The Knitters Thread

Savvy_Sue

We and YouTube are your friends!
My mother knitted all the time, all her life. I never took to it: you knitted and knitted and knitted for hours, and then you had to spend hours sewing the d*mn thing up!

I spent 18 months knitting a very simple baby hat when I was a Brownie, for my Knitters badge. I knitted some lacy doll's clothes, where you dropped every third stitch and ran it down. Then I was done.

When the boys were young, I knitted a Moebius strip, not sure why  ... and a Klein bottle, but my mother did a different and superior pattern.

And I was done again.

One sister had always knitted, and the other started before Mum died, but not me.

Mum left a LOT of wool when she died, and around that time our local community cafe was knitting a giant tea cosy, made of squares. A lot of mum's wool went there, and to show willing I knitted a few squares.

The rest is history! 

One top tip is to choose pretty wool and keep the pattern simple. ;-)

-taff

Or....learn to crochet, things happen much faster

I learned how to knit from youtube but didn't learn how to follow a pattern.I'm learning crochet now and actually learning to follow patterns, albeit very easy patterns, and I'm enjoying that more.

Jazee

I've decided I'm not very good at knitting.  Started to knit a blanket for my grand daughter due in May but progress has been slow so I've started to stick weave it.  Progress is so much faster.  I will return to knitting though.

lindsay54v3

Learning to crochet does appeal to me but over the past few months I've picked up some cheap needle felting kits from hobbycraft (recieved two more for Xmas and a book of things to make) which is quick and fun! So should probably improve on that and some knitting before I get myself into something new 

Jazee

Would you believe I'm back to knitting already.  Have had a request for button bands for the COVID test centre.  I can manage those.

Savvy_Sue

Savvy_Sue said:

Now there's a thought! I must ask my LYS if they've got anything that might be useful. Save knitting the new band: I know exactly what you mean but the holes would need to be the right distance apart, and it would have to be a good colour. 

OR! I know I've got some tape the right width and a good colour. Might be able to persuade my sewing machine to make buttonholes in that. 

A friend suggesting making an icord to make loops on the wrong side of the buttonhole band, so that's another idea to think about. 

Mind you I've been living in a down-filled gilet for weeks and haven't needed the cardigan!

After a lot of prevarication and mucking about, I attempted some crochet, at which I am pants. I did some loops, sewed them to the back of the buttonhole band. Not great. I then experimented on my test piece with adding a buttonhole at the edge of the band, which I think looked quite good, better than an icord which I also experimented with. Basically picked up a stitch, cast on 5 stitches, joined at the other end, knitted back while casting off. 

But in the end I just sewed two ends of the loop down, and that's working well enough, I reckon. May try to add a photo later. 

wondercollie

Provisional cast!   I loathe it.  Takes me longer to get it right than it does to start the first few rows of the lace.

MummyRivett

@wondercollie I totally agree.  The last time I used a provisional cast, I tried the crochet direct to needle method, which actually worked out well.  Here is the tutorial I followed:  https://youtu.be/0wkQRG4Tmv4?t=138

Langerhan

I bought some British wool on sale a few weeks ago to make my little sister a jumper... Unfortunately it turned out not to be enough for the size I was making, so I've had to buy more, bringing the total for this jumper up to about £50. I'm trying to justify it as £50 for the hobby and not just the end result, but lesson learnt. This is my first time felting and I'm really looking forward to seeing the stitches lock together. 
Can anyone recommend any affordable wool brands or places to shop for it? I'm trying to stay away from artificial yarns, although of course as a long time knitter I've got a whole stash of them to use up! 

PipneyJane

Langerhan said:

I bought some British wool on sale a few weeks ago to make my little sister a jumper... Unfortunately it turned out not to be enough for the size I was making, so I've had to buy more, bringing the total for this jumper up to about £50. I'm trying to justify it as £50 for the hobby and not just the end result, but lesson learnt. This is my first time felting and I'm really looking forward to seeing the stitches lock together. 
Can anyone recommend any affordable wool brands or places to shop for it? I'm trying to stay away from artificial yarns, although of course as a long time knitter I've got a whole stash of them to use up! 

Hi @Langerhan

When you consider the time it takes to make a jumper, £50 isn't that bad.  (I currently set aside £20/month for my "knitting budget".  It was £5/month, when I was broke.)

I am a huge fan of Black Sheep Wools, who bulk buy discontinued lines from the likes of Sirdar, Sublime and Rowan and sell them off at a deep discount.  A large part of my stash is all their fault.    Sometimes it's just the colourway that is discontinued; sometimes it's the whole product line, so you must always buy an extra insurance skein or two.  In the past, I've bought Sublime's Angora Merino DK from Black Sheep for less than £2/ball, when the RRP was over £6.  T

Pre-Covid, they attended a lot of yarn shows, but their website is also pretty good.  One day, I will visit their "yarn barn" on the Wirral.

HTH

- Pip