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rocknrollmachine posted:Thank you! The color changes made the work seem a little less repetitive. I love Westknit patterns because they're simple...but I also get bored for the same reason. It's a double-edge sword. Yeah I have that issue too - I really love super complicated patterns and get bored with simple stuff but then sometimes I have nothing to knit when I'm not able to put my full attention on it. I know, I should have a complicated thing AND a simple thing, but I just never seem to have any simple things. The cowl pattern is called Khajiit - beautiful pattern but it definitely doesn't hold your hand with the explanations! If you ever decide to make one look me up I'll show you how I handled the charts.
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Jan 26, 2018 02:24
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Wow Bob, that handspun is really gorgeous. Rocknrollmachine, that spectra gradient knocks my socks off. So here's my unblocked turd:  I haven't woven in the ends yet either because I'm still on the fence about it. I know I need to unpick the cast off and redo it looser/on bigger needles because it's too tight. I'm sort of thinking of redoing it with the lace sections beginning in the gray sections to make the color transitions a bit softer (and making the first blue section thinner). I do like it a bit more the more I look at it, I think it's just unsophisticated.
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Jan 26, 2018 17:08
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NancyPants posted:Wow Bob, that handspun is really gorgeous. Rocknrollmachine, that spectra gradient knocks my socks off. Aw thanks! The lady who dyed that fiber closed her shop last fall and I legit had like a depressive episode over it, she always had such wonderful colors. I think turd is a bit much! I love those colors. Maybe an icord edging or something ?
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Jan 26, 2018 19:10
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:I think turd is a bit much! I love those colors. Maybe an icord edging or something ? Yeah, definitely not a turd! It is definitely bold. Reminds me of some sneakers I used to have. I loved those sneakers. Sometimes it takes me a bit to get used to something I don't usually go for, but I end up liking it. You know what you like, NancyPants, so if you know you won't be happy until you redo the transitions, have at it. I bet redoing the cast-off and maybe an icord edging like Bob says to round the colors together might just be all you need.
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Jan 26, 2018 19:31
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rocknrollmachine, I love that spectra shawl, it looks great! The hat is cute too~ bobshadycharacter, that purse is super cute! How did you attach the lining/clasps? I've been considering getting into making some little bags with embroidery stuff I make, but I'm intimidated by actually putting the bag together. nancypants, I like your shawl!!! I get your frustration about the grey gradient not going as well as you like, but I still think it looks pretty great, and second the recommendation for an icord edging--it's tedious but looks so good. I recently finished some socks, and just in the nick of time--it got to -16c this week, and i needed all the wool I could get.   The pattern is Skandium for anyone interested. Getting fraternal twins like this takes almost exactly 50g of each color. I was sweating bullets near the end, since I couldn't get more of this yarn.
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Jan 27, 2018 01:30
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FelicityGS posted:rocknrollmachine, I love that spectra shawl, it looks great! The hat is cute too~ I hand sewed the lining to the purse, then applied the glue to the handles and used a flathead screwdriver to shove the edges in. Then I very gently used pliers to squeeze the frame a bit. The pattern called for shoving some paper cording in afterwards, but that was not happening - there just wasn't room. And I'd already reduced the bulk by doing a cloth lining instead of a second knitted piece. It seems pretty sturdy, at least so far! Edit: those socks rule!
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Jan 27, 2018 03:04
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More knitting, because I am avoiding studying Hematology. Basic 1x1 rib scarf made from Wolle Rodel Mosaik - mohair/polyamid/polyacryl according to what little German on the label I can translate. Super long, super light and fluffy.  Baby mocassin-socks.  I hate blocking so much but I can't argue with the results of how it makes cables and lace pop.    
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Jan 28, 2018 01:53
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Thanks for the input and compliments guys. I was thinking of a border to bring it all together, problem is I think black would be too much and I'm out of both the mid gray and deepest teal so a bit SOL on which yarns to use. Might leave this as babby's first design attempt, lol. Sehkmet that lace gives me life. It's gorgeous.
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Jan 28, 2018 15:59
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Stumbled across this in the MadTosh Rav group. Thoughts? Personally I'm firmly in the, "It's loving yarn, who cares what the name is and it fits the inspiration" camp. Ridiculousness
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Jan 29, 2018 01:30
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NancyPants posted:Wow Bob, that handspun is really gorgeous. Rocknrollmachine, that spectra gradient knocks my socks off. I love the color scheme. I think once you block it it will look very chic.  Someone once told me that if you want to "blend" the colors of a gradient together you can knit with two strands of the yarn for ~4-5 rows or whatever your preference is prior to starting the new color and it makes the transition a little softer. I've never tried it though. I would think the two strands would make that particular section noticeably bulkier than the rest of it.
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Jan 29, 2018 01:48
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left_unattended posted:Stumbled across this in the MadTosh Rav group. Thoughts? Personally I'm firmly in the, "It's loving yarn, who cares what the name is and it fits the inspiration" camp. I also fall into this camp. Yarn is yarn, but I'll admit, I do appreciate cleverness with yarn names. My favorite independent yarn dyers have very...eclectic naming schemes. https://awhimsicalwoodyarnco.com https://squareup.com/market/yarn-geek-fibers
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Jan 29, 2018 02:02
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rocknrollmachine posted:I love the color scheme. I think once you block it it will look very chic. Hm, never heard of that method before, I would think it would really bulk up those sections too. I was thinking of alternating each color for like 4 garter ridges or so coming up to each transition so it has the same effect as dithering on old 8 bit graphics. I wonder if that's what they were describing? left_unattended posted:Stumbled across this in the MadTosh Rav group. Thoughts? Personally I'm firmly in the, "It's loving yarn, who cares what the name is and it fits the inspiration" camp. If I ever start selling my hand dyed yarn, y'all can bet your sweet buns that I will be giving it ridiculous names. And my yarn don't run.
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Jan 29, 2018 02:03
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I think it's hilariously dumb someone wouldn't buy it because of the name, but I also think it's hilariously dumb people do buy yarn because of its names. All you need to do is call it something related to Doctor Who and you'll double your sales, like who is that stupid, a lot of people apparently
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Jan 29, 2018 02:27
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i like nice words
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I had to google the yarn to see the color and it’s so gorgeous I tried to cram my phone in my mouth. Why are ‘tosh yarns sooooo delectable
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Jan 29, 2018 02:33
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Anne Whateley posted:I think it's hilariously dumb someone wouldn't buy it because of the name, but I also think it's hilariously dumb people do buy yarn because of its names. All you need to do is call it something related to Doctor Who and you'll double your sales, like who is that stupid, a lot of people apparently Marketing is all about giving customers an emotional connection to your product, so this isn't really that surprising. I roll my eyes at it now, but I'm sure I have been influenced to buy something because it had a name that struck a chord with me, sigh. On the other hand, BPAL makes a fragrance I like, but it's called Jailbait, and that makes me cringe, so I haven't bought a bottle of it. But that's different from just being a ridiculous name. I only know the names of my yarns so I can tag potential projects for them. Because imagining finished projects is way easier than actually finishing them..... Surely I'm not the only one with like 30 patterns tagged for a single yarn.... elise the great posted:I had to google the yarn to see the color and it’s so gorgeous I tried to cram my phone in my mouth. Why are ‘tosh yarns sooooo delectable After TWICE having so much variation within a single skein of Tosh that it hosed up the project, I have once again sworn to never buy it, but I just know I'm going to get suckered by it again. Dr. Kloctopussy fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Jan 29, 2018 |
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Jan 29, 2018 02:36
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elise the great posted:I had to google the yarn to see the color and it’s so gorgeous I tried to cram my phone in my mouth. Why are ‘tosh yarns sooooo delectable 
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Jan 29, 2018 02:39
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Oh poo poo really? That sucks, guess I’m gonna have to eat straight dye for my fix
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Jan 29, 2018 03:26
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Who takes a gauge off a washed and blocked swatch? How do you adjust your needle size if you need to wash and block it before you measure?
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Jan 29, 2018 03:32
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NancyPants posted:Who takes a gauge off a washed and blocked swatch? How do you adjust your needle size if you need to wash and block it before you measure? I pretty much always do gauge off a wash and blocked swatch for any designing I do, even if the pattern is just for me. That way i know the yarn will behave and if the stitches still look right after. Obviously if as I'm knitting it looks like poo poo, I'll change the needle size. But otherwise I'll finish the swatch--I tend to do a sample of the stitch motif I plan on using for whatever--bind it off, wash, and block. If it looks good, that's the needle size. if it looks a little too loose or too tight, I'll go up or down one size, and that's fine. If writing a pattern for other people to use, then I'll figure out the gauge from that blocked sample since I know how many rows and stitches across the sample is and it's a little bit of math. Otherwise I just start on whatever I'm making for me. I'm doing this for a hat right now, and it's tedious, but it's saved me a lot of work already--I've had time to tweak the pattern, decide I prefer it denser, and catch some charting mistakes I made. Better to fix something that's only 30 stitches than something that's 120 stitches, you know?
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Jan 29, 2018 03:57
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NancyPants posted:Who takes a gauge off a washed and blocked swatch? How do you adjust your needle size if you need to wash and block it before you measure? I knit a few small swatches (1.5" Sq), wash/dress/measure, and then make a big swatch (6" Sq) with the one that looks closest. Measure, then wash, dress, measure again. If it's not right, either knit another big swatch, or adjust the pattern. If it's pretty close I might also just go up or down without making a new big swatch. Or make a medium swatch. One nearly-ruined alpaca sweater and I will never consider knitting and dressing multiple swatches too much work again if you are using a heavy yarn, it's worth it to hang and weight your swatch as well, because the weight of the yarn can cause the garment to stretch vertically when worn. -- if I were doing a scarf or shawl or something, I would probably not bother to swatch at all though. (I do still forget to measure the swatches BEFORE dressing them sometimes, which sucks for checking measurements and adjusting as I knit.) Dr. Kloctopussy fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jan 29, 2018 |
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Jan 29, 2018 04:19
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:One nearly-ruined alpaca sweater and I will never consider knitting and dressing multiple swatches too much work again :highfive: sup buddy at least my mom still loves it and wears it all the time and brags all the time about it
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Jan 29, 2018 05:02
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FelicityGS posted:I pretty much always do gauge off a wash and blocked swatch for any designing I do, even if the pattern is just for me. That way i know the yarn will behave and if the stitches still look right after. Dr. Kloctopussy posted:I knit a few small swatches (1.5" Sq), wash/dress/measure, and then make a big swatch (6" Sq) with the one that looks closest. Measure, then wash, dress, measure again. If it's not right, either knit another big swatch, or adjust the pattern. If it's pretty close I might also just go up or down without making a new big swatch. Or make a medium swatch. All of this makes perfect sense to me because it's why you swatch, especially when you're designing. I always do a gauge swatch even if I just need it to figure yarn requirements, but if there's no pre-blocking gauge given, isn't there a figure missing? Is it common in garment patterns to give only the blocked gauge? I use a gauge swatch to know if I'm on target, but without a pre-blocked gauge I'm just stabbing in the dark.
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Jan 29, 2018 16:02
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NancyPants posted:All of this makes perfect sense to me because it's why you swatch, especially when you're designing. I always do a gauge swatch even if I just need it to figure yarn requirements, but if there's no pre-blocking gauge given, isn't there a figure missing? Is it common in garment patterns to give only the blocked gauge? I use a gauge swatch to know if I'm on target, but without a pre-blocked gauge I'm just stabbing in the dark. I sometimes see pre & post blocking gauges, but not often. As long as I have a target to shoot for (post-blocking gauge) I can keep my own notes on how my swatch's gauge changes pre to post block.
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Jan 29, 2018 16:47
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NancyPants posted:All of this makes perfect sense to me because it's why you swatch, especially when you're designing. I always do a gauge swatch even if I just need it to figure yarn requirements, but if there's no pre-blocking gauge given, isn't there a figure missing? Is it common in garment patterns to give only the blocked gauge? I use a gauge swatch to know if I'm on target, but without a pre-blocked gauge I'm just stabbing in the dark. I'm not sure I totally understand the question. Especially about how you are stabbing in the dark without being given a pre-blocked gauge. Yes, it's standard for designers to only give the blocked gauge, and no pre-blocking gauge. Using the blocked gauge is the only way to be sure all knitters will get the final sizes listed in the pattern. The problem with the designer giving you the pre-blocking gauge is that different yarns respond differently to blocking, so my 5.5 stitch per inch unblocked swatch and your 5.5 stitch per inch unblocked swatch might end up radically different after blocking. This is why I measure my own swatches pre-blocking (in theory, argh), so then I have the pre-block gauge for my yarn, so I can check as I go. Is that answering the question any better?
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Jan 29, 2018 19:22
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Is anyone going to Stitches West this year? This will be my second time going 
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Jan 30, 2018 03:06
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I taught myself Magic Loop from Youtube videos!!!! I feel so smart right now. I had to tell someone because husband doesn't care until new socks materialize for him from this learning exercise, haha.
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Jan 30, 2018 04:31
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I'm far, far too lazy to do the full wash and block for my swatches. This is why I mostly make hats, socks, and shawls.
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Jan 30, 2018 06:44
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Sehkmet posted:I taught myself Magic Loop from Youtube videos!!!! Magic loop is amazing and changed my knitting life. Especially where socks are concerned. I also love Travelling Loop, because I prefer to knit hats in the round but hate small diameter needles and dpns . Too drat fiddly. Eta: swatch chat. I don't bother swatching for anything other than garments, I just go with recc'd needle size. Garments I always swatch, after two sweaters that came out unwearably large. (And I have an excess of largeness to begin with). left_unattended fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Jan 30, 2018 |
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Jan 30, 2018 08:14
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Yeah I never swatch for socks, now that I've made enough to understand what the yarn & needles I like to use will do. I do all my socks toe up and try them on to make sure they fit right. I use superwash, which will grow a bit in the wash, but it will also end up shrinking to slightly smaller than it was originally after about 5-6 wash/dry cycles. So I know to fit with zero ease when knitting and they'll come out right eventually. Caveat emptor, of course. It took me several socks to gather this data.
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Jan 30, 2018 16:14
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Sehkmet posted:I taught myself Magic Loop from Youtube videos!!!! I need to get better at this technique. I've had luck with ML when I'm doing toe up 2 at a time socks but any ML project with more than 20 stitches and it never comes out right. :/ Any cuff down socks I've completed is always 2 at a time with DPNs.
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Feb 4, 2018 02:20
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I'm doing cuff-down ML with 64 stitches. I'm having a hard time wanting to go back to five needling socks; this is just so easy and convenient! My next series of goals is to learn toe-up socks, then ML toe-up, then two-at-a-time. How do you do two-at-a-time with DPNs? 
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Feb 4, 2018 02:38
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Sehkmet posted:I'm doing cuff-down ML with 64 stitches. I'm having a hard time wanting to go back to five needling socks; this is just so easy and convenient! Knit one sock inside the other! It's double knitting in the round, but with no crossed stitches. I will never try this method, as I'd end up with a Very Thick sock on accident. (Oh, wait, I knit chunky yarn on 2's to get thick socks, maybe I should do this.)
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Feb 4, 2018 03:58
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effika posted:Knit one sock inside the other! It's double knitting in the round, but with no crossed stitches. oh my god that's amazing I have never double knit either, though. That's also on my list of things to learn.
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Feb 4, 2018 04:03
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I'm working on some double knit socks: Other side:  The hardest part of these is always avoiding gaps at the heel, and I ALMOST did it this time.
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Feb 4, 2018 05:42
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Croisquessein posted:I'm working on some double knit socks: OOoh, pretty! Heel gaps are so annoying. I've taken to knitting into the stitch in the row below, then knitting the two stitches together next round. It helps some.
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Feb 4, 2018 16:06
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Yeah, I did that but for some reason one side is always worse than the other. It's not egregious but it's there. I will see about patching it later.
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Feb 4, 2018 19:07
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Those are some seriously awesome socks. How warm are they to wear? I'm guessing they'd be a winter-only thing.
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Feb 5, 2018 00:42
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Croisquessein posted:I'm working on some double knit socks: Those are amazing! What pattern is that? I love double knitting, although I've only done a few projects with it.
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Feb 5, 2018 15:53
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left_unattended posted:Those are some seriously awesome socks. How warm are they to wear? I'm guessing they'd be a winter-only thing. Thank you! I have only finished a few pairs in worsted weight so far, and they are really cozy whenever my feet are cold, which is most of the time. I haven't tried them with shoes because they're pretty bulky but make nice bed socks. The one above is in fingering weight, and those will be ok with shoes I think, I'll have to see. Bob Shadycharacter posted:Those are amazing! What pattern is that? I love double knitting, although I've only done a few projects with it. Thanks! The pattern is just a regular cuff down sock done with double knitting, and I learned how to do DK short rows for the heel from the Sockmatician- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruXDro3ahLQ There's some official patterns for sale but I haven't got any. If anybody is interested I can try writing it up. E: Here's one of the worsted weight ones: 
Croisquessein fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Feb 7, 2018 |
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Feb 7, 2018 04:30
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Just ordered some 100% silk laceweight from Norway. Because I need to be spending money at all right now, especially on yarn...but I saw a pattern for a shawl based off lord of the rings with GLOW IN THE DARK BEADS and I'm only human. (It's called Reforged Lace*, if anyone wants to look it up). *Minor nitpick that the blade that was reforged was not the blade that glowed in the dark but who gives a poo poo really GLOW IN THR DARK BEADS YO.
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Feb 16, 2018 02:01
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