Knitting!

Top o' the morning, folks!

I have what I hope will not sound like a stupid question. I'm currently working on my first sock, the Jaywalker pattern, using size 2 dpns. I'm not a new dpn user- I have used them for hats, for doilies, etc. I do, however, knit extremely tightly when I use them (which is part of the reason I am using size 2 instead of the size 1 that the pattern calls for). For shites and giggles, I want to learn the Magic Loop technique, but am slightly short on funding for new needles (I use Denises for just about everything else). Now, because I knit so tightly on dpns, should I get a size 2 long circular needle, or try a size 1? I don't knit tightly with my Denises, but I don't know whether that has to do with the needle itself or the fact that with the dpns I am concerned with ladders between sections (thus would still be knitting tightly for Magic Loop to prevent loose stitches between halves).

Does anyone that has switched from dpns to Magic Loop have any thoughts? Do you find you knit at the same tension as the dpns, or has your tension changed?

If I had more money, I would just buy both sizes, but at this point, I don't... and I really don't want to spend money on a needle that I won't be able to use much.

Thanks!

*edited to add* I forgot to mention that I would be ordering the needles online since my LYS isn't really so local (it's more than 30 minutes away, and with 3 kids, ordering online and having it shipped is way easier), thus I won't be able to try them in the store to get a good feel of them first.

Hi!

I'm a very new knitter. I learned the basics of knitting and purling about a year ago but I have only made a knit baby blanket (just a big rectangle). I'm terrified of patterns. For some reason, my brain just can't comprehend them. It's pretty sad. Anyway, I just found this knitting store that lets you sit there and knit for a couple of hours for $5 and there's someone there to answer your questions if you have them. So I'm planning on going tomorrow night. Hopefully this can help me get started and I can make some beautiful things like I see posted here!

Anyway, my question is, do you have any recommendations of easy patterns? I have a million hats and scarves (store bought and crocheted). I'd really like to do something that will be really functional and cute, but not too expensive or discouraging for my first *real* project. Something for me or for babies/toddlers would be good -- I have lots of friends that are having babies and I'm planning on trying to make my own pretty soon here!

I found this pattern http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=25127 at Michaels which is cute and it says it's for beginners. I just wanted to check and see what you all thought and see if you had any other suggestions. (Sorry, I don't know how to make it a link)

Thank you so much! I come to this community everyday to see what beautiful things you all are making and can't wait to make something myself.

ok. so about a week or so ago, i found knitting related desktops. and i found a cute one, and i set it as my wallpaper. it's a picture of a finished clapotis wrapped around a cup of coffee, and the more i look at it, the more i LOVE the yarn. but i can't find the page! i'm pretty sure i bookmarked it, but i have tons of bookmarks, and i can't seem to find it anywhere. i've even gone to google with no luck.

( Collapse )

someone must know where this comes from, because i've got no clue.

TIA!

A friend's daughter has requested a pair of knit mouse mittens. I found this pattern on MagKnits:

http://www.magknits.com/Jan06/patterns/mouse.htm

But it's for 3-5 year old sized hands. The girl in question is 8 years old. Rather than altering the pattern, do you think I could just use any mitten pattern, knit in gray, and then just sew those ears and eyes onto the top? Do you think I'd need to have that tapered part at the nose area to make it look mouse like? Or do you think a rounded nose would be OK too?

Last question, what size is good for an 8 year old? Would a women's small be too big? It would be nice if she could get a couple seasons of wear from them, but I don't want to make them huge or anything...I'm going to go search for patterns now, but if anyone has some favorites, that's cool too. I'll be wanting to knit these on magic loop if that's possible...

An LJ friend of mine is 22 weeks along with twins. The girls have a complication and it is positive that they will be born early- hopefully not *too* early, but they are expected to arrive at no later than 34 weeks gestation. I wanted to make her something for the girls, so I knit her matching pairs of preemie shorts to be used as diaper covers. I made them out of soft HPY on a 12 inch size us 7 circular needle. The two pairs used almost a full skein of yarn and took the batter part of a day to complete. My ssk don't look perfect, but hopefully I'll continue to perfect my knitting as I go.

( Collapse )

This article is in the most recent issue of UMass Magazine.

With Each Stitch, Hope
—Melissa Pasanen

In the wake of genocide in Rwanda, Cari Clement ’71 helps women rebuild lives with her knitting machines. Photo by Ben Barnhart.


SMILE AFTER SMILE BEAMS OUT from photos taken by Cari Clement during her five trips to Rwanda. In the pictures, women like Jeannette and Esperance proudly show off scarves, hats, and ponchos they have created with knitting machines and training provided through Clement’s nonprofit Fiber and Craft Entrepreneurial Development Center (FACED). Their faces tell the happier story of today, not the heartbreak of the past.( Collapse )

Now I've been on lj reading for years, but I don't think I've ever posted a finished object! So here goes.

This cream clutch was made from the pattern I found here.

It was made with Lion Brand Thick and Quick that I have in my stash, the bottom of a leg from my son's jeans that I "recycled", 1/3 of a 75 cent dowel and a purchased ribbon/flower pack from Wal-Mart for 74cents. The flower is removable.

I'm a journalism student and I'm writing an article for a class on how to get the best bang for your yarn buck. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or anecdotes about a sweater made out of something outrageously expensive that they just had to have, or anything along that line, that they'd be willing to share with me for my story. (And yes, I know about elann.com and knitpicks, and I know how to sub yarns, I don't need a tutorial, just stories that aren't my own ;D)
If you do feel like helping me out, you can either comment or send me an email at circa1762ATgmailDOTcom. Please include a name (first will do) and email address (in case my teacher wants to make sure I'm not making quotes up). Thank you!

Anyway, this morning I finished the Short-Row hat that's available on the Interweave Knits site.
Pics, a couple of notes about the pattern and the yarn ( Collapse )

so i've been working on this pair of socks for my sister-in-law. the pattern is the conwy socks from nancy bush's knitting on the road. i'm using knitpicks sock landscape in yukon. i love the yarn, i love the pattern, but i don't think i love them together. the original pattern called for a variegated yarn, but i think the coloring of this yarn obscures the delicate cable pattern. i need your honest opinions.

i've only gotten a few inches in, so here are some pics of what i have so far:
( Collapse )

Has anyone here made the Einstein Coat? If so, would you be willing to give me a little help? I'd really appreciate it, thanks.

( Collapse )

I'm working on Dainty Bess from the Elizabeth I scarf pattern (scroll about halfway down). I'm about three repeats into the scarf now and I haven't put in a lifeline yet. I'm planning on putting one in soon, but how? On another project I used a sewing needle to thread it into the row (being careful not to put it through my stitch markers), but that was time consuming and I would occasionally split the yarn. Should I transfer my work to a smaller needle then thread the lifeline through? Is there a way to knit the lifeline into the row?

How do you put your lifelines in?

ETA: Thanks everyone for your help! I've switched to circs (why didn't I think of that before??), put in a lifeline and completed two more repeats. You guys are great!

I'm considering Audrey from Rowan #35 for the knit_olympics. I've admired the pattern for a long time. However, I worry that it won't be the most flattering on me. I'm fairly hourglass-shaped, with a large bust and wide shoulders. I typically stay away from raglans and the like, but this MIGHT work.

Have any of you have done Audrey in larger sizes? I'd love to hear from you. If you have pictures, I'd be even more interested.

Thanks!

i promised a friend i'd knit her a pair of these armwarmers i made for myself and now i can't find the pattern. im 95% sure i found it online somewhere.

they were really long (went up to the elbow) and had a simple cable running up them. the pattern had it knit in the round. anyone know where this is? by the time i find it it won't be winter anymore!

http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/PATTbadpenny.html

hmmm.... i am not sure if it's just me... or if the increase row 2 should be *slip marker k1 yo, knit until 1 stitch remains before maker, yo ki, slip marker* repeat from * to *

has anyone else tried this pattern?

Hi everybody;
I knit my Poppi convertible mittens for Christmas and I really want to make a hat to make it a complete set. I've already cast on (using Emily Ocker's crochet cast-on) and am a few rows in. The problem? I want to add a band of fair isle snowflakes; something Scandinavian-y for our Swedish heritage. I found a chart, but it doesn't fit with my gauge. The chart is a multiple of 20, but I was planning on increasing to 110 stitches to allow for some negative ease. In order to make the chart fit, I would need 120 stitches, making the hat measure 24 inches around...waaay too big. I tried going up a needle size, but somehow I got exactly the same gauge.
Any advice? Any other charts anyone knows of? I tried to google but I couldn't find one that I really liked.
TIA
Kristen

i think i'm going to make Knitty's childHood for a boy who is going to be 2 in may- i'm wondering about the sizing, because he is a big boy, i think erring on the side of caution and making the 3-4 instead of 2-3 would be better. but i'd like to make sure he can wear it now.

after all that, my question is: is it loose enough that 2-3 would be fine, or would you make the bigger size?
( Collapse )

Is anyone else participating in the red scarf project (pdf). What pattern or stitch are you using? I've just found out about it, so I have a couple of days left to knit a scarf and mail it. I'm doing the Lopi Lace Scarf in Weekend Knitting (Melanie Falick) in red Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.

When a pattern calls your attention to the "upper right front", does this mean the right side as you're looking at it, or the right side as you wear it?

thanks

So. I have 800 yards of Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Rio in the color "Pebble Beach." A friend is having me make something for her with it (she bought it). It's a laceweight rayon yarn, and she wants something lacey and nice, like to wear on an evening out. I'm searching the internet for patterns, but I hoped some of you might know things off the tops of your heads. Ideas?

ETA: It's a rayon boucle. I've been swatching and getting really terrible stitch definition, and I don't know if I can block it. Can you block rayon?

I've been working, slowly but surely, on a v-neck seamless top-down raglan sweater (say THAT 10 times fast!) and I grew more and more paranoid that the sweater would grow to elephantine proportions. So, I decided to block it in-progress. I soaked it in Kookaburra woolwash, patted it dry with a towel, and set it out to dry.

Later, I noticed that one skein (I've used 3 so far) looked decidedly darker than the other two - and I hadn't noticed it pre-blocking. I just chalked it up to drying at different speeds, and walked away.

But now, the WIP seems to be dry, and there's still a noticeable difference between skeins. It seems ridiculous, but it's true.

Does anyone have any idea how this could happen? I'm going to give it more drying time just in case, but I'm not terribly hopeful.

Details: I'm using Classic Elite Renaissance, and they're all from the same dyelot - in fact, the set of 10 skeins were in plastic, presumably from the company.

Any thoughts?

Hi, I'm Kate, mother of one, die-hard crocheter, and newish knitter. This is the 2nd time I've tried to knit, but no one showed me continental before so I'm starting to get the hang of it with that.

Anyway. My whine is this: if you're a new knitter, and the most you've done is one simple hat and a few swatches, don't let your second project be the Hurry Up Spring armwarmers from Stitch N Bitch Nation! My ribbing looks fantastic, but I have no clue if i'm making the pattern right! I had to get the errata from the website for the chart (chart, she says? she's doing a chart?!) so at least i've got the correct instructions, but i am only semi-sure i'm doing it right. Well, I'll have to do both the same, even if they're wrong, so if I'm messing up it will be consistent!

This may be a stretch, but does anyone know of a good, soft, machine washable DK weight yarn? It also needs to be in natural fibers and preferably not too expensive since it's for a baby. I'm making Blossom for a good friend's baby. Has anyone else attempted this yet?

To take my mind off of stressful things, and to reward myself for slaving over data entry and paper revisions for five days straight, I made myself a felted backpack.

The yarn is Noro Kureyon 100% wool in color # 146 (the stripey parts) and Patons Classic Merino wool in the olive color. Knitted on size 11 needles then felted once on the superwash cycle in the hot/cold rinse.

It is very loosely based on this pattern only without the diamond design on the back. I also incorporated the loop + straps element from this design.

( Collapse )

I've been knitting less than a year so forgive me if this is a stupid beginner's question:

I'm working on the flower petal shawl published on elann.com and one of the lines has me confused:

k3 yo k0 sl1-k2tog-psso k0 yo k3

What on earth is a k0?

Thanks in advance!