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effika posted:Yarn please Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Bilberry. I really like the Jitterbug, it's so squishy.
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May 20, 2014 04:22
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evelynevvie posted:Hi knitters! I've been teaching myself to knit for a few months. I am a babby and dont know anything about yarn and I need a little bit of help. I recently chose some Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It's mostly acrylic but its very soft and i fell in love with the color (mixed berry). I'm not sure if I got a bad skein, or if this yarn is just awful. The thickness keeps changing from bulky to super skinny to super super puffy. It is kind of fuzzy which is fine, but the huge texture changes are making me nuts. Is this normal? I have several big name craft stores nearby but no LYS's. One thing that might help with homespun (I loving hate that stuff ugh) is to every so often let your work suspend from the yarn and just spin in the air for awhile - I find homespun espeically tends to build up twist which makes it get thinner and thinner as you go along. If the piece is too big to hang like that you can secure the ball and spin that.
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May 20, 2014 04:25
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Craft Along! Do you have too much wool sitting around that needs to be turned into things? Do you have incredibly annoying yarn that you glare at every time you see it because it is a jerk? Do you like baby birds (or are you a monster)? If so, you can make that wool into nests to help baby birds stay warm and live to be released. It's not quite penguin sweaters, but it's still pretty cool. x-posted to crochet thread http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/site/PageServer?pagename=babybirdnest_howcanIhelp Edit: They also have patterns for acrylic, cotton, etc nests, so you can get rid of any type of yarn instead of just wool. Valdara fucked around with this message at 19:13 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 19:03
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evelynevvie posted:Hi knitters! I've been teaching myself to knit for a few months. I am a babby and dont know anything about yarn and I need a little bit of help. I recently chose some Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It's mostly acrylic but its very soft and i fell in love with the color (mixed berry). I'm not sure if I got a bad skein, or if this yarn is just awful. The thickness keeps changing from bulky to super skinny to super super puffy. It is kind of fuzzy which is fine, but the huge texture changes are making me nuts. Is this normal? I have several big name craft stores nearby but no LYS's. I hate homespun so much now. Back before I learned to knit I loved it, it crocheted into blankets well and was super soft. Now I have like 3 skeins that I tried to use up by knitting cowls/anything.... Nightmare city. I kept splitting it with my needles. It made me hate knitting for a while. If you want something cheap and soft that knits well to learn on that won't send you in search of a LYS, the I Love This Yarn brand at Hobby Lobby is decent. It stays soft, gets just a bit fuzzy with use, comes in tons of colors, and shows knitted detail well. It's not fancy, but when you're still learning spending $28 on a single skein is daunting. I like the Lion brand yarns, but their acrylics can be scratchy.  They have good, entry level bulky weight stuff though. Vanna's yarns are soft too, but I've never worked with them so I can't tell you how they work up. I've made a ton of "cheap" Harry Potter scarves with the Hobby Lobby stuff though. 
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May 21, 2014 05:58
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I have strong opinions about most of those. My favorite cheap yarn is Berroco Vintage. Three weights, a ton of colors (really great subtle ones in addition to the usual pastels), and $7/skein. I'm mostly a snob but I super dig this acrylic/wool blend.
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May 21, 2014 06:48
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i like nice words
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In case anyone is interested, Jimmy Beans Wool is having a sale on discontinued Noro yarn. There are a lot to choose from and priced at $6.00 and $7.95 per skein. http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/crafts/manufacturer/Noro/NoroSale.asp I personally find Noro a little scratchy but it isn't bad if you mix it with another soft wool yarn. Then you get the beautiful color and softness.
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May 21, 2014 14:52
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I've had good luck with Cascade stuff. I'm still uncertain about high end sock yarn. My feet go in those! they run around! It seems sad to use such nice yarn for running around in. >_> And ooh, thanks Nibblet. Though, too bad I'm in the UK and apparently allergic to Silk Garden. Which I still need to offload, hmm...
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May 21, 2014 17:05
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A note about high end sock yarn: Always always always get something with nylon in it! Even if you knit at high gauge and it has good twist, it will not save that from wearing through in no time (ask me how I know). I've had good luck with anything nylon. My first pair I used Regia and they are just starting to wear thin in places some 5 or 6 years later, and I use them often in winter AND machine wash and dry them.
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May 21, 2014 17:18
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Not to be too off-color, but I made a very cunning warmer for a charity event:
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May 21, 2014 18:40
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It seems I just didn't know what I was getting into when I bought the yarn. Thanks for the help everyone! I am going to post pics of what I've knitted so far soon.
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May 22, 2014 01:22
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Nibblet posted:In case anyone is interested, Jimmy Beans Wool is having a sale on discontinued Noro yarn. There are a lot to choose from and priced at $6.00 and $7.95 per skein. Great, just bought enough yarn for two more sweaters and a shawl. I haven't worn a shawl since I was 5 years old, but hey, COLORS!! Maybe I can use it like a weird hoodie or something. But how am I supposed to justify going to the yarn shop now?
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May 22, 2014 03:27
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http://www.knittingninja.com/patterns/chain-chomp-hat Im working on this and im completely confused by some of the instructions, namely the teeth section. Ive got the hat part done so how do I pick up stitches on the bottom? Edit: I think I've got the pick up part, but heres a newbie question: I'm using size 7 dpns and I cast on 80 sts. It fits my head perfectly. How will this change the teeth instructions. Aldo I am looking at my hat and I'm unsure how to identify the stitches so I can count them. evelynevvie fucked around with this message at 03:03 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 02:52
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evelynevvie posted:http://www.knittingninja.com/patterns/chain-chomp-hat You can use circs or straights to pick up stitches. Here is a pretty good how-to. It talks about cardigans and stuff, but the same concepts apply. You're just picking stitches up at your cast-on edge.
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May 25, 2014 02:58
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Thanks to everyone who answered my question early this year about substituting yarn weights. I finally finished my Celestarium Blanket. It's about 60 inches diameter and I'm unsure if I should block it or not. I originally planned to steam block it but I'm seeing conflicting info online whether or not you should steam block or block at all acrylic. I've never blocked acrylic before and I don't want to ruin it now after it took so long to make.  I'd love to get the winkles out of the cable edging and maybe just make it a little bigger. It's made out of Caron Simply Soft.
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May 25, 2014 19:23
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I love Celestarium, but what's it like to knit? I want to make mine a bit bigger than usual so it fits around me (I'm fat) but I think 60" is a bit big . As for acrylic, YMMV but I've never had much success. It doesn't seem to have the memory that wool does so it's never blocked well for me.
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May 25, 2014 22:26
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I found it a very easy relaxing knit, did a lot of it while watching TV. Standard pi shawl but there are no repeats in the star part so everything is charted in sections. I did make some modifications though. I omitted the yarn overs and used worsted with size 8s. With fingering it should come out to be about 45". I think it'd be easy enough to make larger with sizing up your needle or maybe even a sport weight yarn.
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May 25, 2014 23:48
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Fish Biscuit posted:Thanks to everyone who answered my question early this year about substituting yarn weights. I finally finished my Celestarium Blanket. It's about 60 inches diameter and I'm unsure if I should block it or not. I originally planned to steam block it but I'm seeing conflicting info online whether or not you should steam block or block at all acrylic. I've never blocked acrylic before and I don't want to ruin it now after it took so long to make. I'm sure you'd LOVE to knit with more of the EXACT same yarn, but I'd do a 'gauge swatch' with the same needles, just do a square and knit on some of that edging so you can see what works on it. First get it wet and pull it out like you'd do with wool and if you're not happy with that, break out the steam. Then you don't have to worry about ruining your finished object.
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May 26, 2014 00:14
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Acrylic can't be blocked traditionally like wool can, it just sort of relaxes back into what it was before where wool has memory that is set in place by the hot water and tension. To block acrylic you have to "kill" it by getting it wet and then using an iron (through a towel or something) to almost very, very gently melt the acrylic just ever so slightly into place. It makes it a lot drapier and slightly softer, at least in my experience, but is not reversible like with wool, which you can just reblock if you don't like it. I'd also suggest making a gauge swatch, just a small one, with the same yarn and needles and then killing it to see if you like the fabric. Though there are those beads, which could be damaged by the heat. What are they made out of?
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May 26, 2014 00:25
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Thanks guys I don't know why I didn't think to test block on a swatch.  I had planned to pin it mist it with a water bottle and then use a steam iron about an inch or 2 over it. The beads are plastic too so I'm definitely afraid of damaging those too.
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May 26, 2014 02:52
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To help with wrinkles/uneven stitches, soaking the acrylic for a while then laying it out to dry should help. And the finished object looks great!
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May 26, 2014 06:37
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Are any of you switch knitters? I knit English style, but have been told that continental is faster. Have any tips for relearning the other way?
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May 26, 2014 15:18
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I knit both English and Continental, depending on what mood I'm in. But I started out crochetting so it wasn't a hard transition to hold the yarn in the same hand when knitting continental. (If that makes sense). I think the easiest thing is to watch Youtube videos. Also, this place has really good videos that show you how to makes stitches in both Continental and English style, so you can see the difference.
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May 26, 2014 17:21
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Killer_Frost posted:Are any of you switch knitters? I knit English style, but have been told that continental is faster. Have any tips for relearning the other way? I just became a switch. I decided I wanted to learn English, so I knit a few swatches while watching you-tube videos. It was awkward and slow for a while, but now it's smooth enough to use both at the same time while doing stranded knitting with one color in each hand. I also made myself a switch spinner, so I can hold the fiber in either hand. It's far more comfortable for me to hold in my left and draft with my right, but I can do either as needed now. It's really just practice and a willingness to have it feel very wrong and be very slow for a few hours until your hands sort it out. It will be frustratingly slow to start, and you will probably want to say gently caress it a few times when it's so slow and awkward you don't feel like it's worth it. But I promise it is. I did a lot of glaring at my hands when I was learning, but now it's fine. Sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something.
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May 26, 2014 19:17
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Killer_Frost posted:Are any of you switch knitters? I knit English style, but have been told that continental is faster. Have any tips for relearning the other way? I learned English but decided early on that to make stranded knitting easier I wanted to be able to knit Continental as well. Continental ended up being way faster for me. So I would say that it's definitely worth learning. And I watched a video or two and saw how they were holding the yarn. That was about it. Then it's all practice.
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May 26, 2014 22:32
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a friendly penguin posted:I learned English but decided early on that to make stranded knitting easier I wanted to be able to knit Continental as well. Continental ended up being way faster for me. So I would say that it's definitely worth learning. And I watched a video or two and saw how they were holding the yarn. That was about it. Then it's all practice. What's stranded knitting? I learned Continental, then learned English in year 6-7 at school... stopped knitting for a number of years and if I wanted to try English again, I'd have to watch a tutorial, whops. So due to that, Continental is much faster for me, however, I do remember thinking at the time that English was easier to deal with fair isle patterns.
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May 26, 2014 22:45
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I initially learned English style about a year ago. Continental didn't make any sense to me at the time and seemed confusing. Then a month or so later, I learned to crochet, and Continental suddenly made sense. I can't remember why I initially switched-I have some vague recollection of thinking it was "better" somehow. So, I switched to Continental and haven't looked back. I do find that I knit faster with Continental, especially on stuff where you have to switch between knits and purls a lot. I also like the efficiency and economy of motion of it. When I did English style, it was almost like I have to let go of one of the needles while I wrapped the yarn around (i.e. "tossing), whereas with Continental I hold the needles the whole time and there is continuous motion. I also like being able to control the tension more (admittedly, I knit a lot more loosely since I switched).
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May 27, 2014 15:36
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Finally got a semi-decent picture of me wearing the Toulouse sweater. I made it purposefully oversize since I really liked it oversized on the model, but I think it might be a little too large on me... Not sure if I should rip back and make it cropped.
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May 27, 2014 22:27
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I think it looks nice the way it is, but then I prefer clothes that aren't too fitted  . It doesn't help that it's bunching a little at the bottom, maybe if you pulled the bottom down straight it would look better?
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May 27, 2014 23:13
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jomiel posted:Finally got a semi-decent picture of me wearing the Toulouse sweater. I made it purposefully oversize since I really liked it oversized on the model, but I think it might be a little too large on me... Not sure if I should rip back and make it cropped. I think it looks perfect. Good job!
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May 28, 2014 01:34
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Lata jie posted:What's stranded knitting? You answered yourself.
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May 28, 2014 01:46
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I just discovered illusion knitting, which looks freaking awesome. As soon as I finish the mitts I'm working on, I think I will try this duckie scarf pattern just to figure out how it works. This ravelry group (Woolly Thoughts) has a ton of info and patterns that are amazing.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:43
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I have a skein of fingering weight yarn that I'd like to knit into a lightweight, summery scarf or cowl. What size needle would you use and how many stitches would you cast on? I will likely do garter stitch or something else super simple. I don't quite want to follow a pattern, per se, I just want some mindless knitting. It's about all I can handle with a toddler who requires 99% of my free time. TIA.
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Jun 1, 2014 22:23
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The cowl I'm knitting right now uses 5mm needles and a cast-on of 199 stitches, but that's to keep it in pattern. It makes a nice long cowl that can still be wrapped twice but won't overheat your neck. If you want something really light though I would go up a needle size or two, unless you're using a light weight wool - mine is fairly heavy for fingering weight so the cowl is still coming out nice and warm. Hope this helps.
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Jun 1, 2014 22:57
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I feel like you're looking for a Clapotis. You could make it shorter, narrower, a cowl, whatever.
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Jun 1, 2014 23:12
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This is the reason I don't make things that come in pairs. I'm too oblivious and not willing to frog back once I'm too far in a project, and instead of counting things I eye-balled it and the fingerless mitts came out hilariously mismatched. It's not worth the time it would take to make them a closer match, because they fit and they're soft and I love them. It'll never be noticed on a trotting horse. Tomorrow I'm going on a road trip with my partner and in-laws from SF to LA, so I've got 8 hours of riding in a car each way, plus down time while we're there. I have four patterns that I'm planning to cast on today so I have plenty of things to work on while I'm there: one scarf, one cowl, a little drawstring bag, and yoga socks.
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Jun 5, 2014 21:09
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I think I know the answer but I'm going to ask here anyway. I knit up the Celestarium shawl for a friend using lace, and I'd got the border done and everything and was checking it for mistakes before I block it, and... I dropped a stitch. I thought that I'd just miscounted when I got to the end of the border, but no, I dropped a stitch on the border somewhere along the way. (I'm doing the Lunar Tide border, so it's like: |-border where I forgot the | Is there a quick fix that doesn't look terrible when knitting lace or am I going to have to unknit half of the border to fix this? The good news is that she doesn't need this until October and I knit pretty quickly.
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Jun 9, 2014 15:53
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sithwitch13 posted:I think I know the answer but I'm going to ask here anyway. I knit up the Celestarium shawl for a friend using lace, and I'd got the border done and everything and was checking it for mistakes before I block it, and... I dropped a stitch. I thought that I'd just miscounted when I got to the end of the border, but no, I dropped a stitch on the border somewhere along the way. (I'm doing the Lunar Tide border, so it's like: Could you post a picture of the area where it's dropped?
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Jun 9, 2014 18:50
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For the first time I found a yarn/stitch/needle combination that makes my hands hurt. I'm trying to make a cowl in linen stitch in bulky yarn on circular needles, and it's hell on my hands. I thought I hated tiny yarns and tiny needles, but at least those don't injure me.
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Jun 10, 2014 21:50
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Everything I've done with bulky yarn, regardless of fiber content, has left me with THE CLAW(s). Serious pain.
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Jun 10, 2014 22:56
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I'm working on a double-knit scarf with acrylic and my thumb is KILLING me.
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Jun 10, 2014 23:01
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