KnitWit - the ultimate knitting thread

Also got two books in the mail today: Finishing techniques and the Zimmer Almanac book. HURRAH!

gifts:
-lace-y scarf in lovely knitpicks andean silk for my grandmother, 3/4 done.
-gruff, cable scarf for my grandfater, 1/2 done
-another tychus hat, different colors for my bro, 7/8 done

to do:
-simple watchman's hat for george

to finish (as in weave ends, line, block, etc.):
-cat ear hat for niece
-beanie for nephew
-monogram purses for nieces
-cardigan for mother

won't go into my sewing list.

On the needles:
ski cap for stepfather
the baby blanket that will never be finished at this rate

to finish:
need to cut the brim insert, sew it up and wash the Topi for my brother

to start:
multicolored hat done with some Malabrigo and sari silk. Just wound the Malabrigo into balls last night, damn if it isn't the softest wool ever.

two more hats for friends, both guys. I'm tempted to make one of them a crazy fuzzy Russian thing.

Tempting, from knitty. I want armbands! plus, it's finally something for me.

http://www.lanagrossa.com/journale/filati_32/20.jpg

I want to knit that!

Dude, I've had this on needles for nearly a year now.

perhaps soon I will emerge from crippling, isolation-depression and we can have a knit-a-long.

that's my only knitting project at the moment. the crochet will have to take a backseat until the season of gift-crafting is over.

The one regular knitting circle thing I attended, at the LYS, featured women in their 50s talking about their mothers' sex lives. It was certainly interesting!

cables are very simple, give them a try on a purse or a scarf first.

I was actually thinking of doing that pattern this morning. . .

I have one skein of a bulky, handpainted rowan I need to do something with and I thought of fingerless things. I don't think it'd be the right yarn for this pattern though.

I found a couple of knitalongs for the Fetching that indicated that there's another way to do the thumb that adds less bulk--they did a gusset instead. I don't know how to do this, but I think I can dig up the link.

My course lasts three whole YEARS. Eep. I don't know if I'll manage to do all three but I'm more than willing to try. YAY. :-) Lace making however... I know I should just enroll in a course but I'm not up for it as I already do the knitting course and, well, it ain't for fun (but for zee job mostly). (This is PROPER lace making not that knitting thing. hah!)

geez louise.

I've only been knitting for about one.

I think after xmas I want to do this for myself:
http://www.chicknits.com/catalog/ribbycardi.html

I guess with a three year course they are expecting you to already be committed to knitting (hence the other beginners being more advanced than true beginners).

You are right in that way. I'm happy I didn't know that it was such a *full-on* course - kinda silly cause if it's three yrs you sort of have to expect that. The teacher is very nice. A bit stiff but deep down a VERY nice lady. And such a GR34T name: Gudrun!

Woha Nelly, I just saw the program for the third year. FULL ON crochet and also making your own frigging design.

*boom*

I like how one of my best friends was so *negative* about it - YOU KNITTING COME ON! READ SOME DOSTOYEVSKI! - but now is practically begging me to make her a scarf! *roffle* I'll probably do it. What I most likely want to do (in a year or so) is do RETRO knitting: make old stuff. I already ordered some old patterns. (http://www.yesterknits.com/)

I RRRRREALLY would LOVE to make this one:

http://www.yesterknits.com/sol/Knittingcrossoversmall.jpg

that ribbed cardi is cheap too. the called for yarn is only $2.25 a skein!

off to knit some more on that matinee cardigan.

oh yes! i'm always jealous of these women who can knit and do something else (like read or watch telly). anyone here at that stage? gawd wouldn't that be the bestest thing EVAH? :-)

I have to be more miticulous about keeping my knitting diary: I forgot which nr of needles I used for the sweater (for Ophelia/KnitClass). Christ, I roffled (inwardly) at the fact the woman next to me in class was so miticulous and now I pay the price. :-(

And I have various holiday presents to make.

Nath, soon you'll be able to do all manner of stitches while watching tv.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTblu.html

(and Knitty, Marilyn wasn't in Giant. grr.)

I put the brim in the Topi last night and washed it in cold water, so the damn thing didn't shrink at all. Shrinking is critical for the hat to be the right size, or I will have to make a hydroencephalic friend real soon.

yes marilyn was in misfits. peoples need to get their 50s classics right!

srsly, I need to find a baby to knit those jeans for.

There was a great book of stills and accounts of the filming of Misfits at Half Priced Books... ah, what a film.

I'm sure you can find a baby! I mean: friends, family, make your own? ;)

I frogged my hat. I think it was a good idea: It'll teach me to make a gauge. This was s'posed to be for Ophelia but fucking up the gauge (too small -> less dependent) meant it would be for me and STILL be a little too big. I figured frogging it'd be better.

Eh, that matinee cardigan is a hellalot of work. But I'm doing the left panel (70 procent finished) and will then proceed to do other panel... and sleeves... and collar... AND SEAMING. Urgh. Probably will take it with me to class just for practice/check-up by teacher.

Other sweater: Oops, used wrong needles, so sleeves a bit larger. Ahum. Ah well... :-)

Live'n'learn, right?

Bought MORE yarn.

Oh and that frilly scarf:

Sort of like Wendy Knitit ribbon but bettah (duh) colours and much larger scarf:

http://www.art-of-craft.co.uk/acatalog/CP161s.gif

I got a needle gauge that has a handy gadget along the side--you set it as wide as 10 stitches and it tells you how many stitches per inch you've got. It has made gauge swatching much faster for me )especially after I got a couple of inches into a hat for my little sister and then realized it was big enough to go around my waist).

I think my youngest niece is too old for them so I shall have to make a baby of my own so I can knit them!

man, I'm dying to get started on post-xmas projects. . .

I also have to knit 1 and a half sleeve for that other sweater but I PH34R that I used the wrong needle (4,5 instead of 4) as it seems so big. Then again it's a baby sweater and they have to be roomy, right? (Excuses excuses.)

Anyone do entrelac?

Oh yes! Do you guys buy yarn without basing yourself on a pattern? HOw do you buy yarn?

I am v happy there is a knitting thread here! I even signed up to the sandbox! Erm, and I also see managed to typo my heerlarious login name. Oops.

I am FIVE ROWS from finishing the straight section of clapotis! The end is in sight. Am still undecided whether to give it as a present thus checking someone off the list or whether I will like it too much and I have to keep it! Suspect the final decision will be made once it's blocked out.

SOX: I am practicing SHORT ROW HEELS. They are so much better than the heel-flap method! Except I keep making them gappy. However, with a bit of utterly terrible mangling I can make them go almost perfect - I printed off a guide to a double-wrap method of short-rowing heels/toes which I am going to try at the weekend.

Making socks on 4mm dpns with dk yarn is AWESOME. Stuff you 2mm needles and sock yarn! It is even better if the yarn is shocking pink :)

Also - secret christmas knitting. There is lots of it. LOTS. Argh! I am going to have to take days off to get it all done which I WILL spend knitting and not just watch episode of House and LOOK at the knitting...

I want to try it, I like the look.

I'll often buy yarn with the thoughts of making something. and then it sits. this is how you build a stash.

Lace-y scarf for grandma

Cable scarf for grandpa

Purse for my sister-in-law

inside purse showing off lazy lining and my little labels

Purses for my oldest nieces, pre-felting

Kitty ear hat for my baby niece

today I stayed home sick (for real sick) and I must now sew.

I just took some pictures of the stuff I've finished in the past month--I need to get it all uploaded to share.

trying to finish this sweater! still gotta do half of the second sleeve, make collar and seam it all together! i'm thinking about putting in a zipper. is that difficult? i'll ask my teacher!

very tempted to try 'n' knit that jeans! might order some of that yarn. :-)

In the meantime here is a hem hem profile shot. Lovely noro.

http://static.flickr.com/115/313142911_2b218d8a24.jpg

HURRAH! Finished! The class was helladifficult. The lady next to me was CRYING. Poor thing. We had to do an elastic finish which baffled even the pros amongst us. :-) I didn't really understand until the second time she explained. But next week she's gonna teach us individually.

Next up? A DRESS. PAAAARTY. Yay.

I'm very excited because I LOVE to seam! I started in class and, I gotta tell ya, I'm not that bad at it. (NOt as horrible as with other stuff.) :-) Not saying that I know how to do it properly, but I sorta like doing it. :-)

Gonna try the sweater on tomorrow. Let's hope it fits! I made it with yarn that I also used for a scarf for my mom (who lives in Japan). I figured I would make something that connects them. :-)

(and sweater looks lovely. what kind of yarn?)

The yarn is Katia's Mexico.

I just started the party dress. I made one tiny mistake AT THE SIDE which I can (hopefully!) cover up with my seaming techniques. Heh. Techniques. My husband is impressed with my knitting speed: I did about 12 cm in about 2 hrs. Or something. I hardly think that's fast, but hey... :-)

I'm also now officially addicted to knitting and SEX (teehee). I can't leave a shop without having bought some yarn. Yup yup. Swapped records for skeins. Ah well. :-)

A friend just said I was a good mother for giving Ophelia such lovely clothes. Aaaah.

i haven't bought any yarn except online in awhile.

Swapped records for skeins

haha! I hear you!

That sweater is such a great color.

hooray for your knitting-ness! I keep thinking I'd like to do an after-school knitting club at the local hood school.

http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/bUutHO/ZoraBreedingSueEricksonandMollyDahlknittowelsfortheStaffLounge1206.JPG/main.jpg

did you make converts then?

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/images/us/local/products/productsall/p261551.jpg

BTW Wish I was at that get together!

OTN: Matinee Cardigan (still! But not for long!), two scarves and a party dress. The latter was patterned by my teacher but I ph34R that she made a mistake as her head will AGAIN not fit through it. But I don't worry too much aout it as I have only done one panel so I Can either do an opening on the back or a sleeve. I think I'll go with a sleeve. :-)

i'm behind on all my craft gifts, argh.

Nath, that pic is from the Urban Outfitters site, and my friend (and fellow knitter) sent it to me asking. I don't know if I can get a bigger picture! When the holidays pass, I may try to sort it out myself.

Apparently, it's the popcorn stitch. Well, the scarf is called popcorn, so, the modern internets led me to this site:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/article/0,2025,DIY_14141_3502420,00.html

AKA: Trinity Stitch.

Fun! I may try this when my mom's ripple stitch scarf is done.

http://www.ashidome.com/blogger/archive_craftystitch.asp

but yes popcorn looks better

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hillarylang/25691744/in/set-546005/

I really want one of those stitch a day calendars.

What do I do?

I'm going to lend her Stitch n' Bitch this weekend.

I'm all about rockin' the needle in the armpit.

http://www.clover-usa.com/cat.php?k=27241

I've been working on wristwarmers for my little sister, and her tiny wrists make them look so strange. I needed to change from a size 9 to a size 4 needle to get them the right scale for her! Tiny dpns make for lots of finger poking. They are quite easy though, just a 2x2 rib with a gap for the thumb:
http://slumberland.org/wp/2005/12/14/pattern-1-day-wristwarmers/

Nathalie, somewhere I saw a pattern for a girl's dress that became a shirt as the child got older (a very simple a-line style). It seemed like a great way to extend the life of something that took so much effort to make! ok, here it is:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATTanouk.html
You could easily do something else with the pockets fr a different look.

Oh wow, thanks for the dress pattern. I think I'll give it a go!

I haven't been to my LYS in ages and ages. Mostly b/c 1. I've been sewing a lot more lately 2. buying lots of yarn off knitpicks for $$ reasons 3. they are far from me and I'm carless. :(

The matinee cardigan is ALMOST finished but it has quite a few flaws. :-( I did the collar a bit wrong so it's a bit misshaped. :-( But it's a learning process and I can't imagine doing it 100 procent perfect, right? I hope it'll be finished by tomorrow so I can focus on the two scarves (and the sweater??? should I do it?). I'm terribly bad at doing something on order. I think in the future I won't accept orders because I'm terrible at following it through. :-(

We had the last lesson (for this semester) yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Easy. We learned a few stitches (moss, double moss, sand and some other stitches). I already knew the moss stitch (it's ftrd in the matinee cardigan) so I just had a lot of fun looking at some of the others who had no clue how to do it!?!? Maybe I'm not so much a novice anymore? :-)

I'm looking forward to the next semester. We'll be learning to stitch on patterns as well! As well as crochet on the knitting! I need to look up how this works so I'm a bit prepared (I feel more confident when I have an idea of what to expect).

Nath, don't worry about making mistakes now - O doesn't know what she's wearing anyway. Just make sure you've got it sorted before she starts school :)

Otherwise most of things in it are just downright FRIGHTENING! But seeing as I wanted to make pretty much EVERYTHING in the TV issue you can't win them all. But seriously knitters GIVE UP on knitted corsets (altho they are architectually interesting I spose) and let's just pretend "Naughty Needles" doesn't exist. GET OVER IT CRAFTYGOTHS and stick to knitted glowsticks. (Actually they sounds awesome)!

I finished the clapotis by the way! But haven't blocked it yet or figured out how to take a great photo. It has turned out super-big.

So now I am just making a regular blue/green scarf in a zigzag UNDULATING pattern, erm dunno what the stitch is called but I like it, it's nicely textured. The wool is WENDY FUSION, which feels lovely, comes in super colours and is golly only £3 a ball how jolly.

I have to go to John Lewis before I head off for christmas to pick up some more balls of SIRDAR DENIM ULTRA! You heard! I am making the sock monkey blanket, and of course I don't have the yarns the pattern is in, so the brown is in megachunky sirdar cotton/wool mix and the red/white bits are two strands of aran acrylic and dk acrylic held together to try and match up the weights with what I've got.

I really want to knit this honeycomb stitch 60s-ish jacket that was in Simply Knitting a while back, but the cost would come to around £50 so FUDGE THAT and I will carry on with my £5 Primark hoodie.

xpost yeah that is moss stitch! But there are regional differences all over the place. If you are quite new - ie to the point where you are accidentally increasing and decreasing all over the place and can't identify what stitches you have already done - then it can be hard to keep track of stitches and accidentally turn it into ribbing... I know because that happens to me with the first couple of rows of cuff down socks ALL THE TIME. Well, it used to! It hasn't done recently. Cos I am great.

Yes! I know! I mean, WTF, MOSS STITCH! How hard can that be? "Can you tell me if I have to change now?" DUDE! I mean, sure, I ain't the bestest knitter in the class BY FAR but moss stitch is easy peasy.

We call American Moss Stitch: DUBBELE gerstekorrel (or double moss stitch). We also learned to make DAMBORD. One student: "Dambord?" Teacher:"Well, it looks like a dambord." hahahahahahahahahahaha Oh dear. Roffling insued. Well, not out loud nor on the floor. :-)

http://www.breiwinkel.nl/images/plaatjes/addi-express_komplett.jpg

I vaguely remember having this.

*childlike voice* I WANNA NOW.

I bought the revamped Knit 1, and got some Art YArns Merino to make one of the hats... and some yarn to make the stuffed heart!! It would be a perfectly morbid thing to have for this Valentine's Day.

I'm so ready for new projects. Finished my grandmother's scarf last night (I was loving the pattern and yarn so much I had to force myself to stop as it was getting comically long.) But I'm hating my grandfather's. I keep screwing up the cable and have decided I hate the color.

and I don't think I'm going to finish the cardigan I did in MAY for my mother as I've also decided I hate it.

In sewing news. . .ugh.

Hey, has anyone ever seen a chart for the state of Texas? I know it has limited interest but all I've found is the flag. I want to make a purse for a london-relocated friend. I'm afraid I'll have to make the chart myself which could be ugly. . .

I haven't used it yet but I've got a couple of things that I need to try on it as soon as the accursed holiday knitting is done.

i'm scared of the generator as texas is bumpy and I was hoping someone had already done it.

One of my first projects after xmas will be a big felted knitting tote for myself using the malcolm x chart on (?) MagKnits. I can't wait.

http://austin.about.com/library/clipart/texas/dac10004thumb.gif

:( so bumpy.

I'll stop whining and probably give it a crack at lunch.

Woah. I just had a really good idea for NERD PRESENT.

http://www.gpsdaily.com/images/texas-instruments-logo-bg.jpg

Eh. I feel drained. On top of my cold, I see all the mistakes giggling at me. :-(

I'm going to call it that from now on! Tell us some other Dutch terms! I will try and catch up with G and see how her cardie is getting on too.

I don't actually think the colourwork Texas will be that bad to be honest! The "bumpy" bit is only on one side so you'll just be changing colours pretty much twice on each row apart from one section - just sort yourself out with yarn on some bobbins and I think it will be a lot easier than you think!

You have no idea how happy it makes me to be learning a craft where I get to use the word 'bobbins' in a real actual sense!

That's it for today. I'll be testing you NEXT WEEK! ;-)

http://www.breienmetplezier.nl/breisteken.htm

One I hadn't heard before:

Luie Wijvensteek: Lazy Bitches stitch!

I'm EXTREMELY tempted to enroll in the lacemaking clas (and use BOBBINS). Should I? My husband thinks it's a HIDEOUS hobby. (As in VERY unsexxee.) Hmm what to DO.

Last night I was delirious after so much seaming and I'm also down with a bit of a cold, so hence the weirdo post. But now I'm FRESH and EAGER to start a new thing. I think I'll drop in the LYS and look how much that LANA GROSSA yarn costs for that sweater. Maybe I'm a bit too optimistic and I will fail miserably at it? One can only try! :-) Gotta learn from your mistakes.

:-)

When I'll be in Japan, I'll be stocking up on bamboo needles and SPECIAL yarns. OH YEAH. :-)

My husband thinks it's a HIDEOUS hobby. (As in VERY unsexxee.)

welcome to MY world.

I shipped out most of my holiday knitting last night and cringed at some of the things I did just a few months ago. I think it's just part of the learning process.

Nathalie, I'm very jealous of your Japanese yarn expedition! They have such fantastic stuff, weird funky textures and all that.

Do these men realize that we're armed with multiple sharp pointy sticks when they criticize our fun?!

It is important that I have a cravat.

Anyway, I already uh started something new. I'm a bit stupid. Made the swatch but the gauge is not exactly the same so I just started something for Ophelia when she'll be 18 months. :-) We'll see how it works out. I really need to buy yarn that's specifically for a pattern instead of going "ooh looks cute, I'll just buy it and find something I can make with it." I'm not advanced yet so unable to do that. :-) One day... one day.

Oh my husband doesn't mind me knitting - he's actually a bit in awe of it - but HATES lacemaking. He calls'em klip klop bitches. :-)

Yes! Japan! My mum even met Hirose, the Japanese Knitting King. They *vaguely* know eachother. How fucking cool is that? Very, I think. :-)

I really am tempted to go buy some Lana Grossa yarn. Must. Resist. Unless I get loads of cash from mes parents. Then I'll NEED to buy some. I wanna make that sweater for my mum. Hmmmm.

email address: stevienixed @ gmail dot com

http://www.knittinghelp.com/

I'm finally back home after traveling to see relatives all week, ugh. I'm straightening up the knit/sew room since xmas has left it a mess. I'm also making room for new sewing furniture and new CAT! woohoo.

Only one up till midnight evening of crafting and I got all of my gift projects done. Here's the tally:

Sewn:
2 fleece throws
6 pairs of pajama pants

Knit:
2 scarves
3 purses
4 hats

*cue Rocky theme*

pictures forthcoming when I put new batteries in my camera.

back to stash sorting.

Me? I'm doing this lacy type shawl (straight, yarn is for 4 mm needles but doing it with 9 mm ones so it looks lacy). Visited another yarn shop which was a MAJOR dud. :-(

I'm doing this raglan cardigan. Probably finish it in a week or so. I do need to start using yarn that's meant for the pattern instead of trying something that *sort of* matches. I'm not that advanced yet and won't be for another DECADE or so. :-)

I'm fascinated with those knitting machines (for kids, but aren't we all). Looked for one but only found french ones which seemed @$$. I want something that goes faster yo. :-)

Bought a Marie Claire Knitting Stitches book (just under 10 euros) and tried some last night only to discover/have reaffirmed: I'm stupid (figured out that multiples of 7 + 1 + 2 means mult of only 7) and that I have all thise nice MULTIcoloured yarn that doesn't work when you want to do *fancy sts*.

I'm SO READY for that Lana Grossa sweatah. I wanna make something for me me me. :-)

Also trying to finish scarf for husband but I ph34r working on order is not my thang, baby.

you are all over cardigans/sweaters. I need to attempt another big project like that soon. starting on my malcolm x tote now, v. excited.

I really don't understand knitting machines.

no kitty yet, we're going to get him/her next weekend. I'm just arranging my room for new litterbox, condos, etc. I threw all of qtip's old stuff away.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misery/tags/xmas/

While trying to avoid my family, I knit a bunch of dish cloths to give to people, one including my 84 year old grandma. She loved it!

A while back, I knit one of the ball band dishcloths for some friends, and they have yet to use it. They said it's too pretty to be used. While that's flattering, I kept thinking, "dudes, you will not understand its full potential until you experience its cleaning glory!" Oh well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61998082@N00/336485887/

goldfish would be neat!

boy gave me a stack of various knitting/sewing books for xmas and said "I don't think one of those is what you do. I wasn't sure." It was a crochet book but still welcome.

He also gave me a $100 gift certificate to the LYS which I used to buy an assload of Cascade 220 for my felted Malcom X tote. hurrah!

Someone plz tell me that if I suck and it takes 3 years to figure out, that I am not a Bad Person.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/341362410_9179752d04.jpg?v=1167688573

i just started knitting *properly* in july or something. :-)

they're also good if you have to cast on 200 stitches and don't want to have to recount 5 million times.

I just registered at elann.com, oh dear.

Have never really successfully worked with stitch markers either, they always end up falling off. Whilst I was finishing the clapotis which admittedly is fairly straightforward, I just purled the stitches where the pattern calls for you to add stitch markers but this probably wouldn't work so well in proper lace! I'd like to have a go at a lace thing too. I tried a lace pattern before but it was with regular dk weight with only 6mm needles so it only came out textured - should have gone really oversized but I have got un-used to those massive needles.

Speaking of massive needles I saw a jumper calling for 25mm needles - argh! However how fast must that knit up - cast on 30 sts to start :)

I've got plans to do some lace shawls for family, and right now I've got a skein of that sari silk stuff that I've matched up with a part silk part merino yarn and am knitting them at a huge gauge. It lets the random ends of the silk really blossom and be soft, plus the thing is still warm.

Learning to cable is next on the list.

I've used little rubbery stitch markers from Clover and they have functioned very well--no matter what I've been making, either the bright green or bright purple stands out well enough.

Sam, perhaps we can start getting together next week? As far as I know Zoe is still in. Would Maureen like to continue?

sorry for the death flu! I'm still struggling with this death bronchitis I've had ever since Stitch! ugh. . .

the latter was written by a girl whom I replaced at a previous job. Had no idea she knitted. am envious. I want to write a book. :(

xpost: I'll send you that yarn THIS WEEK. Promise! :-)

what sweater are you working on?

http://www.lanagrossa.com/journale/filati_32/15.jpg

In charcoal grey colour. HURRAH!

Still need to finish hubby's shawl though. :-D Will do once I quit having migraines. Gawd headaches are a f*cking b*tch. :-(

I also bought a ton of pattern magazines (Lana Grossa) and fell in love with a gazillion things I want to knit. And I also bought that pattern book which seemed too difficult for me at first, but now I understand it and I think it'll be GREBT when I want to knit something simple (and maybe, in the future, sth with a fancy stitch).

I also cleared some records in a cupboard so I can have my collection of books and mags in one place. HURRAH.

Bought some jumbo sized crochet hook (?) and want to crochet a blanket. But I don't know how to *turn* in crochet. Bummer.

The lesson was EXTREMELY hard this week. We have to do a V-collar with dpns. Urgh! I think I messed it up. :-) I found out that the one who's most crap at knitting is a bit... I don't know how to say this... I think I overheard saying she lives in a community (for people with slight mental disabilities). :-( She doesn't really follow the difficult parts anymore, the teacher just guides her a bit doing her sweater.

What equipment? Hmm, yarn, needles (I prefer bamboo or plastic), a sewing needle (if you cant to do a sweater), scissors, something to measure,... I would also suggest some notebook so you can write down your progress. I should follow my own advice, cause I'm quite lax when it comes to writing everything down. :-(

Do they have the Stitch'n'Bitch book from Debbie Stoller in yr library? If so GET THAT ONE PRONTO! It's ACE! Debbie Bliss also does good (beginner) books for baby garments. There's also the Vogue KNitting book which is great but will come more in handy as reference (once you're a bit more experienced IMO!).

YAY, a new knitter! :-)

yay knitting talk!

Let me know what you decide about Etsy Molly. I'm curious too. I like looking but have never bought anything, more inspiration really. Does anyone besides other crafters know about it?

Here's my latest knitting (and crocheting and sewing) pic posts. Finishing a second pair of mittens before I post them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misery/

I don't think my yarn is very bulky so maybe I had better just do a small scarf - or a belt!

If you're keen to do more difficult things, I would suggest doing swatches first. THat's what I did. I wanted to try cable, so I only did a swatch and started something else after that.

If you REALLY are serious or want to progress quicker, look out in yarn shops for one day courses.

(Oh dear, I think I must be old; I am excited about going home on a Friday night to knit!)

In my experience metal needles have been very hard to knit with. they're inflexible and hurt your hands and the stitches slide off easier. The first pair I ever tried to knit with were metal size 8s and it was a disaster. I am not saying this to discourage you as you may not find getting started hard at all (I fully accept that I may be "special"). But I just want to encourage you that if you find it hard going at first, it could get easier with different needles. (and practice)

have fun!

Liz, I second Sam and Nath with getting big yarn. I've taught people in the past who've started off with 2 strands together, and they got confused really quickly. If you can find a big fat yarn, that takes 10 1/2 (US), for example that might be easy.

And Stitch'n'Bitch is a SUPER book to have if you're learning. It explains things so clearly. I've been knitting for about 4 years, and I still reference it all the time. It's a good purchase.

Don't get discourage if your first scarf comes out terribly! It's a learning experience. I still have the first thing I knit and I used it as a potholder. It was supposed to be a scarf.

I'm knitting a bib from the Mason Dixon book for someone in Mr. Pike's office who recently had a baby. It's turning out really well!

I wanted to mention not doing the two threads simultaneously, it can be somewhat hard in the beginning to do this. I'm actually doing this for a cardigan I'm making and it's going pretty well, but I doubt I could have done this way back in July when I started knitting again. :-)

In regard to the acrylic, there's different types. I bought some at Wibra (cheapass store) and I could heard the yarn crackle'n'pop when I knitted. Awful! But I bought some other acrylic in Veritas that was slightly more expensive but still dirt cheap and it was AWESOME. You can tell after a while which yarn will work and which won't. (Well, for me that only works when it's acrylic, other types I'm not used to YET).

I can more or less knit while watching telly now! ONly for stockinette (?), no fancy stitches (yet). HURRAH!

OTN: cardigan for Ophelia
cardigan pour moi
sweater pour moi
bag pour moi (i'm so selfish)
lacy shawl for mummy (if she wants it)

I bought some pattern books and fell in love with a gazillion items.

I want to knit better. harumph!

I was going to go and get more blocking pins today but I appear to have stayed in watching season 2 of Popular instead...

http://cache.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=278

http://www.knitnet.com/sampler/current/page5.htm

I like the way this sweater looks from the front, but it really bugs me that they don't show the back. Since it's tied around the waist, it could look like a lumpy mess. Thoughts?

I'm knitting *blind*. I did frog it as the stockinette didn't work on the scarf: it curled up! So I'm knitting to and fro BLIND! I watched six episodes of 24 this way (on DVD). HURRAH!

I'm getting really hooked on knitting now. My daughters have asked me to knit some clothes for their Barbie dolls, and I've found some free doll's clothes knitting patterns online which I might have a bash at next week :)

Haha, whoops. WHY O WHY did I not use his supermodpowers for eevil deeds when I had the chance?

I'm fascinated by lace knitting!

I also sewed a teddybear for my aunt which was awesome fun. I think, much like knitting, I prefer sewing things rather than garments. Perhaps this is because I'm not really into clothes. I should try to sew myself a hoodie and see how that goes.

I loathe knitting buttonholes and therefore suck at it.

I also sewed a teddybear for my aunt which was awesome fun. I think, much like knitting, I prefer sewing "things" rather than garments. Perhaps this is because I'm not really into clothes. I should try to sew myself a hoodie and see how that goes.

I loathe knitting buttonholes and therefore suck at it.

I do quite a bit of card-making (I've got one of those sizzix die-cutting machines and everything!) and I've just bought these from ebay :

http://i14.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/83/28/4829_2.JPG

They were really inexpensive - but I'd like to be able to knit card embellishments for baby cards like this myself. Being a total newbie to the knitting world, I'd need a pattern ...... i've tried searching on google to find something, but have failed. Does anyone know where I might find free patterns for knitting tiddly little things like this, to go on greetings cards??

Help/advice appreciated! Thanks :)

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory.php

I need something tiny though, which is knitted on cocktail sticks. I can't find anything on that site, but thanks for the link! I've seen several things there I'd like to try.