The Knitters Thread

jennyjelly

I've voted. I would have voted for Sheila's anyway, it's the best by far!

artydoll

I,ve voted hes so great.

vastsarah_2

Same here,hes the best one.

Just ordered wool from kemps on Sunday evening and just arrived now.
How cool is that!!
So got my knitting sorted.

Need some advice here!
ordered 2 lots of wool 1 is just right for what i needed it for, nice jumper in brown aran for dgs 7 months(for next winter).

But the second lot of wool is a different shade than what i thought it would be!
my fault not theres.
its Paton's spritz aran? (looks an feels like dk) in shade 03005curacao
i have 5 balls of 50g
its got a silver thread running though in pale purple.
More of a girls colours,don't mind knitting it to give to charity shop as have no little girls in family.
Any Patten ideals please?

regards Sarah

jennyjelly

vastsarah, that Patons Spritz is such a bargain, just looked at it on Kemps so see what I'd do with it.

If I had it I would do scarves and hats for next winter, poss Christmas presents too, If you bought some the same thickness in cream it would be really pretty in stripes. And just think how smug you'll feel when the weather starts to get cold in Autumn and you are all prepared for it!

Or some thick woolly house socks maybe, or cuddly cushion covers in a chunky textured pattern.

The possibilities are endless!

vastsarah_2

Thanks for that ,going to look though my patton books to see what i can do might do another order .Very pleased with deliverly!

rosy

I wonder if any of you have tried making this sampler blanket?

The squares were all designed by American women and the best 24 made it into the pattern.I spotted it on ravelry which has piccies of the individual squares and they look lovely if a tad complicated. I have knitted cabled patterns before so I think I could manage it though. If any of you have tried it, what do you think of the pattern book? It's £7.50 on amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Great+American+Aran+Afghan&x=20&y=18

and I don't want to spend that if it's not worth the money ( I like to be able to 'see inside' the book before I buy and this one doesn't let you!)

Or does anyone know of a nicer pattern than this? It's going to be my big project for 2010 ( meant to be New Year resolution so I'm already a bit behind!)

Thanks all!

Kay_Peel

Hi Rosy

I haven't seen the book and, like you, I prefer to examine the pattern and pictures before buying.

One thing I will say. I bought a pattern book by an American publisher and author and found it very hard going. The recommended yarns were all American and I couldn't find similar British or European yarns with a similar gauge and spent an awful lot of time knitting tension squares before I could get going. The accompanying photos weren't helpful and the explanations were all goobledegook to me. (Sometimes I wonder whether Americans and British people actually speak the same language - I had to ask for translations and explanations from other Ravelry knitters working from the same book).
Of course, it's not so important to get the tension right with an Afghan - so you may not have the same frustrations and irritations that I did.

At the moment I want to knit a special baby blanket/shawl and I've done a lot of research into possible patterns. I asked my library to get me copies of books that I'd heard of on Ravelry - and for one reason or another rejected them. I like to see a chart of the pattern as well as written texts. I like good clear diagrams and tips. I go cross-eyed and get confused if the pattern isn't well written. A lot of these patterns were crammed into a page with small writing and lots of abbreviations - I knew that it would result in mistakes and confusion. There are some pretty rotten and lazy pattern writers out there - and I refuse to waste my money on their miserable efforts.

I also looked through ALL the free patterns for Afghan squares, Afghan blankets, baby blankets and christening shawls. I found it very helpful to see other people's finished projects and to learn from their experiences.

To cut a long story short, I'm going to try out a mixture of squares from the tried and tested free patterns that are well-written and clearly illustrated by charts and diagrams. They are all on Ravelry.

Good luck with finding your project - I hope my experiences don't put you off!:D

greenval

Just wondered if anyone can help. My mum wants to knit herself a waiscoat ( she feels the cold) .She's had her current ones so long she can't find the pattern. Does anyone know where she might get one. There are no knitting/craft shops near here. Thanks
PS Aldi have Aran, Baby wool and that weird stuff for making scarves on offer!

i_luv_percy

I just wanted to thank everyone for voting for our Harry Hill.

And thanks for all your kind words, my mom is really chuffed!

Fingers crossed he gets through in Saturday x x x

rosy

Kay_Peel wrote: »

To cut a long story short, I'm going to try out a mixture of squares from the tried and tested free patterns that are well-written and clearly illustrated by charts and diagrams. They are all on Ravelry.

Good luck with finding your project - I hope my experiences don't put you off!:D

Thank you very much for that brilliant reply. You haven't put me off at all, quite the reverse- that's exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for! I haven't used an American pattern before so that info is very helpful - I hadn't even considered the possibility of translation difficulties. And that is a great idea to check out individual squares on Ravelry - I didn't think about searching for just squares when I was hunting for a blanket pattern & although I've just had a quick look so far, I've already earmarked a few. Actually, I like these better than some of the squares on the blanket I was originally thinking about, so I think that'll definitely be the way to go. Thanks again!