The Knitters Thread

Keiss_21

A bit quiet here...just as well as I have been awol for a few days

This is what I knitted last week...it only took a couple of hours to knit!!



The colours aren't very true to life...the lightest is actually a pale turquoise!

It is Havana Wool, which you can find here. It is much cheaper than Can Can, and I have a local shop which stocks it!! I also have a ball of the the pink/purple/grey too, which will get knitted up soon.

The band has a pattern on the reverse, though I find you only get a wavy effect if you have your stitches 1.5"/4cm apart, as it suggests. I got much better ruffles when I increased the gap to about 2.5"/7cm. I think I will have a go at less stitches (the band pattern suggests 8), so I will try 5 or 6, this will make a longer scarf.

Off to get tea ready now, have a great week everyone...see you soon!

NannyJanny

Morning all, still here! Had computer problems, email ac was compromised. I appeared to be sending out totally fictitious emails to all and sundry. Sorted out now. Not a very nice feeling when you're hacked.
Frogged shrug is nearly a scarf. Half a ball to go. Gd 1's blue splash cardie is on the go. Am trying to finish both before I cast on again.
Nice makes everyone.
NJ xx

cuddles123

Good to see you back NJ

Looks like I'm in the same boat as you are/were. OH has just been paid off after being with a company for 9 months as he was made redundant last year. The reason? They have found someone who will work cheaper :mad:

Grrrr - sorry, had to let off steam

NannyJanny

Cuddles
Sending you a grrr :mad: in sympathy. Just not the same with jobs anymore is it. My OH only has a job guaranteed for 6 months now. We shall be crossing fingers towards the end of October. Just very glad the sons have grown and are making their own way. Hope something turns up for you. It's hard when you've worked all your life and then get knock backs.
I am feeling guilty as I've retired, but I am older than OH, and he fully approved of my retiring.

djp64

Hoping someone can help :-)

I've knitted for years - mostly with DK and 4ply (for baby clothes). I'm pretty good at gauging whether a DK type wool is suitable for use with a pattern (not necessarily from the manufacturer of the wool).

I'm now knitting for the first time with ultra chunky (Big Softie) and loving it - don't things grow quickly :-)

Anyway in the book that I have for the ultra chunky and chunky clothes there is a pattern for a top in chunky wool. I don't want to use the suggested wools in the pattern. I am right in thinking that I can use any chunky wool provided that the needle size is the same? I've never knitted a tension square (bad I know!). Would this be advisable for an alternative chunky wool.

Grateful for any help.

Thanks

Debbie

cuddles123

Hi djp64

I'm quite a new knitter, but have just finished a Gilet in Big Softie. It is so quick to knit! Took me longer to pick up all the stitches and knit the band and shawl collar than to knit the whole thing!;)

You need to find another yarn with the same guage as Big Softie, or whatever the pattern says. I think it would need to be exact though, as one stitch out would make a huge difference. I'll be very interested to see what you find, as I tried finding something instead of Big Softie, but couldn't. Would also be interested to hear which book you have - sounds interesting.:cool:

Good Luck

[Deleted User]

djp64 you can subsitute wools, but it is not really the needle size that counts - it is the guage on the knitting bands (how may rows and stitches make a 10cm x 10 cm square).

It is much easier if you keep to the same gauge as the original wool (although stitches are more important than rows as you can usually just knit a few more rows to get the correct length). You can go for a different guage and adapt the pattern, but as cuddles123 says with a chunky knit this might be really noticable.

I have adapted patterns using totally different guage wool, but it is a pain to do. I did it mathematically and worked out the percentage different in the garment in the pattern and how the garment would knit in the wool I had and then adjusted the pattern percentage wise for all the shapings. I was a hassle so not something I would do again in a rush even if it turned out lovely.

Don't forget if you change the wools you need to calculate how much yardage of wool you will need. Look at the numbers of balls used in the opriginal pattern and then how many metres of wool are on each ball. Times the length by the number of balls and then this is the yardage you will need to buy. When you find the wool you need simply work out how many balls you will need to match the yardage used in the pattern.

PepPop

irishgirl62 Lovely cushion patterns

Cuddles that's terrible news. Sending you hugs.

Still not taken pics of my makes but I just had to tell you - I've almost finished my first ever sock!!! I've knitted for years but for some reason this feels like an accomplishment Thanks for all the inspirations guys.
Pep :wave:

NannyJanny

Well done PepPop! Welcome to sockyworld. What method did you use? (I'm a 5 pins, cuff down girl).
NJ

djp64

Cuddles and Spider in the Bath
Thank you both for taking the time to reply - very useful information and I shall now study the ball bands carefully :-) I really don't fancy the idea of recalculating the pattern.

Cuddles - instead of Big Softie you can use Sirdar Denim Ultra - the book I got is called Weekend Denim by Sirdar - it has quite a few Denim Ultra patterns and lots of other chunky patterns.

Debbie