The Knitters Thread

PipneyJane

Good morning everyone

How are you knitting projects going?  Remember that waistband of doom, which took forever to knit 40 rounds of 288 stitches on 2.25mm needles?  Well, in the 2 weeks since I started the body of the jumper proper on 3.25mm needles, I've knitted a further 96 rounds, which is all the way up to the armholes.  No, I have absolutely no idea why it takes less time and effort to knit 96 rounds in pattern than it did to knit 40 rounds in rib.  It just does.

- Pip

meanmarie

Am spitting tacks this morning...........finished sweater of hell last night only to find that it is too short.......not sure how that happened, don't  think have ever done this before in my 70 years of knitting so I have warned all and sundry not to step on my toes!!

Have a good day all and stay safe

Marie

nursemaggie

I think I'm finally coming to the end of my blanket. When I change my bed I think I will put them all out on my clean bottom sheet and see how much it covers. I know I have been doing it for 4 months but when your learning a new pattern for every square It take time to learn it and there are some I just don't like when I have done them. I have made a few toys as well.

Talking of toys, do you need a tool to put safety eyes in?  I bought a lot and then had to still do embroidered eyes because I just can't get the back bit in.

PipneyJane

meanmarie said:

Am spitting tacks this morning...........finished sweater of hell last night only to find that it is too short.......not sure how that happened, don't  think have ever done this before in my 70 years of knitting so I have warned all and sundry not to step on my toes!!

Have a good day all and stay safe

Marie

Arrrgghhhh!!!!!!!

I feel for you, @meanmarie.  Have a hug from me.

Is there any way it could be resurrected?  Possibly knitting down from the waistband?  Or even cutting off the waistband, knitting down a bit and then grafting it back on/doing a fresh waistband?

nursemaggie said:

I think I'm finally coming to the end of my blanket. When I change my bed I think I will put them all out on my clean bottom sheet and see how much it covers. I know I have been doing it for 4 months but when your learning a new pattern for every square It take time to learn it and there are some I just don't like when I have done them. I have made a few toys as well.

Talking of toys, do you need a tool to put safety eyes in?  I bought a lot and then had to still do embroidered eyes because I just can't get the back bit in.

@nursemaggie, I honestly don't know.  I've never made toys.  Would Google or YouTube help?
- Pip

Savvy_Sue

PipneyJane said:

meanmarie said:

Am spitting tacks this morning...........finished sweater of hell last night only to find that it is too short.......not sure how that happened, don't  think have ever done this before in my 70 years of knitting so I have warned all and sundry not to step on my toes!!

Have a good day all and stay safe

Marie

Arrrgghhhh!!!!!!!

I feel for you, @meanmarie.  Have a hug from me.

Is there any way it could be resurrected?  Possibly knitting down from the waistband?  Or even cutting off the waistband, knitting down a bit and then grafting it back on/doing a fresh waistband?

I came to the end of My Very First Cardigan and realised it wasn't going to go round my hips. I knitted triangles to fill in. It worked better than one might expect - the wool was variegated and knobbly so nothing showed. 

my own report: nearly finished the second of my friend's socks. Just shaping the toe, and then there's the dreaded Kitchener stitch. I should have enough wool to either knit her some handwarmers - did her two pairs last year, which she appreciated - or maybe a buff / neck-warmer type thing, as she does feel the cold. 

Then it's back to MY cardigan, plus I may have bought some more DK which I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Won't be enough for a cardigan, but MIGHT be enough if combined with the current cardigan, and I think it will look OK: sleeves in one colour, body in another. 

basketcase

Hi!

I'm a long time lurker.  I was sure I must have introduced myself  and asked if I could join already, but if I did I can't find the post.  So I'll do it again.

I taught myself to knit from a book when I was about 11.  My mother had tried many times but, me being left-handed and her not, we couldn't make it work.  The book had photographs which showed every stage, but not how to get there.  Perfect!  I have a weird hybrid style with the right needle stuck in my armpit.  When I use circular needles it looks even weirder, but it works for me.  I'm a really slow knitter who suffers from 'speed envy' when I hear about people knitting Fair Isle jumpers for themselves in a weekend.  Not a pretty trait, but there you go...

I tend to have spasms of knitting.  My last one was interrupted by a broken shoulder and I never got back into the swing.  I usually have more than one project going at a time.  Some say this is because I have the attention span of gnat, but actually they're all very different and I like the variety. 

In order of age, starting with the oldest, my current projects (along with excuses reasons for their status) are:

1  Pale green, 3-ply baby wool, lacy pattern carrying shawl.  Not sure which/whose baby this was for it's been around so long  In my defence, having knitted and pulled back about 3 inches of lacy pattern over 420 stitches 3 times, I realised there was a fault in the pattern and had to adapt it so it worked.  By which time the baby was born and I put it to one side...

2  DD saw a 1980s pattern for a chunky ski jumper, loved it and asked me to knit one.  "Sure" I said, without looking at the pattern first.  It's a mountain scene, in 5 colours (front and back).  And it's a diagram - which I find difficult to read as my line perception hasn't been good since I had a head accident in my late 20s.  I'd assumed it'd be "K2A, K5B etc".  Still, a promise is a promise and I was half way up the front when I broke my shoulder.  The concentration required is incredibly tiring because every time I look away from the pattern I get lost and have to back track and count.  So I can usually only do 2-4 rows at a time.

3  A rabbit based on Henry's Rabbit, which I saw as I was reading this thread.  The shape's just like DD's pet, so I decided to get back into knitting by doing it as a joke present.  I say "based on" because I've never used DPNs and, despite (now!) having a large collection of KnitPro interchangeable circulars, I couldn't find anything short enough to knit in the round.  So I've adapted the pattern for 2 needles and sewn it up using mattress stitch.  As the real bunny's black, I used black wool.  Is it just me that finds it difficult in artificial light?  This is now complete, apart from embroidering eyes, nose and a very thin white blaze on the forehead (1 cotton thread worth).  Plus, possibly doing the white bits right on the end of her paws.  (The rabbit, not DD! lol)

As you can tell, I'm far from expert and desperately slow.  But I do get there.  Reading the thread has already given me several useful tips.  And I've discovered Deramore's etc.  You wicked, wicked people...

PipneyJane

basketcase said:

Hi!

I'm a long time lurker.  I was sure I must have introduced myself  and asked if I could join already, but if I did I can't find the post.  So I'll do it again.

I taught myself to knit from a book when I was about 11.  My mother had tried many times but, me being left-handed and her not, we couldn't make it work.  The book had photographs which showed every stage, but not how to get there.  Perfect!  I have a weird hybrid style with the right needle stuck in my armpit.  When I use circular needles it looks even weirder, but it works for me.  I'm a really slow knitter who suffers from 'speed envy' when I hear about people knitting Fair Isle jumpers for themselves in a weekend.  Not a pretty trait, but there you go...

I tend to have spasms of knitting.  My last one was interrupted by a broken shoulder and I never got back into the swing.  I usually have more than one project going at a time.  Some say this is because I have the attention span of gnat, but actually they're all very different and I like the variety. 

In order of age, starting with the oldest, my current projects (along with excuses reasons for their status) are:

1  Pale green, 3-ply baby wool, lacy pattern carrying shawl.  Not sure which/whose baby this was for it's been around so long  In my defence, having knitted and pulled back about 3 inches of lacy pattern over 420 stitches 3 times, I realised there was a fault in the pattern and had to adapt it so it worked.  By which time the baby was born and I put it to one side...

2  DD saw a 1980s pattern for a chunky ski jumper, loved it and asked me to knit one.  "Sure" I said, without looking at the pattern first.  It's a mountain scene, in 5 colours (front and back).  And it's a diagram - which I find difficult to read as my line perception hasn't been good since I had a head accident in my late 20s.  I'd assumed it'd be "K2A, K5B etc".  Still, a promise is a promise and I was half way up the front when I broke my shoulder.  The concentration required is incredibly tiring because every time I look away from the pattern I get lost and have to back track and count.  So I can usually only do 2-4 rows at a time.

3  A rabbit based on Henry's Rabbit, which I saw as I was reading this thread.  The shape's just like DD's pet, so I decided to get back into knitting by doing it as a joke present.  I say "based on" because I've never used DPNs and, despite (now!) having a large collection of KnitPro interchangeable circulars, I couldn't find anything short enough to knit in the round.  So I've adapted the pattern for 2 needles and sewn it up using mattress stitch.  As the real bunny's black, I used black wool.  Is it just me that finds it difficult in artificial light?  This is now complete, apart from embroidering eyes, nose and a very thin white blaze on the forehead (1 cotton thread worth).  Plus, possibly doing the white bits right on the end of her paws.  (The rabbit, not DD! lol)

As you can tell, I'm far from expert and desperately slow.  But I do get there.  Reading the thread has already given me several useful tips.  And I've discovered Deramore's etc.  You wicked, wicked people...

Hi @basketcase.

Re reading from charts, have you discovered highlighter tape?   You put it under the row you're knitting now, then lift it off and move it up to the next row when you finish this one.  I find it makes a huge difference.  Also, if you're struggling with the chart, it might be worth blowing it up on a photocopier.  (Small charts are much harder to read.)  Personally, I prefer reading from charts for anything complex: colour work, cables AND lace.  You can immediately see if you're knitting 1 stitch to the right in black or need to purl two together or whatever.   (The level of concentration needed is much less than trying to follow complex lace or cables from a written out pattern.)

HTH

- Pip

basketcase

Thanks Pip

   Highlighter tape would help ensure I was on the right row, thanks. The problem is the symbols.  I see them, but I don't really remember them when I look away.  It's the same with maps, musical notation etc.  I've found ways round most things over the years.  If I can verbalise them, I can remember a sequence.

   I've blown the chart up from A5 to A3 and that's helped a bit.  So I can write down, eg, Triangle=dark blue, Circle=light blue, dash=white.  Then say that's 4 dark blue, 3 light blue, 5 white as I knit..  If I'm interrupted at all I have to start the process from the beginning of the row then memorise the next bit again.  And, of course, when I get to the end of the knit row, the purl is backwards along the next row.  It's complicated...  Probably colouring in every square would help a bit, but not much.

   Think I'll stick to cabling in future! 

wondercollie

I feel you pain on the scenic sweater.  I'm in a similar spot with a scenic cardigan.  DIL picked it in 2016 for her 2017 Christmas present.  You can see where this is going, lol.  It's heavy, so I put it away for the summer, then I got fed up of knitting a never ending Moose.
Flash forward to 2020, I just have to sew the beast together and knit the collar.  
Since 2017, I have knit the DIL her wedding shawl, six baby cardigans, a mitred square blanket, multiple pairs of sock, two shawl type scarves, and half a jumper for me.
In my defense I have had a shoulder injury (work related) and was told to rest it, but have knit half my jumper out of boredom.
I can't read lace charts.  Give me 200 odd rows of written instructions and I'm happy.

basketcase

wondercollie said:

I feel you pain on the scenic sweater.  I'm in a similar spot with a scenic cardigan.  DIL picked it in 2016 for her 2017 Christmas present.  You can see where this is going, lol.  It's heavy, so I put it away for the summer, then I got fed up of knitting a never ending Moose.
Flash forward to 2020, I just have to sew the beast together and knit the collar.  
Since 2017, I have knit the DIL her wedding shawl, six baby cardigans, a mitred square blanket, multiple pairs of sock, two shawl type scarves, and half a jumper for me.
In my defense I have had a shoulder injury (work related) and was told to rest it, but have knit half my jumper out of boredom.
I can't read lace charts.  Give me 200 odd rows of written instructions and I'm happy.

Hmmm.  I see we work to a similar timescale!  My only consolation (apart from the fact that DD finds it amusing) is that she won't have gone off it when I eventually do finish it...  I'm with you on the 200 rows of written instructions too.