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Midnight Sun posted:I haven't tried this myself, but it looks simple enough. Most of my yarn is not the same weight, but this is cute and I'll definitely save it for later 
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Nov 13, 2009 20:36
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What the hell makes Addi Turbo needles special? I just got a job at a local yarn store where we have Addi Turbo needles behind the counter. Besides obviously coming in really specific sizes, when I asked the girl why they were behind the counter and what was the big deal she just told me, "I dunno, they knit faster." I've been knitting for a while now and haven't heard of them...Admittedly, my grandmother left us a pot full of metal needles and I was just given a ton more, so I've really never had to buy any needles.
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Nov 13, 2009 21:21
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Shnooks posted:What the hell makes Addi Turbo needles special? The fisrt time I used them I wasa pretty dang impressed. Mostly it was the very smooth join at the needle and cable - and the fact that I didn't have to fight the cable the whole time. I think they were more impressive because I had only been using the Susan Bates needles you can buy at AC Moore. Now I probably prefer the Knitpicks, they have similar quality but are cheaper. Anyway a good join makes things faster because you don't have to tug on the fabric to get it up to the needle.
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Nov 14, 2009 00:02
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teknicolor posted:I have loads of scraps and half-skeins, so what is everyone's favorite scrapbuster pattern? I've been making tiny mittens for xmas giftwrap pizzazz, and I've made a few small giftbags too, but I'm getting bored with those, so give me what you've got please! I saw this on Ravelry a while ago and thought it would be a good way to use up some scraps. You don't necessarily have to do it like this, but just this general idea. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Phazelia/celtic-patchwork-scarf
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Nov 14, 2009 00:29
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:The fisrt time I used them I wasa pretty dang impressed. Mostly it was the very smooth join at the needle and cable - and the fact that I didn't have to fight the cable the whole time. I think they were more impressive because I had only been using the Susan Bates needles you can buy at AC Moore. Now I probably prefer the Knitpicks, they have similar quality but are cheaper. Ohhh, that explains a lot... drat, now I'll have to try some  I don't work with circulars much but when I do I definitely have that tugging problem.
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Nov 14, 2009 00:39
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teknicolor posted:I have loads of scraps and half-skeins, so what is everyone's favorite scrapbuster pattern? I've been making tiny mittens for xmas giftwrap pizzazz, and I've made a few small giftbags too, but I'm getting bored with those, so give me what you've got please! Bunny Nuggets http://rebeccadanger.typepad.com/rebecca_danger/2009/04/its-the-first-free-pattern.html Not also are they a great stash-buster, but they're also my Christmas presents this year!  Click here for the full 1600x1200 image. On that note: I'm loving DONE with Christmas presents! 
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Nov 14, 2009 01:25
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I want to start knitting something other than scarves, but I don't know what to have in my inventory. I'm a really new knitter, and can't really afford many different types, maybe another 1 or 2 sets of needles. Can anyone give me suggestions of some like.. basic sizes/types to own? I already have size 8 straight ones, and a big pair of circulars, they're maybe like 7 or 8mm? Thanks for any help.
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Nov 14, 2009 03:39
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Number 8s are a good basic needle to have for worsted weight yarn. Try browsing some of the yarn company sites for free patterns. Some patterns are quite nice, others are not so good. I know lionbrand.com has patterns for pillows and things, and I'm sure others do too.
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Nov 14, 2009 03:44
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guaranteed posted:Number 8s are a good basic needle to have for worsted weight yarn. Try browsing some of the yarn company sites for free patterns. Some patterns are quite nice, others are not so good. I know lionbrand.com has patterns for pillows and things, and I'm sure others do too. Is number 8 a good needle to have if I find a pattern I like and want to adjust it?
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Nov 14, 2009 04:10
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Well, that gets a little complicated. Basically, if a pattern calls for size 7 needles, you can probably adjust for it by using a lighter yarn and/or knitting tighter than average, and if it calls for 9s, you can probably use a little heavier yarn. Basically you need to find the gauge in the pattern (something like 24 stitches to 4 inches) and see if you can knit to that size. Otherwise you have to add and subtract stitches, and that's something that some people are really good at and others aren't. Personally, I'm blessed with enough needles that I use the needles that give me gauge instead of trying to do it the other way around. Of course, all that applies to things like sweaters that have specific sizes. If you're just knitting an afghan or a pillow, it hardly matters. Your stitches might be tighter or looser than the example, but it'll still be a pillow. If you find you need a certain size needles and really can't afford them, you could try asking here. I don't have a lot of extras, but I do have some I don't use much. Or ask for some for Christmas. The Options sets discussed above are really nice, and on sale now if you know anyone looking for a present for you.
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Nov 14, 2009 05:06
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guaranteed posted:Well, that gets a little complicated. Basically, if a pattern calls for size 7 needles, you can probably adjust for it by using a lighter yarn and/or knitting tighter than average, and if it calls for 9s, you can probably use a little heavier yarn. Basically you need to find the gauge in the pattern (something like 24 stitches to 4 inches) and see if you can knit to that size. Otherwise you have to add and subtract stitches, and that's something that some people are really good at and others aren't. Personally, I'm blessed with enough needles that I use the needles that give me gauge instead of trying to do it the other way around. Yeah that makes sense. Well right now I'm just a beginner, and I only want to knit things like mittens and socks and toques, but I don't want to get 3 different sized needles for each thing, you know? I guess I'm looking for a pair I can use for those types of projects that I can easily adjust a pattern, or find a pattern for the size I have. I've told people to get me some different sized knitting needles for christmas, but you know how families are, haha.
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Nov 14, 2009 05:14
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It is tough starting out. Knitting is an extremely expensive hobby. If you live in a larger city, you may have some luck posting a want ad on your local FreeCycle or CraigsList. It's even worth a shot in smaller areas, though your chances go way down. I'd just post an ad that you are a new knitter and if anyone has any supplies they don't use anymore you'd be happy to take them off their hands. There's also a random acts of kindness board on Ravelry that is set up for exactly that sort of thing. You state your plight and people send you stuff if they can spare it. Also on Ravelry you can add all sorts of filters to browsing patterns and one of them happens to be needle size. You can try that, too. In other words, if you don't have a Rav account, you should probably look into that Knit Picks has also recently set up a wish list feature that you can email to others. Their interchangeable sets are a big investment, but you don't have to go whole hog. A cable is in any of the 5 sizes is 4 bucks and then you can just buy a tip here and there as you are able. The Zephyr tips start at 4 bucks, too. The nice thing about interchangeable circulars is that you can use them for flat knitting also, so you'll never have to buy a set of straights again, either. AND if you teach yourself something like magic loop or using 2 circulars to knit in the round, you only ever really need 1 cable size, and you'll never have to buy DPNs again as well. I'm all about frugality.
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Nov 14, 2009 05:32
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Yeah, get ready for two crochet hooks and a crochet pattern book, some ugly yarn, and something else "cute" that was at the yarn store. It's pretty easy to find free patterns for mittens and hats in all sorts of needle sizes. Just browse around. Knitty has lots of good patterns, too.
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Nov 14, 2009 05:37
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ThreeFish posted:It is tough starting out. Knitting is an extremely expensive hobby. guaranteed posted:Yeah, get ready for two crochet hooks and a crochet pattern book, some ugly yarn, and something else "cute" that was at the yarn store. Thanks guys I'll take your advice and keep it in mind; I joined ravelry and convinced my friend to buy me needles in return for a hat  Edit: If anyone has like a really simple pattern for mittens for either straight or circular needles.. that'd be super! All I can find are patterns for dpns Robin Sparkles fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Nov 14, 2009 |
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Nov 14, 2009 06:34
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Robin Sparkles posted:Thanks guys If you know how to knit in the round on two circs you can do that rather than using DPNs. Its what I do most of the time. Anyway here's a basic pattern, knit flat or round. I followed this pattern for a pair I sent a friend just this week. Thanks for the stashbusters so far guys I really appreciate it. I need some variety haha.
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Nov 14, 2009 07:20
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Robin Sparkles posted:Thanks guys If you're looking for newbie patterns, advice and tips, I recommend joining the Newer Knitters group. You can ask for advice and tips, and they also have lots of pages with suggestions for simple and intermediate patterns.
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Nov 14, 2009 09:27
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If you can get it, try the "Hot Head" pattern from Stitch N' Bitch. I think it uses size 10 needles but you can probably work around it. It's what my mom and I used when we were first starting out, and it's knit flat!
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Nov 14, 2009 14:49
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I've had a lot of success with this pattern: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/the-mitts.html At the time I was a fairly new knitter and I used knittinghelp.com to work my way through. They turned out to be a really nice fit. For good deals on needles and yarn, sign up for the Michael's or JoAnn's emails (I assume you're in the US). They frequently send out 40% off coupons. Both places carry decent wooden needles, as well as metal and acrylic. If you're looking for a nice but cheap wool yarn, both of those stores sell Paton's Classic Wool. I use that stuff for everything. I also recommend thrift stores--most that I've been in have a surprisingly large amount of needles and/or yarn. You just have to wade through the crap. I also second Freecycle. I recently gave away a bunch of eyelash and fun fur-type yarns on there. Like a whole garbage bag full. I'm out of control.
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Nov 15, 2009 15:28
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So I kind of suck at knitting.
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Nov 15, 2009 20:55
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Aardvarklet posted:I've had a lot of success with this pattern: Thanks! I've got a whole buttload of mitten patterns now thanks to SA and Ravelry I convinced my mom to take me to pick up some dpn's today, so I'm gonna go experiment with those. I tried to do magic loop and it didn't turn out well, at all. Also, I'm in Canada, but we do have Michaels here, I'll check that out. Thanks!
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Nov 15, 2009 21:22
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Official Bizness posted:So I kind of suck at knitting. What on earth yarn is that?
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Nov 15, 2009 22:06
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Robin Sparkles posted:Thanks! I've got a whole buttload of mitten patterns now thanks to SA and Ravelry I failed at Magic Loop and using two circulars until I realized the problem was that I was trying to use craptastic cheap circulars (Susan Bates and Boyd). On the cheap ones, the cords are so stiff that they just coil back up onto themselves and get all tangled and it's a pain. I know some people manage to make it work with them, but as a very new knitter who was teaching myself with only the internet for guidance, I couldn't do it. I took the cheap ones back and sprang for some of the Knit Picks interchangeable needles, and now Magic Loop is easy as pie.
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Nov 15, 2009 22:24
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:What on earth yarn is that? No clue. I found it at Goodwill and decided to make it my "Biz Learns How To Knit (Badly)" yarn. Seriously, I bought a book intended to make expert knitters out of five year olds and I'm still missing several basic concepts.
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Nov 15, 2009 22:30
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Mnemosyne posted:I failed at Magic Loop and using two circulars until I realized the problem was that I was trying to use craptastic cheap circulars (Susan Bates and Boyd). On the cheap ones, the cords are so stiff that they just coil back up onto themselves and get all tangled and it's a pain. I know some people manage to make it work with them, but as a very new knitter who was teaching myself with only the internet for guidance, I couldn't do it. I took the cheap ones back and sprang for some of the Knit Picks interchangeable needles, and now Magic Loop is easy as pie. Yeah, I never got magic loop at all until I learned it by accident with the KnitPicks needles. On another beginner's note, if you're going to be learning double-pointed needles, I strongly recommend bamboo over aluminum, as the metal ones are so dang slippery and heavy it's hard to keep from dropping stitches. Bamboo is lighter and much stickier.
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Nov 15, 2009 23:09
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So, I got some bamboo dpns, 4.5mm, and uh. I can't knit in the round. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I looked at the video on knittinghelp, but she doesn't say where the tail is and where the knitting string is. And the videos on youtube aren't helping either. I'm so lost!
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Nov 16, 2009 00:37
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OK, did you cast on the right number of stitches and divide them between four needles?
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Nov 16, 2009 00:44
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guaranteed posted:OK, did you cast on the right number of stitches and divide them between four needles? Yep, I was just going to test it out first to see if I could do it, and I did 4 on each needle. On pictures it looks as if the two tails are on the same needle and mine does not look like that.
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Nov 16, 2009 01:02
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OK, so before you put the needles around in a circle, the tail is at one end and the working yarn is at the other, right? So when you bring the needles around in a circle, you want to join it into a circle by knitting the first stitch you cast on. At that point the working yarn and the tail will be at the same place. After this you're just going to go around and around in a long spiral, always in the same direction. Make absolutely certain the stitches aren't twisted on the needles -- the cast-on edge should be at the bottom all the way around and not wound around the needles, or you'll have to rip the whole thing out later.
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Nov 16, 2009 02:06
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Official Bizness posted:
I got Knitting for Dummies from the library and it's really good. It covers everything and they explain things very easily. I also refer to YouTube when I'm confused. Don't give up! I'm so desperate to knit a sweater, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet. But seriously I've spent hours today going through the sweater tags at ravelry. Ugh. Does anyone have an easy sweater pattern for beginners?
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Nov 16, 2009 02:08
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guaranteed posted:OK, so before you put the needles around in a circle, the tail is at one end and the working yarn is at the other, right? So when you bring the needles around in a circle, you want to join it into a circle by knitting the first stitch you cast on. At that point the working yarn and the tail will be at the same place. After this you're just going to go around and around in a long spiral, always in the same direction. Make absolutely certain the stitches aren't twisted on the needles -- the cast-on edge should be at the bottom all the way around and not wound around the needles, or you'll have to rip the whole thing out later. Alright, I think I've got this, I'll report back! Hopefully with good news, haha.
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Nov 16, 2009 02:44
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Hobo Camp posted:I'm so desperate to knit a sweater, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet. But seriously I've spent hours today going through the sweater tags at ravelry. Ugh. Does anyone have an easy sweater pattern for beginners? If you can knit that stocking cap you showed off before (which was awesome, by the way), then you can knit a sweater. The trick is to not psych yourself out of doing it. Anyway, I haven't made it myself, but the February Lady Sweater looks incredibly easy to make. Actually, top-down raglan sweaters in general would be good first choices.
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Nov 16, 2009 02:45
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Official Bizness posted:No clue. I found it at Goodwill and decided to make it my "Biz Learns How To Knit (Badly)" yarn. I'm just saying, I think the yarn is hurting more than your knitting. I've seen far worse for a first try!
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Nov 16, 2009 02:54
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February Lady is pretty easy, but I highly recommend using lots of stitch markers to mark off small sections of repeats in the lace so you can see right away if you've gone wrong, and writing down or otherwise keeping careful track of which row you're on. I haven't done a lot of lace and I had to frog a couple of times before I really got into the swing of things.
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Nov 16, 2009 03:14
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Official Bizness posted:So I kind of suck at knitting. To me, it looks like you're doing the same thing I did when I started, where it magically gets bigger as you go. I was adding stitches on accident by not lining up the yarn properly when I turned it. Tug down a bit on the swatch to line it up right and make sure the working yarn is on the front and not looped around before you start the next row.
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Nov 16, 2009 05:01
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Official Bizness posted:No clue. I found it at Goodwill and decided to make it my "Biz Learns How To Knit (Badly)" yarn. Did you watch the videos on Knittinghelp.com? Her videos are awesome, and really easy to follow.
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Nov 16, 2009 05:44
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Tatiana posted:Well the Harmony set is currently on sale. Okay that pretty much decided it for me. Even with my employee discount the Addi Clicks are still about $60 more and I can't really justify spending that much more money right now. I'll see how the Harmony ones turn out and maybe I'll one day get the Clicks if there's some issue like the cable join key thing, but as is I'm pretty excited. When I ordered the set, I also noticed that they have interlocking foam mats for blocking for $20. Seems like a good idea, but I found these for a tad cheaper and I don't see why they'd work any better or worse. Does anyone else use Soak for their knits? I used the Aqua scent for a while but got sick of it/lost in when I moved. But we had a new scent at the store called Sola Evening Garden which I picked up and am loving so far. It's fresh and slightly fruity, almost floral but not so much that I can't use it for guy stuff. I'm not sure if I've got enough time to do all of my holiday knitting before the holidays. I've been doing mostly smaller stuff, hats and gloves and such, but I foolishly let my guy pick his scarf pattern, and he picks a lengthwise knit linen stitch scarf made with Rowan Tapestry (wool soy blend, very clingy which made it extremely painful when I had to rip back 1 1/2 inches the other day...)
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Nov 16, 2009 06:51
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Hobo Camp posted:I'm so desperate to knit a sweater, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet. But seriously I've spent hours today going through the sweater tags at ravelry. Ugh. Does anyone have an easy sweater pattern for beginners? Start with a simple fairly chunky one, it's much less frustrating- or do a practice baby jumper. My first jumper was this one: http://www.knitandsew.co.uk/Sirdar_Click_chunky_pattern_8940.htm Of course, that's a paid for pattern that I bought with my yarn from John Lewis after asking the shop assistant for an easy starter pattern. It's really very easy, not too much shaping (I did the round neck in a huge man's size for my boyfriend who wanted a baggy jumper). If you think it's too bland I guess you could easily do some horizontal stripes in it. I'm sorry I can't help you with an online pattern, I'm only just getting to grips with Ravelry. That February Lady one is a cardigan anyway 
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Nov 16, 2009 11:41
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Continental knitters: Do you have a favourite way of controlling your yarn tension with your left hand? I've been trying with one loop around the pinky and one around my index finger, but I keep losing the yarn off my index finger as I go and all my stitches end up being way too tight or I drop the needle in my left hand. I feel like I'm trying to juggle controlling the yarn and holding on to the needle and work.
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Nov 16, 2009 15:16
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madlilnerd posted:That February Lady one is a cardigan anyway You're a cardigan. 
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Nov 16, 2009 15:30
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OHMYGOD guys I have completely forgotten how awesome it is to knit with natural fibers. I've been knitting with my (s)crap acrylic for the past month or so, to get rid of everything, but I just recently started a Jayne commission, and the wool is soooo soft and springy and lovely and nice. Official Bizness, you will enjoy your knitting experience so much more if you buy a small ball of something (at least partially) wooly or natural.
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Nov 16, 2009 15:57
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