I'm a newbie at knitting. I've knitted a couple of things, following patterns, but not a chart. I'm a cross-stitcher at heart, and so I automatically want to follow a knitting chart as I would a cross-stitch one. But I'm confused. ( Questions and chart picture )

Tags: beginners, charts

Hi. I'm a new member of this community, and a new knitter. I've almost finished my first project, a scarf, and I'm trying to decide what to make next so I can be ready to jump right into it when the scarf is done. I've been looking at patterns for baby afghans (because I'd like to do something that's different from a scarf but still flat--I'm not ready to take on anything that involves shaping or working in the round just yet). I want to use a circular needle, because it just seems to make sense for a larger object like that (and everything I've read recommends going that route). My problem is that I can't figure out how the length measurements work or what length to buy.( Read more... )

Tags: beginners, needles
Current Mood: confused

I'm knitting the cute little guy for a friend:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elefante

And it's all pretty simple knitting, except for the ears. The ears are crocheted, which I don't know how to do. I was wondering if someone could either convert the pattern to a similar knit pattern, or look at the picture and figure out something close to me (I'm a beginner).

( Crochet pattern here )

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Tags: beginners
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Delay Trees | Gold

I have successfully dyed a 50/50 acrylic and cotton blend yard and would like to know if anyone has successfully dyed a 75% acrylic 25% wool blend yarn.

The ones I finished since my last post, anyway :)

( a plushie, a scarf, a bookmark and a tablecloth )

Hope you liked them!

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Sting - Jerusalem

After doing some more research, I have another question pertaining to this tee....
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sakura-tee

I was wondering if anyone has ever used Cascade Pima Tencel and if so, do you think it would be a good fit with this pattern? The original calls for a cotton/silk blend, but according to the info I can find on the Tencel it's cotton and Tencel which is made from wood pulp and supposed to have the drape and feel of silk. It's a little more affordable though.....

Barring that, I think it will either be the Tencel or the knitpicks because those both seem to be more in my price range.

I still love the second sweater, but haven't quite found a suitable substitute for the yarn yet. A friend of mine suggested the knitpicks shine in sport weight...but I don't know. Guess I'll work on that after I get the first sorted out. Here's a link to the second top I'm talking about:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seaglass-shell

Thanks in advance to anyone that comments. :)

I just recently picked up a copy of the summer issue of Interweave Knits. Is anyone on here making anything from this issue???? Anyway, I fell in love with two of the tops in this issue and I was wanting yarn recommendations. Both patterns were originally knit with cotton blends, and that is fine by me. However, where I live yarn is hard to come by unless you go to the local wal-mart. We unfortunately do not have a LYS in my town. I am willing to travel a few counties over or to order offline....if I can find something that won't break the bank.

This is the link to the first one.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sakura-tee


And here is the second.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seaglass-shell


The first requires worsted weight and the second sport. If you guys could recommend a nice yarn to make these out of I would really appreciate it. I'd like something that doesn't pill or have any other undesirable qualities in a yarn. The problem is that I usually work with cheap acrylics and I would really like something nicer if I'm going to put the time and effort into these. Since I haven't worked with many other yarns, I don't want to buy something unless I know others liked working with it and had good results. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give.

I'd like to knit my first pair of socks...and I'd like an easy pattern. I've never done socks before, but I am familiar with the basics of knitting. I can k, p, m1, psso, k2tog, etc. So if you have any tried and trusted patterns, I'd be really grateful! Hopefully something in the dpns category...I've never worked magic loop ^^;;

Tags: beginners, socks
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Mumford and Sons | The Cave

Does anyone have any experience ordering from eKnittingNeedles.com - what are their reliability/service like?

I made a Wisp wrap using up some hand-spun white alpaca yarn.

Quite pleased with the result - will give it to a friend as a wedding gift!

( pictures under the cut )

I bought a bunch of Addi Turbo circular needles, mistakenly duplicating some sizes I already had in the process. I have a Ravelry account and I have bought and sold yarn via my Ravelry sell/trade page, and I'm wondering if this same thing can be done to sell/trade knitting needles through Ravelry.

If it can be done, how would I go about it?

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time doing toe-up socks, and I am having a hard time with the start of the heel flap.  I am hoping someone out there has done a heel like this one, because I cannot find anything similar to it by googling.  This seems to be a highly unusual way to do a toe-up heel. 

Here is the link to the Ravelry pattern page, but it's not a free pattern so I can't link to the pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nightingale-2

OK so I have knitted the gusset and the short row heel turn part of the sock and am now starting the heel flap.  Here are the instructions:

"Row 1 (WS): p37, s1, pass the last knitted stich on teh right hand needle over the slipped stitch, turn.
Row 2 (RS): k37, s1, pass the last knitted sitch on the right hand needle over the slipped stitch, turn.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until all the gusset stitches are worked in."

The problem is that even though I am following the directions exactly, the part where you pass the stitch over the slipped stitch and then turn is causing a VERY large hole between the gusset stitches that have been on hold during the short row heel turn, and it is disturbing me. 

Is there a trick to this that I am missing in order to not get the hole? 

Thank you in advance, oh knowledgeable Knitting forum!!  ;) 

Current Mood: confused

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But I have knitted a heck of a lot of fish hats. It's one of those things. Everyone who sees one seems to want one, and they're such a quick and uncomplicated knit. No idea what I'm talking about? Knitty's fish hat pattern has spread far and wide since it was published in 2008. Here's a small selection of the fish hats I've knitted over the years and actually remembered to photograph.

( Onwards to the school of fish! )

Anyone else here bitten by the fish hat bug?

Tags: finished object

It's nearly May and I'm pretty sure February was the last time I showed off my knitting. So here we go!

( Pictures ahoy! )

I am planning to knit a cardigan that will take 1200 yards of worsted weight yarn. I would like to knit this in a cotton/linen blend, but I am wondering if it will end up really heavy.

I don't mind the fact that the sweater will stretch more than it would if I knit it in pure wool, this won't be a factor in making my decision.

Pattern: The Evenstar Shawl
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino, Duchess Blue. About 2.5 hanks (1312 yards).
Needles: Size 4 Addi Turbo Lace
Cast on: January 4, 2012
Bound off: April 23, 2012

( Photos and details. )

Tags: finished object, lace, pattern - shawl, technique - lace

I finished knitting a pure wool sweater right in time for the heat of summer! ( Photos here )

I'd like some advice on the state of this button band because, well, you can see why. Do I need extra stitches so that it will lay flatter? I'm thinking yes, it's obvious but I'd like some opinions. In order to not have it bunch up, I had to bind it off so loosely that those stitches look ridiculously large.

Currently, I have 74 stitches. If I need more, how many more would you think? Also, I knit the sweater using 5mm needle, and I used a 4.5mm to bind off because I wanted the ribbing to look tight (but not the bind off edge to pull up, of course).

( Button band photo under cut. )

I really wanted mittens, but not ordinary mittens, I wanted sunshiny yellow mittens. It took me a while, but I finally got the perfect yellow for the Sundagsvotter by Strikkepanja (available on Ravelry).
( Sundagsvotter  )
I followed the chart made by the user GraceIvy which was a lifesaver because I would have definetly lost my count of the cables. I love my mittens. I will make them again, perhaps in gray, with a smaller thumb

There are three additional patterns for the Spring/Summer 2012 issue -- two shawls and a light top.

This was an "I HAVE TO MAKE THAT" project when I saw the pattern, so I availed of my genetics-major brothers birthday to finally make it.  Really happy with how it turned out! (It's also the first big project I've finished in ages! My thesis and studying for finals have been taking all my knitting time in the last few months. :( )


( Pictures! )

I am in the process of making a dishcloth with sugar& cream cotton yarn 2.5 oz. As I am working, I've noticed that this cloth is much larger than a previous one that I made using peaches&cream cotton yarn 1.5 oz. Both are 4 ply. I thought they would be the same size since the yarns are usually similar and the needle size is the same. Did I miss something here in the thicknesses of the yarns? I thought the difference in the weight was just the amount of yarn on the ball. I'm a little confused?

Current Mood: confused

Hello all!

I'm trying to knit a scarf for my dragon-loving friend and use this pattern - dragon skin choke. I want to make the scarf wider than 30 stitches by repeating the pattern twice.

( problem under the cut )

I'd really appreciate help with tweaking out this pattern. Making it only as a 30 stitch repeat is a little slim and I really want to make it lizard skin-like.

Many, many thanks in advance!

Current Mood: frustrated

I have this huge bundle of llama wool at my front door (literally). On of the lovely ladies from my local knitting group has shared her stash & we are learning together. After some good research, I think I have a decent idea of what to do. Now I'm just looking online for supplies.

My question is: can you recommend a pair of hand carders that aren't over $100? Cheapest pair I've found was over $65, and they looked econo-cheap.

Hello Fellow Knitters - I am absolutely desperate for more Ella rae yarn. The specifics: Classic Superwash, color 17, dye lot 961. It's an off-white with a grayish, ecruish tinge. One ball would be great, up to 5 balls would be even better. I badly miscalculated how much would be needed for the border on Knitty's Hoover baby blanket. I'm making two blankets, for twins, and would be glad to get through just the first one with one dye lot; the border is garter stitch so it's using up gobs of yarn. I can use a different dye lot for the second blanket if need be. I've already posted an ISO request on Ravelry, but haven't heard a thing. Any suggestions about where else to hunt are welcome.