The Knitters Thread

mary_hinge

I'm working on a few projects currently although the crochet baby blankets seem to take up any time hitchhiker may allow me

P1, mustard aran cable cardi
P2, burgundy aran cardi - similar to a waterfall type
P3, wristwarmers - finished on 2 years ago now to finish the partner :rotfl: its all colour work and fair isle..... thank goodness I made semi understandable notes :eek:

I plan to knit some mittens and a bobble hat for hitchhiker for winter too...…

P1 currently has the back, both fronts complete and I'm knitting the sleeves 2 at a time, almost to the raglan shaping. it has a rather extensive rolled collar to do too once sewn up!

mary_hinge

2childmum2 wrote: »

I have finished the yellow jumper! the second sleeve wasn't such a problem as I had worked out all the issues with the first one - but I forgot to double rib the cuff. I will just have to keep my arms away from each other so noone notices! I also struggled a bit with fitting the raglan sleeves, but got there in the end.
I'm currently knitting some hats for charity and having a go at a corner to corner crochet blanket - so far I have worked out how to increase, but not decrease - I shall leave that until I get to that point

Can you unpick the cast on end and pull back the ribbing? then knit it back down?

Savvy_Sue

mary_hinge wrote: »

Can you unpick the cast on end and pull back the ribbing? then knit it back down?

I am sure my mum used to sometimes knit sleeves from the top down, so that she could adjust for length more easily, but it would work for this as well.

However when I mentioned this to my sisters, they looked at me blankly ... and I haven't yet had the confidence to do it, although I'm sure I could!

Hey ho, off to lay the flipping cardigan out on the bed.

How do you all label your parts, if you bother? I am going to struggle to know which is the right way out on my sleeves, so wish I'd labelled them right and left. I suppose if I can't see the difference, it won't matter which one is which, but one day I might suddenly realise they are the wrong way round, and I will never be able to forget it ...

gettingtheresometime

Thrifty_Martha wrote: »

Hi Fellow Knitters
I have just discovered this thread and spent the last few hours catching up. I am a returner to knitting after many years and I am currently knitting squares for a paw print blanket for dog rescue. I have two square to go and then I just have to sew up.
Brought 2 £1 balls from Wilko to start the next blanket. My aim is to complete ten before sending them to the charity.
Martha x

Can I suggest Aldi wool ?

The dk wool, in my opinion, seems thinner than normal dk wool but whereas the Aran weight seems on par what I'd expect dk to feel like.

The Aran wool is 4.99 for 400g and they also do a lovely varigrated wool which is 3.99 for 200g

mary_hinge

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I am sure my mum used to sometimes knit sleeves from the top down, so that she could adjust for length more easily, but it would work for this as well.

However when I mentioned this to my sisters, they looked at me blankly ... and I haven't yet had the confidence to do it, although I'm sure I could!

Hey ho, off to lay the flipping cardigan out on the bed.

How do you all label your parts, if you bother? I am going to struggle to know which is the right way out on my sleeves, so wish I'd labelled them right and left. I suppose if I can't see the difference, it won't matter which one is which, but one day I might suddenly realise they are the wrong way round, and I will never be able to forget it ...

My grandma used to do that to add extra length too! or using a contrasting colour pick up and work another rib to the waist band and sleeves to make it fit a bit longer! :rotfl:

PipneyJane

2childmum2 wrote: »

I have finished the yellow jumper! the second sleeve wasn't such a problem as I had worked out all the issues with the first one - but I forgot to double rib the cuff. I will just have to keep my arms away from each other so noone notices! I also struggled a bit with fitting the raglan sleeves, but got there in the end.
I'm currently knitting some hats for charity and having a go at a corner to corner crochet blanket - so far I have worked out how to increase, but not decrease - I shall leave that until I get to that point

mary_hinge wrote: »

Can you unpick the cast on end and pull back the ribbing? then knit it back down?

While you can do this, it’s a right pain in the posterior. Cast on edges don’t rip back like active stitches/cast off edges do. Instead, you have to feed the tail of yarn through every stitch, under and over every part of the stitch above. (Cast on edges don’t unravel.)

Instead, I’d recommend cutting off the cuff, picking up stitches and knitting down. This video on YouTube shows how but, basically, you thread your finest circular needle through the row above the cuff, then find a stitch below and cut that, unravelling from there downwards. Slip your live stitches onto the correct needle to knit the cuff and then knit downwards until the cuff is the correct length.

HTH.

- Pip

YorksLass

I'd do what PipneyJane suggests, otherwise you'll notice the different cuff ribs every time you wear the garment! Cutting into a stitch sounds a bit scary (well, a lot ) but it's easier than it sounds. And no, cast on edges don't unravel easily.

I usually knit sleeves from the top-down but have yet to take the plunge to do a complete garment this way! It's on my "learn" list.

I keep my knitted pieces in zip freezer bags and write down which piece it is on a slip of paper, then put the paper into the bag with the piece. Especially useful for sleeves, as left and right ones aren't always the same.

If you have trouble deciding which is the right or wrong side (usually on garter stitch), put a stitch marker on the right side of each piece.

PipneyJane

Good morning All

I was browsing the Ravelry forums this morning when I noticed a thread about Patternfish closing. The last day for sales is today (31 May 2019). If you have ever purchased patterns from that site, you have until 30 June 2019 to download your pattern stash before the website disappears for good.

(If you never encountered Patternfish, it was a website which sold commercial patterns under licence from the big yarn companies (Twilleys, Classic Elite, James C Brett, etc). Many of those patterns dated from the 1990's or earlier, so it was a good resource if you were trying to recreate a jumper you had way back then.)

- Pip

PipneyJane

YorksLass wrote: »

I usually knit sleeves from the top-down but have yet to take the plunge to do a complete garment this way! It's on my "learn" list.

YorksLass, have you seen the Top Down Raglan Sweater Generator on Ravelry? It's free. I've not tried using it but it is saved in my queue (at number 235, I might add).

HTH,

- Pip

CAFCGirl

New blanket on the loom - it's an aqua, dark cinder grey and soft light grey so far. I'm debating adding in a dusky pink.
I'll be gifting it.
Then I have another to do for myself, in greens and denim blue.

I may treat myself to a sock loom and sock yarn.... But I should really clear down some of the yarn oddments first LOL