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King Skinny Pimp posted:I'm working on teaching a friend of mine to knit (not that I'm terribly good, I've only been knitting for a few months and I'm still deathly afraid of knitting in the round) and she had the same problem, but it's not that she was knitting looser with each stitch, but that she was either picking up an extra stitch at the beginning (not hard to do if your yarn isn't hanging right when you switch needles) or she was splitting the loops to make extra stitches or knitting god knows what to pick up extras. Knitters, what are your favorite stitch dictionaries? I got one of the Barbara Walker books from Ebay and I love it. Each pattern has a decent photo (most are black and white, but that's not a big deal to me). And unlike most guides she actually writes a bit, explaining about the texture of them or what uses they're appropriate for.
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Jan 8, 2008 01:03
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:51 |
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I'm another fan of the Knitpicks Options set. I love the metal tips (they also offer wood for those who prefer it), and they're nice and pointy. Knitpicks also offers fixed circulars for lengths that are shorter than their set runs, which is nice for those of us who aren't on an all-Addis budget. I never picked up the Boyles because I heard quite a few complaints about them. I have the Denise set, but wasn't that thrilled with them. The ends of a couple of my cords have popped off, and plastic is my least favorite needle-type. I was apparently freakishly hard on them, because the two Denise tip sets that I used the most now have nasty little gouges around the points.
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Jan 8, 2008 20:03
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canyoneer posted:Heard a funny story from one of my coworkers. The setting is that she had just graduated and was in week one of her first career job. She was interested in learning sewing, and was shopping for her first machine. Her boyfriend's mom was a home ec teacher and sewing enthusiast. She recommended a good first machine, a $2300 Bernina. She bought it, despite it being grossly overkill for a novice. ~20 years later she still has it, and she has definitely never felt limited by her equipment I'm a new-ish quilter who inherited a vintage Viking to get started with, and I'm hoping to buy an overkill machine in the next year or two. I really want some more modern features. The Viking has a couple of quirks, but it's fast and has good throat space. So the entry level machines I've tried so far feel like a step down. As a middle-aged lady who can afford to splurge on hobbies and is specifically looking for a machine that's too good for me, I'm still intimidated by Berninas.
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Jan 27, 2023 18:39
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I started quilting with a 40+ year old Viking that I inherited, and it's time to buy a second machine with more modern features. The plan is to go to a local dealer or two and play with some options, but I really want to narrow things down to a few models first. Researching machines has been kind of a pain in the rear end because some of the manufacturer sites are a mess, and some brands list prices that are noticeably higher than what I'm seeing on the dealer sites. I want at least 8" throat space, a needle down setting, thread cut button, speed control, and a couple of font options for making quilt labels. I'm also hoping to get something that comes with an extension table, a walking foot, a free motion foot, and a hard cover. An extra built-in LED light would also be a plus. Ideally this would be the only machine I buy in the next decade, so I'm willing to go as high as $2k. I mostly just make quilts, but I'd like to try a few bags eventually. I've been looking at the Juki F600 and DX7, a few Janome Memory Craft machines, and a couple of Pfaff Ambitions. I'm Pfaff-curious mostly because there are models in my price range that include their integrated dual feed gadget, but I'm not sure how that would compare to quilting with a regular walking foot. Does anyone have any experience with those models? Or any sewing machines in a similar range they'd recommend instead? The options are a bit overwhelming, and the folks I'd usually ask for recommendations are all Bernina People.
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Jul 24, 2023 19:54
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The only Juki dealer near me and the only Pfaff dealer near me are the same place, and they carry the Pfaff Quilt Ambition but not any Juki DX7s or F600s. The same owners run the only other two Juki dealers within about 2 hours of here, so their inventory is exactly the same. The sales rep I spoke to on the phone helpfully mentioned that they have a "newer model" Juki that's similar to the DX7, but that one is $4,000, so... no? That's not really comparable at all? One of the reasons I was interested in the Juki was that there seems to be a ton of info about them online. Coming from a weird vintage machine that I felt lucky to even find a manual for, it would be amazing to have YouTube tutorials on every little feature of the exact machine I'd be using. I also like the number of accessories it comes with. I'd be a little worried about buying one online if I ended up with a warranty issue though. HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I have a Pfaff Quilt Ambition and I loooove it. I was able to quilt a not quite queen size quilt on it. Literally my only complaint about it is that it's really loving heavy (which is good for sewing but bad for hauling around to sewing class). My current machine is stupidly heavy, and that does put me off signing up for classes unless I'm really enthusiastic for them. What do you think about that integrated dual feed on the Pfaff? Does it work well enough to use for most/all of your quilting, or do you still need a separate walking foot at times? And do you do any free motion quilting with it? The Pfaff website no longer has a page for the Quilt Ambition 630, so I had to find the manual to even see what it comes with. I'm guessing that means they've been discontinued?
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Jul 25, 2023 16:36
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Their website has all the models they carry, and in the Jukis, their stock skips from the $600-800 range right into the $4k models. I called just to double check, and yeah, those are the only ones they sell. The same place sells Pfaff, Janome, and Brother machines, so I'm guessing it's an issue of space. I do find it a little annoying that the only Juki dealers in our entire area don't stock the mid-range models. I may check for dealers near my parents' house because at least I have other reasons to go to that area just in case there's a problem. And while I'd rather have the new shiny thing soon, I could also wait for QuiltCon in February and see if they have any good show deals.
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Jul 25, 2023 17:14
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This is great info. Thank you! Someone in my guild has a different machine with an even feed that she's had mixed results with, but it's good to hear that the one on these works well. I make a lot of smaller quilted projects, so it would be convenient not to have to keep changing out the walking foot. Thankfully the local dealer has several in stock, and they're having a sale through the end of the month. So I can definitely go in and play with the Pfaff and see how it feels.
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Jul 26, 2023 03:23
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While we're on stabilizer chat, a quilt kit I just splurged on says to use a lightweight stabilizer on the corners of a few bias cut edges. Would a wash away stabilizer be an okay choice for this? Would it mostly dissolve after I wash the finished quilt?
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Mar 4, 2024 16:56
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:51 |
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Thanks for the tip! This probably isn't a project I'll be starting any time soon because it's a bit out of my comfort zone, but I got lured in by a last day discount at QuiltCon.
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Mar 4, 2024 21:37
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