Knitting!

I bought some Koigu to make another Molly's Headband (GREAT PATTERN!) and I know I'll have a ton left over. I want to make the tiny clutch from IK's One Skein book and was thinking of pairing the Koigu with with some sport weight wool in a solid purple thats been languishing in my stash for awhile.

Has anyone purposely felted Koigu?(It doesn't say it's superwash, so I have to assume it'll felt! The ballband is notoriously lacking in the info department.) I have a tiny, tiny bit of another skein leftover from some booties, but I doubt its enough to get a useful swatch out of. (I'm still gonna try though, no worries! My daughter gets another dollhouse rug out of the deal.)

I'd love to see anything similar that folks have done. :)

EDIT: Well, shoot, it won't felt. It might still look cool though... swatchin time! :)

question for all you lovelies who have the SnB books... i am fairly new to knitting but have been able to pick it up kinda easy... have completed an afghan, baby blanket, wristies, mittens, Kate from knitty.com... anyhoo, every time i am in a knit store i pick up and think about buying one of the SnB books. i've been mostly basiing it on which one has more patterns that i like, but trouble is, i like a few from both and can't decide! any opinions out there on which has better actual knitting advice??

thanks in advance you wonderful creatures!

I finally took the plunge and ordered the above from kyarns.com in the USA.  Not much over a week later (if that) and I have the wonderful plunder in my hands.  And boy I wish we could do away with all that international shipping charges and import duty! 

I had looked and looked and just couldn't find the colours of Koigu in the UK that I wanted, let alone at a decent price.  At some point, I am going to sit down and work out just what it cost per skein from the USA vs from the UK, including the shipping.  I want to see if what I suspect is true, and it's more expensive per skein in the UK even accounting for the import duty and shipping.  But regardless - ooh, this is lovely yarn.

From first glance, I've spotted a little flaw in one skein where it looks like one of the plys has come apart - there's a couple of knots my fingertips found too but I suspect this is just the bit that holds the skein together - certainly hope so!

The colours are really lovely, not as vibrant as I was expecting perhaps for the majority, but the blues I added as a 6th skein (having read so many people saying they needed a 6th to make the edging/fringe/finish the last row or two) are certainly packing a punch and absolutely gorgeous.

The Lorna's Laces - well.  I am astounded, frankly.  The colour transitions and blendings are just lovely.  The yarn itself is uniform, absolutely wonderful to the touch - smooth, soft, and I can't wait till my feet are wrapped in it (it's destined for socks).  It says 'superwash' wool and nylon - I'm puzzled as to what superwash wool is, so if anyone can explain that to a Brit, that'd be good.  I'm thinking it might mean it's not going to felt (this is good) - I do like to wash my socks (even my handknitted, though so far these are all man-made fibre, not wool) in my machine, but if I have to do them by hand then so be it, I have quite a few more handwash-only items on the to-knit list, including a kiri shawl in kidsilk spray that's just made it onto the needles to be started ;-)

Very impressed with the comms from KYarns too - quick replies to my emails concerning the shipping internationally etc.

Now I just need to get the Kiri shawl finished so I can start on the Koigu stash.  Although if I use it up, I just know I'm going to want to order more, and my poor finances really can't run to that right now ;-)

Oh, and shipping to the UK (for the pattern, 6 skeins of Koigu, 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces - er - sockweight LOL) ran to around 16 US Dollars.  I did find it hard to gauge how much it might be (they put a standard charge on when you order for international shipping, then weigh and charge the actual cost which is often lower) so I thought that might help others who are wibbling about ordering from the UK.  Customs charged about 12.50 UK Pounds for the import duty.

If you knit cables into your work, and want to felt it... how does it turn out? can you still see the cable definition? Or is it just lost in the felting?

I understand that it will lose some of its definition but will it just be a waste of my time?

Reason for the question... i want to make a small decorative pillow for a friend and I want to felt it because she LOVES felted knits. I want it to be a bit more fancy than just a standard knit.

Any input would be appreciated.


Keep those needles warm!

Does anyone have opinions on Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys? I'd like to buy it for the spider monkey pattern, but before I do I'd like to hear about any experiences with the patterns. Were the instructions relatively easy to follow? I consider myself an advanced knitter, but the last time I tried making a stuffed animal, it was a Debbie Bliss pattern and I eventually gave up after not being able to figure out her cryptic instructions.

So... any thoughts? Thanks!

ETA: Thanks for everyone's comments so far. Now to ask, since a monkey is what I'm after, what is your favourite knit monkey pattern? If you have one ;)

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Pattern: Pacific Northwest shawl
Yarn: Laceweight Jaeggerspun Zepher, in Pewter
Needles: US 6
Started May 20; finished Jun 9

I started the shawl 3 weeks before I was due to leave for my sister's wedding, hoping to have it done in time to give to her. (She had asked for something she could take on her honeymoon). And I made it - I blocked it the day before I left!

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The different motifs kept it interesting, but I'll never work under this much deadline pressure again. I was knitting every free second I had, and by the end, I just didn't want to look at a set of needles again. For something that's usually a relaxing hobby for me, it became very, very stressful.

Thanks to all those who helped me out with blocking suggestions!

I am knitting the toddler hat from the book One Skein using the suggested yarn (Classic Elite Lush). I am having a repeated problem that stitches are falling of the ends (i.e., "corners") of the DPNS that are 90 degrees or 180 degrees from the section that I'm working. I am using 5 DPNs. I have knit with DPNs before (though not a ton) and didn't have this problem in the past, but this my first time using DPNs with this particular yarn. Is it that Lush is especially slippery? Related question: is there a trick to keep this slippage from happening or is this just a sorry result of my limited knitting skills? Thanks!

Within the past couple years, my mom has been complaining that her neck, shoulders, and upper chest get cold a lot more easily than they used to. On our past couple trips to the local
Weavers and Spinner's guild's sale, she tried on a couple different shawls and wraps, but nothing was quite right. It just recently dawned on me that, putting my skills to use, I could make one for her.

Never having made nor worn such a garment before, I did a bit of research, looking at patterns and such, and now I have a couple of questions:

1.) I have seen a number of patterns that result in either a circular or square-shaped shawl. I'm having a hard time visualizing and understanding how one would wear one of these. Do you just fold it in half? If so, why would one want to do all that work, and then just fold it up, obscuring the design? Is there some sort of advantage to these shapes that I'm just not grasping?

2.) One concern that I (and my mom) have is having the shawl stay in place. I want it to be something that she can put on in the office or in a restaurant and not have to fuss with or worry about it constantly falling off her shoulders. Is a certain shape (rectangular, triangular, etc) better at staying on?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!