The Knitters Thread

Annie021063

foxgloves wrote: »

I love knitting socks and have done several pairs for presents this year. I usually use the Regia wool, either 4-ply or occasionally 6-ply. Our local wool shop has a good range of colours and sells it at 2 balls (enough to knit a pair of socks) for £6.99. However, you can find it cheaper on ebay although you don't always get such a good range of colours. It's definitely worth looking though. There's a seller called Aileen who sells from Stockport and I've bought from her before because she seems to have various Regia yarns for £1.75 or £1.95 a ball. I seem to remember that once you've paid the initial postage for the first ball, any extra balls are charged at 20p postage. Anyway, whatever it was, I know it was cheaper than what I had previously been paying locally. I do still use the local wool shop too though, as I'd hate for it to close, as so many of our specialist shops seem to be doing at the moment. Even when I knit socks for my partner....he has Size 11 feet, I still have a bit of wool left over, so I'm thinking that as I have so many part-balls of interesting colour mixes, I might see if Aileen the ebay seller has any plain black sock wool, as I could buy some of that & use up some of my bits & pieces in stripes, or knit the ribbing, heel & toes in a different colour. I just use a basic Regia pattern that a friend gave me, but there are several books of sock knitting patterns, so it'd be worth going to the library or checking their online catalogue to see what's available........tho' that's never as useful as actually seeing the books yourself.

Thanks foxglove
I am enjoying knitting agian

lauhen

I have another question for you all, firstly I have decided to get my mum some Brittany birch knitting needles as they say on website that it helps arthritis, are these good ones to get? And secondly on eBay they have a set of 12 bamboo crochet hooks for 9.99, it doesn't say a make so do you think these would be good to buy or should I pay a bit more for better ones?
Sorry to bother you with the questions

jennyjelly

Hi lauhen, I can't comment on the Brittany birch needles as i've never used them, I have bamboo ones which I love (except I sat on the 4mms and broke them!).

However I have a set of bamboo crochet hooks so for what it's worth here is my opinion. Mine are like http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SET-OF-12-PCS-NEW-BAMBOO-CROCHET-HOOKS-3-10mm-Free-Ship_W0QQitemZ270485242304QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_Knitting_Crochet_EH?hash=item3efa2d41c0. I found that because they are not quite as slippy as metail ones they are more effort to use and made my hand and wrist ache when used for a long time.

Next I bought some of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SET-14-Graduating-COLOURED-Aluminium-Crochet-Hooks-NEW_W0QQitemZ390117180279QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_Knitting_Crochet_EH?hash=item5ad4cbc377
and I love them, really smooth adn easy to use. I would say if your mum has arthritis she would proably manage better with these.

Hope this is helpful.
JJ

Seakay

foxgloves wrote: »

I Even when I knit socks for my partner....he has Size 11 feet, I still have a bit of wool left over, so I'm thinking that as I have so many part-balls of interesting colour mixes, I might see if Aileen the ebay seller has any plain black sock wool, as I could buy some of that & use up some of my bits & pieces in stripes, or knit the ribbing, heel & toes in a different colour. I just use a basic Regia pattern that a friend gave me, but there are several books of sock knitting patterns, so it'd be worth going to the library or checking their online catalogue to see what's available........tho' that's never as useful as actually seeing the books yourself.

I am knitting my first pair of socks for a Christmas surprise - the recipient has size 11 feet, and so I was wondering how long I should knit the foot part for? I have a pattern but it is for a smaller foot, it explains how to adapt but I don't understand where to measure from!
If you lay the sock out flattened and in profile (so to speak) and measure from the back of the heel, how long should the foot be for a size 11?
Or is there a better way to measure and calculate?
All tips gratefully received!

angeltreats

I am so gutted.

Earlier this year I knitted a lovely cable scarf from Rowan pure wool. I finished knitting it at the end of the cold weather so didn't need to wear it and never got around to weaving in the ends, and somehow it got packed away until now.

I couldn't sleep so I dug it out to finish off the ends so I could wear it tomorrow... only to find that the moths have eaten it! :mad: It's absolutely full of holes and isn't repairable.

So, so annoyed. It wasn't cheap either!

angeltreats

Seakay wrote: »

I am knitting my first pair of socks for a Christmas surprise - the recipient has size 11 feet, and so I was wondering how long I should knit the foot part for? I have a pattern but it is for a smaller foot, it explains how to adapt but I don't understand where to measure from!
If you lay the sock out flattened and in profile (so to speak) and measure from the back of the heel, how long should the foot be for a size 11?
Or is there a better way to measure and calculate?
All tips gratefully received!

According to this page, a man's size 11 foot is 12 inches long. But you'd be better to find someone with a size 11 foot and measure it to be sure! I had to do that recently to find how long was a size 5 foot and some people on this forum very kindly measured their feet for me! :rotfl:

Then measure the sock from heel to toe. If you are knitting from the cuff down (rather than toe up), the shaping for the toe usually ends up about 2" long so you'd probably want to knit till the foot bit is 9" before you start decreasing.

Hope all that makes sense.

mioliere

Hi to all you knitters and crocheters. Lots (hundreds!) of free patterns on here, if you haven't already found it http://www.flickr.com/groups/325526@N24/pool/

lauhen

thanks for the reply jennyjelly, i have another question to anyone who can help. I keep searching on the internet for knitting needles that are good for arthritis, i did decide on brittany birch, but every time i look online i find different ones, i have found bryspun, brittany birch, bamboo, what do i get, does anyone suffer from arthritis, if you do could you tell me whatyou use. Maybe i should just pick some and order them there and then, otherwise i could be looking forever. Also does anyone use the soft touch clover crochet hooks, what are these like to use. thankyou in advance.

blueberrypie

lauhen wrote: »

thanks for the reply jennyjelly, i have another question to anyone who can help. I keep searching on the internet for knitting needles that are good for arthritis, i did decide on brittany birch, but every time i look online i find different ones, i have found bryspun, brittany birch, bamboo, what do i get

Casein needles are supposed to be very good - I've heard several arthritis sufferers say they found them much better than anything else. I know Bryspun makes casein needles, though have not tried them - I have Quills, and while I don't have arthritis, I can recommend them. They are absolutely gorgeous to knit with. I've used bamboo needles for years, but even they seem like a chore after using the Quills.

angeltreats

I have Brittany Birch hooks and they are nice, but then someone gave me a Clover soft touch hook and it was a world of difference, I couldn't believe how comfortable it was to use. I ended up buying about six different sizes of them and use them all the time and they are definitely what I'd recommend for an arthritis sufferer as the grip is just so much more easy to hold. They are especially good for smaller size hooks where normally the handle is really skinny and hard to keep hold of without your hand turning into a claw.

The Brittany hooks are really very nice though and much better than the old-fashioned steel type.