So I am now the proud owner of two skeins of fabulous Alchemy Ritual in Dragon- ie, olive coloured silk chenille. I'm very excited to receive them, but in the mean time I must decided on a pattern. I was thinking wrist warmers, but I'd like some suggestions. I'm really excited about this stuff!
Thanks!

I decided March was I'm-going-to-knit-stuff-for-myself-month. I thought it was a good idea, seeing as I hadn't knitted anything for myself in over a year. And I only veered from that course to make two hats, one for my boyfriend and one for my little sister. it seemed like a good plan until i realized that four of my closest friends' birthdays are in march/april. and i forgot until the first one on March 20th. urgh. so I ordered yarn to make them stuff, and as soon as it gets here i'm going on a knitting craze. : )

anyway, ( my FOs.Collapse )

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: postal service - recycled air

I'm trying to knit the Kitchen Sink bag from Knitty. Now, I'm stuck at this point :-

Using circular needle, k all sts (76sts) on needle, then pick up and k 20 sts from shaped end of bag, removeprovisional CO and k the resulting 76 live sts onto the needle, pick up and k 20 sts from rem shaped end of bag. 192sts

Could someone please dumb this down for me?

Cheers!!

Does anyone know of any programs that will help you write out a chart for knitting lace? I have this idea.... But I was hoping to find something to help me with the notation. My google-fu has failed me, so I turn to you!

Also, I'm fairly new to using charts and I'm still not sure how I feel about them. What do you think are the pros and cons of lace knitting from charts, versus written instructions?

I remember seeing a few lace lef scarves floating around the blogosphere, and I THOUGHT that the one from last summers Vogue Knitting was the one that ended in lead points.. but it's not. Does anyone know of a leaf scarf that looks liek the Vogue Knitting one, but ends in points? I know it wasnt the Teva Durham one, or any of the knitty ones.

Hello All! I'm a long time lurker here...but finally I have pics. I've been knitting since October, and already obsessed with knitting, yarn, and more yarn! I really don't know many people who knit and it's great to have this community to share with others who also love knitting. Just wanted to post a couple finished Spring FOs I've recently completed in March. Now waiting for the rains to go away (yes, it's pouring here in Southern Cali) so that I can wear them around.

The first is the Lelah top, made with Rowan Calmer in Joy. I loved working with Calmer and thought it would be perfect with this top, especially for the summer. This yarn is so soft and bouncy. I think I miscalculated the stitch count because it's huge across my chest...but I swear, I did it right!!! I sure hope once I sew the elastic in, that it will work out alright. It's in the process of being blocked right now. This was also my first lace knitted item and was quite simple. A great beginner pattern overall.

( Read more...Collapse )

Tags: finished object, yarn

Hey folks, I need some advice. I'm planning a day off later this month for a "knitting shop crawl"...to some places that I've never been to. One place that I can't seem to find much information about is Midwest Yarn Discounters. They are on Irving Park Rd. I've driven by when they have been closed, but want to make a special trip...is it worth it? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone!

A little while ago mutter_may_i was asking about backwards knitting. I said I'd take some pictures of how I do it. And I finally did.

I put them up as a little website. So if you're interested in knitting backwards, have a look at my tutorial.

I hope this doesn't count as a plug, because I created this at the request of someone else. If it needs to be deleted, I understand. ^__^

<EDIT>

I want to make clear that this is NOT knitting back backwards. This technique is not the same as the one you'd use to avoid purling. ^_^

"Shape shoulders: Cast off 12 (13-14) sts beg next 2 rows, then
12 (13-13) sts beg following 2 rows. Leave remaining 35 (35-37) sts on
a stitch holder."


So I had to modify my pattern slightly because when I went to measure halfway through the back, it measured something bw 22-23" (when it was supposed to measure 20.5") (weirdly enough, I went back and checked my gauge and I was spot on... so perhaps it has to do with the yarn Im using (bernat supervalue) when the pattern called for bernat denimstyle, but anyhow...)

So I tore it out until the armhole and decided I would steek the excess seam allowance (omg I can steek!!! I. CAN. STEEK. hehe) So I just made the armhole deeper (pattern called for binding off 6 stitches, I did 10 (4 are going to disappear with the seam allowance, so Ill end up with the original 6 after taking the SA into consieration).

Now my problem is when I'm supposed to shape for the shoulders... If I cast off the required 12, then I won't end up with 35 stitches for the neck. Would I cast off 12-4=8 instead?

I love my mother. She sent me enough yarn to fill an entire tote box, and there's more on the way!

But there's a big ol' package of it that is from Russia. She doesn't remember ordering it, and my Russian (ooh, that whole one semester of it I took in high school) is rusty and pointless. I figure there's a HUGE number of people on here, maybe one of you reads Russian and can help me out! Thanks so much!

( Russian Yarn LabelCollapse )

I just got an email from Interweave, and a little announcement for a "one skein" secret pal exchange caught my eye. I thought I'd pass the information along if anyone else was interested (I don't think this has been posted yet and no affiliation - hope it's okay!):

http://www.oneskein.com/secretpal.asp
( Some details of the exchangeCollapse )

Current Mood: accomplished

I've been totally slowing down on my Arisaig progress, and thought I might pick up a different project for this weekend (as if taxes weren't a big enough project). I have a friend I still owe a christmas present to, and wanted to knit her a new "sexy top".

I love the lace and the A-line on Lelah, but I was thinking of making the top part a strappy top with a front that crosses over the cleavage area. (What do you call those? Wrap top?) More specifically, I was thinking of switching to knitting that part flat, picking up a few stitches on the WS for the part that will cross over, and decreasing on each side to make the crossed shape.

How do i do this? Is this crazy? Unlike me and my superboobage that can't be contained, my friend is not really busty (at all) and will that style of top look terrible? Will it be one of those things that when i finish, i will say "hm. seemed like a good idea at the time..."

Also...yarn?? Lopi lite doesn't seem too happy for a top you wear across the skin, but then again, i haven't made myself a top yet. I'm still stalling on finishing Arisaig.

Any thoughts would be "wunderbar". Thanks.

For those of you who have made the Jaywalker Socks that are so popular lately, how much yarn did you end up using? The pattern says 465 yards, but I'm not sure if that's per sock or a modest measurement or what. 465 doesn't quite sound like enough to me.

I was wondering if anyone had some extra knitpicks dye-your-own wool of the andes. I'm also looking for some of the dye-your-own fingering weight merino. I'm going to be dying yarn for a project. I'd like it to be worsted weight, but I'm not sure if the wool of the andes will be soft enough. I'm sort of allergic to most wool besides merino.

Anyway, if anyone has extra of either of these types of yarn, I'd be willing to trade if there's something you're looking to feel. I've got knitpicks merino style, lorna's laces shepherd sock, lorna's laces shepherd worsted, debbie bliss cotton silk, and some more...I could send you pieces of any of those. We could trade enough for a swatch, or just enough to tie around the wrist-whatever you can spare. I know I have enough for a swatch of most of those. I also have a knitpicks sock yarn color card I don't need anymore-sock memories and sock landscape.

Please let me know if any of these interest you. It would really help me out a lot :)

Current Mood: hopeful