitter I know, but even small projects like washcloths take hours. I feel like there has to be a better way to go about this, but I'm not sure what I can change about my technique to get more speed. I mean, people used to be able to dress their entire families in knitted goods and take cartloads of fair isle sweaters down to market somehow. I find I am much faster if I work knit rows with the yarn in my right hand and purl rows holding the yarn with my left, but I've been told by everyone I know who knits (who I didn't teach) that this is weird.
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Aug 7, 2009 02:13
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madlilnerd posted:I find I am much faster if I work knit rows with the yarn in my right hand and purl rows holding the yarn with my left, but I've been told by everyone I know who knits (who I didn't teach) that this is weird. You're weird.  I've always found it to be one of those varies from person to person. Some people knit faster one way, some the other. Me, I'm like the slowest knitter I know. I'll take me a month or so for even a small project.
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Aug 7, 2009 03:54
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I found a pattern in a stitch n' bitch book that uses alchemy synchronicity yarn, a 50% silk 50% wool blend, which apparently isn't sold for anything less than way too much. Any advice on an equivalent and slightly cheaper yarn? In addition, it's a cabled scarf (it'll be my first try at cabling) and one of the rows has "C8B". What does that even mean? Novs fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Aug 7, 2009 |
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Aug 7, 2009 03:58
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Novs posted:In addition, it's a cabled scarf (it'll be my first try at cabling) and one of the rows has "C8B". What does that even mean? Pretty sure it means you're going to create the cable with the next 8 stitches and the first half of those stitches should go to the back. If it were C8F you would let the first 4 stitches hang to the front. A more complete description is that you slide 4 stitches onto a cable needle (stitch holder or dpn can work for that too) without knitting them and let that needle hang towards the back of the work, knit the second 4 stitches, then return the stitches from the cable needle/stitch holder to the needle from which they came and knit them. Another way you might see cables notated is C8R or C8L meaning the cable twists to the right or left, referring to the part that comes across the front. Antis0ciald0rk fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Aug 7, 2009 |
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Aug 7, 2009 04:13
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madlilnerd posted:I find I am much faster if I work knit rows with the yarn in my right hand and purl rows holding the yarn with my left, but I've been told by everyone I know who knits (who I didn't teach) that this is weird. What do you do for ribbing?
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Aug 7, 2009 05:17
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NumbersAndNoise posted:What do you do for ribbing? Cry. Because I despise rib. On rows where I alternate a lot between knitting and purling, I tend to stick with my right hand as I'm right handed. But sometimes I'll use the left. My ribbing is naturally uneven and horrible so I have to stop after every 2 or 3 stitches and give it a huge tug anyway. I definitely can't cover ribbing at speed.
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Aug 7, 2009 08:28
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Slaughtermelon posted:Other than generally speeding up the motions and maybe learning to do everything Continental, is there anything that will help? Continental is so much faster for me, and it doesn't take long to learn at all. Just cast on 50 or so stitches with waste yarn and start knitting, you'll get the hang of it quite quickly.
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Aug 8, 2009 16:11
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For whatever reason I canNOT do continental or combined. It feels so wrong to my hands. And I have really good hand eye coordination (20+ years of piano). Oh well. At least I'm decently fast at it the way I do it.
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Aug 8, 2009 17:18
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Edit: Whoops wrong thread!
Hannah Banana fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Aug 8, 2009 |
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Aug 8, 2009 20:28
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Finished those Jacoby mitts I posted a WIP photo of earlier in the thread. Not as quick as I intended, but sometimes (often) I get distracted and set my knitting down for longer than anticipated. Action shot! My boyfriend modeling his mitts while wrestling with the corgi!  Obligatory hairy arm shot. Also, to contribute to the recent discussion: I'm 100% thrower. I've tried continental and it just feels clumsy and awkward to me.
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Aug 8, 2009 21:15
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Pitching in: I'm 100% Continental.... English just seems so inefficient to me. I also learned from someone who was a continental knitter and never realized there was "another way" until I started watching technique videos online and noticed they do it all backwards from me... Let me tell you, the majority of videos are English and it's a pain in the rear end trying to watch how that yarn gets wrapped around in funky stitches so I can translate it to continental. But the videos also usually suck because they either aren't centered, aren't zoomed in, or they put big awful text right over the center of the screen right where their hands are. But I digress...
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Aug 9, 2009 03:39
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KnittingHelp.com has videos in English, Continental, Combined and even more I'm a thrower; I'm a severe righty and carrying the yarn in my left hand is beyond clumsy to me.
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Aug 10, 2009 02:02
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I almost gave up on knitting when I was first starting to learn because I was trying to do Continental, and I was just too right-handed to make sense of it. I can kinda knit Continental now, but my gauge is still way looser than English. Gauge is just fine when crocheting though, go figure. Gently Used Coat fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Aug 10, 2009 |
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Aug 10, 2009 02:14
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I so *want* to be a continental knitter. I've tried a gazillion times. I watch Amy's videos on KnittingHelp doing continental and marvel at how seamless all the motions are. It is just impossible for me to do. Sigh. I don't stress about it anymore, though. The deeper I go in researching various knitting things it has become clear that there are 4 million ways to knit and none of them are wrong. Knitting crosses cultures and people combine bits and bobs from all kinds of different styles. It really doesn't matter a bit, I've found. I'm pleased as punch if what I've made even remotely turns out like the picture says it should! I've started no less than 5 different shawls this weekend and have thrown 4 of them across the room in disgust by row 50. The 5th one has decided it truly wants to be knit and it's going swell. I can't find my camera at the moment, but it's this http://catrinr.typepad.com/everyday_life/2009/07/candle-flame-shawl.html Hopefully it will be a Christmas present for my grandma. ThreeFish fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Aug 10, 2009 |
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Aug 10, 2009 08:09
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I'm ambidextrous -- I write and eat with my left hand, and I use scissors with my right. I learned to knit by throwing, then later learned continental. I find that continental goes much faster for larger scale projects, but when I'm new at something, or it's relatively small and intricate, I prefer throwing. Right now I'm knitting using the two-at-a-time on one circular needle method, and I'm throwing all the way. When I build up some confidence, I'll try it in continental. Here's what I've got so far:  I never throught I'd be able to do this, but it's a lot easier than it looks.
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Aug 10, 2009 19:52
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Dyrim posted:I'm ambidextrous -- I write and eat with my left hand, and I use scissors with my right. I learned to knit by throwing, then later learned continental. I find that continental goes much faster for larger scale projects, but when I'm new at something, or it's relatively small and intricate, I prefer throwing. Right now I'm knitting using the two-at-a-time on one circular needle method, and I'm throwing all the way. When I build up some confidence, I'll try it in continental. Wow, this is my next project for sure. I often lose interest in a sock project after I've finished the first one. I have a lot of single socks in my drawer. Aaaand I'm continental all the way. Actually, I think that knitting a lot and using my left hand to carry and move the thread has helped me gain more dexterity in my left hand. MIDWIFE CRISIS fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Aug 10, 2009 |
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Aug 10, 2009 20:53
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Admiral Goodenough posted:Wow, this is my next project for sure. I often lose interest in a sock project after I've finished the first one. I have a lot of single socks in my drawer. It's really easy, once you get past the casting on! I tend to cast on to a separate needle and then slide everything over. All you really have to do is 1. keep track of which ball of yarn goes with which project (otherwise they'll be stuck together) and the usual 'only knit with two ends of one needle at a time" rule for working with two circs. I'm using this method right now to knit two mittens at once, but of course I've complicated it VASTLY by having them be colorwork mittens so I've got uh...six balls of yarn going at once.
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Aug 11, 2009 00:28
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Why do I always forget that stocking stitch is poo poo for scarves because it makes them roll up?! Ah well, anyway, here is my cheapo Red Heart slip stitch two tone Seattle scarf made for my Goon Island roomate. As you can see, he didn't care that it rolls up. Always knit for non-knitters, they're much more grateful!  
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Aug 11, 2009 07:54
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Hey, that's a cool scarf! If you want a stockinette scarf that doesn't roll up, you could knit it in the round. Just make a long tube and put fringe on the ends. Of course it will take twice as much yarn and twice the time to knit, but at least it won't roll up.  I made a BIG and LONG scarf this way, and it's the best and warmest scarf I have. Ravelry link to the scarf (with pattern].
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Aug 11, 2009 08:38
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