The Knitters Thread

Dee_Mented

Hi, I just had to reply to the above post, and say that I, too, ordered the book and I got it yesterday. It's great!!! :T I am a mediocre knitter, but this is a great read. I'm sure it will help me and others. Thanks to the OP for the link.

Dee
xxx

knitter_nan

maggirl wrote: »

I've just started knitting and am getting addicted!

Im knitting some wristwarmers at the moment- my first project!

It asks you to slip a stich at the start of most rows...why is that, does it make the edge more "tight"?

Thanks!

I "think" it give the edge a neater more consistent edge that make it easier to sew up.

imnewatthis

hi all,
im a big fan of this site and have been for ages but only recently started posting recently plucked up the courage, i am a avid knitter and find i get the most pleasure out of knitting small things that dont take long and i can see the results quickly otherwise i get bored also i dont use patterns and never have just make it up as i go along! i have 5 children so they do keep me busy but im the type of person who needs to be doing something even while watching tv.
so because i go through so much wool ive been looking all day to get some cheap but just cannot find it less than £1.60 for 100g ball. so if anyone knows of any wholesailers please let me know.
J

PipneyJane

Keiss_21 wrote: »

Morning all, gearing myself up to ringing the lady about knitting this coat and skirt.



I have been advised to quote a total cost, rather than an hourly rate. So going to charge £250 excluding materials (:eek:, I know, but ii will take ages to knit!). It is a 1970s pattern from an unknown magazine and the yarns are now unavailable, so will need to source different ones. I will charge more if I need to this as well.

What do you seasoned knitters think?

Do not undersell yourself or your skills. Remember how much time this will take. If it takes 100 hours to knit and you charged minimum wage, it would cost £593. Even a pair of socks costs around £100 worth of time. Do you think this garment will take 42 hours to knit? Or do you think it will take far longer? Retail, a hand-knitted garment like that would cost closer to £2,000 from some Chelsea boutique that paid pennies to a knitter in Guatemala to make up.:eek:

If you need a rule of thumb to work out how much per metre, an American podcast I listen to recommended charging 25 cents a yard (say 25p/metre).

<< gets on high horse >> One of the reasons knitting is so devalued in this country is because people who sell hand-knitted items do so at far below cost. They only look at the cost of materials and never consider the time it takes. Ditto for crochet and nobody has ever come up with a machine that can crochet.

One of my friends who routinely sneers at my knitting asked me how much I would charge for a pair of socks. I told her: "between £250 and £350, considering that even plain socks take at least 16 hours to knit". Her jaw dropped. She thought it'd be between £30 and £50. So I asked her how much she thought my time was worth? I think it's worth more than minimum wage (my boss certainly thinks so), and I'd charge accordingly.

(Sorry, don't mean to rant, but this is quite a sore point with me.)

PipneyJane

imnewatthis wrote: »

hi all,
im a big fan of this site and have been for ages but only recently started posting recently plucked up the courage, i am a avid knitter and find i get the most pleasure out of knitting small things that dont take long and i can see the results quickly otherwise i get bored also i dont use patterns and never have just make it up as i go along! i have 5 children so they do keep me busy but im the type of person who needs to be doing something even while watching tv.
so because i go through so much wool ive been looking all day to get some cheap but just cannot find it less than £1.60 for 100g ball. so if anyone knows of any wholesailers please let me know.
J

Retail, you could try Black Sheep Wools website. They have very good sale prices. Wholesale, you can always contact Sirdar or Rowan directly and ask them for a price/minimum order quantity. Their numbers/email addresses are on their websites. Also, a British knitting podcast I listen to, Electric Sheep, recommends the Texere Mill Shop and New Lanark yarns, if you want to buy directly from a British mill. I believe the latter does a very good substitute for Rowan's Felted Tweed at an excellent price.

It's also worth keeping an eye out on Lidl's website. They don't do yarn all the time but, when they do, it's listed in their special offers. The last time they sold yarn it was pure wool chunky in packs of 4x50g balls at £4.95/ball. (That was at the end of July, so you may still find some remnants available in store).

Good luck!

Merry_Wanderer

imnewatthis wrote: »

hi all,
im a big fan of this site and have been for ages but only recently started posting recently plucked up the courage, i am a avid knitter and find i get the most pleasure out of knitting small things that dont take long and i can see the results quickly otherwise i get bored also i dont use patterns and never have just make it up as i go along! i have 5 children so they do keep me busy but im the type of person who needs to be doing something even while watching tv.
so because i go through so much wool ive been looking all day to get some cheap but just cannot find it less than £1.60 for 100g ball. so if anyone knows of any wholesailers please let me know.
J

I buy most of my yarn from Kemps, who have good bargins in the clearance section, but also I got some 100g balls of chunky acrylic for £1.39 which I was pleased with too http://www.kempswoolshop.com/

NualaBuala

Hi everyone,

I haven't been on this thread in aaaaages and haven't a hope of catching up so am going to just jump in here, hope you don't mind!

I'm looking for any advice you clever knitters can offer. I want to make this jumper (not sure if you have discussed it - it's the famous Sara Lund jumper from The Killing). Anyway, I could buy it for here €280 :eek:-interesting to see how much a handknit is worth!

But a) I haven't got that to spend and b) I am looking for a new knitting challenge so I want to try to make it myself. I've drawn out my version of the star motif but before I even figure out how to add that into a pattern I need to find one. It seems from looking at those who made it on Ravelry that I need to make a raglan crew neck jumper. And it seems these can be knitted bottom up or top down. I want to make it slightly fitted (negative ease I'm told!) and plan to use Sirri yarn

So can anyone offer any advice on getting a basic raglan pattern - couldn't find anything in the wool shop, they were all fancy. And should I knit from the neck down or from the bottom up? What difference would it make?

Oh - and if there are any books that help with learning this sort of thing I'd love your recommendations. I've ordered Stitch n !!!!! Beyond the Basics from the library but not sure it'll be any help!



Thanks in advance for any info - now I'm off to have a browse of all your latest projects and have knitting envy! :)

NualaBuala

Ooops, sorry for the size of the pic - I tried to make it smaller but it didn't save the changes.

ginnyknit

Hiya Nuala fancy meeting you here :rotfl:

Keiss I love the beekeepers quilt, I really will have to try that - after Xmas of course - yeh right as if I am going to wait!

Cuddles am on my second hat from the pattern you kindly sent me - its so cute, did it in an evening, am on number 2 now and may just keep knitting lots and lots of them :rotfl:

Keiss_21

PipneyJane wrote: »

Do not undersell yourself or your skills. Remember how much time this will take. If it takes 100 hours to knit and you charged minimum wage, it would cost £593. Even a pair of socks costs around £100 worth of time. Do you think this garment will take 42 hours to knit? Or do you think it will take far longer? Retail, a hand-knitted garment like that would cost closer to £2,000 from some Chelsea boutique that paid pennies to a knitter in Guatemala to make up.:eek:

If you need a rule of thumb to work out how much per metre, an American podcast I listen to recommended charging 25 cents a yard (say 25p/metre).

<< gets on high horse >> One of the reasons knitting is so devalued in this country is because people who sell hand-knitted items do so at far below cost. They only look at the cost of materials and never consider the time it takes. Ditto for crochet and nobody has ever come up with a machine that can crochet.

One of my friends who routinely sneers at my knitting asked me how much I would charge for a pair of socks. I told her: "between £250 and £350, considering that even plain socks take at least 16 hours to knit". Her jaw dropped. She thought it'd be between £30 and £50. So I asked her how much she thought my time was worth? I think it's worth more than minimum wage (my boss certainly thinks so), and I'd charge accordingly.

(Sorry, don't mean to rant, but this is quite a sore point with me.)

It's all right PipneyJane, good to hear your views, rant away!

I have been having this quandry too. But I am really not sure how long it will take to knit as it is so big! I did think about getting some wool and seeing how long it take to knit a section, then at least I will have a better idea. I have decided to up my charge to £300, plus materials (I will include a 10% mark-up on the wool if I am sourcing it). I still haven't heard from the lady, have left another message, so have decided not to worry, though I might up my price again before she gets in touch!!

It has really been agonizing worrying how much to charge. It's silly though, I had no problems charging £20 an hour when I was a garden designer...but as you say, there is not the culture in this country to value the time it takes to make something by hand, no matter how beautiful it is.

Right, off to knit more of dad's socks...half way though the second pair, so should finish them in time for his birthday.