Knitting!

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I'm making a 2x2 Fisherman's Rib hat in the round. Now, I didn't find any directions on how to do this online, so I made it up (knit 2 below one round, purl 2 below the next round) and so far it seems to be pretty successful. But, I'm getting closer and closer to the part where I have to start decreasing, and I am absolutely flummoxed (because, if one has to be confused, you might as well be flummoxed) as to how to decrease while still maintaining the fisherman's rib fabric, if that makes sense.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

I am searching for a touque pattern with a bit of a beak. Any suggestions? Ideas? I knit a simple ribbed hat and just sewed a folded over beak type thing on it. However, the end result was rather floppy looking, definately not what I had in mind. Any ideas at all would be great! thanks!

Today I made two Texas Squares out of Bernat Cottontots for Lone Star State Knitters.

Apparently it's a tradition to make these squares and send them to a member when she is having a baby. The recipient sews them together.

The standard is Cottontots on size seven needles, but after I cast on on size seven's, the piece was headed for a width of 10 inches or more. (No one really established a gauge, and everyone said they just work through the varying sizes.) However, most people said they got between 8" and 8.5" squares. Even on size four and fives, I was getting bigger than that. I always knew I knit loose, but wow!

After frogging a couple of times, I brought the yarn and needles to the meet up at Borders. I went ahead and knit it on size fives, and it ended up bigger than the person next to me, but everyone said that was ok. And they were all impressed that I finished one before the group disbanded.

It turned out there was another person collecting square for another blanket, so I gave her my first (still size five needles) square and worked on the second one at home (the one pictured.) I think this one is even bigger than the first, at 9.5" square.

I really like this yarn. It's light, soft and machine washable. I may make an afghan for myself with it (even though it's technically baby yarn.)

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So, I carried out my plan to make a tapered sleeve on my Tubey, decreasing one stitch every 4th row as calculated.

The sleeve came out too short and, more importantly, tighter than I would prefer. I mean, I wanted negative ease, but this is too negative.

I figure either I messed up when I measured my row gauge or the laws of multiplication have totally changed. (I suspect the former is the more plausible explanation.)

Well, while fiddling with it I realized that if I had just knitted straight for about 3" before I began my decreases, the sleeve would be perfect. Then I realized I could just mattress-stitch up the tube at the top of the sleeve to mimic having knit 3" before beginning the decreases. However, when I tried it (first looking up mattress stitch, having only done it once before) I decided that I didn't really like having a seam in my armpit on sleeves this close-fitting.

So, I'm toying with the idea of cutting the yarn, seperating the sleeve from the flat part of the tube, knit 3" of sleeve, and then graft the sleeve back on. I realize frogging the sleeve is the other option, but I've already frogged varying amounts of these sleeves multiple times, the thought of frogging the whole sleeve really, really depresses me.

Can anyone think of any reason why this would be a bad idea, besides the fact that grafting is a pain and it involves *gulp* cutting my knitting? Would the graft show badly? Is there some problem to grafting in the round that I'm unaware of? I've done this once before on a stuffed hippocampus, but that was flat and involved Homespun (minus side, pain in the tookus to get the pieces apart, plus side if I did a bad job grafting, who can tell?).

Or should I give up the idea and knit the *expletive deleted* sleeve all over again?

I am trying not to dwell on the fact that Tubey is supposed to be a fast and easy knit, and yet all I've managed to successfully comeplete is the back, which is nothing but a rectangle of stockinette.

(I am not actually typing this at 2am, BTW. My LJ times are messed up.)

Yesterday was a snow day and so I had plenty of free time to get started on my first sock and attempt at using DPNs!

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So far so good. I messed up a couple of times on the ribbing toward the top, but it doesn't look terrible. I also was knitting the sock inside out for a while, which isn't SO bad, but it turns out it's actually easier to knit from the outside of the round than the inside, so now I am doing it "correctly." Originally I was planning to make two pairs of these socks, but we'll see how I like the first pair. If I'm not too into them I might try and make some Knucks out of the other yarn I bought. These socks will probably be my sister's christmas present unless I completely screw them up somehow.

Anyway, for this project I am using Knit Picks Memories yarn. I accientally bought it based on how beautiful the colors were and completely forgot to check that it was machine washable. It's 100% merino wool and therefore NOT machine washable at all. Oops. Also, I turned out not to be too thrilled with the Pansy colorway. It looked better on my monitor. :p The Fly Fishing (pictured above) looks the same though.

Also, the Pansy yarn they sent me is labeled "Sock Garden" and not packaged in hanks like the Fly Fishing yarn. I looked on their site and actually couldn't find Sock Garden yarn anywhere on their site. I wonder if they maybe re-named this line of yarn to "Memories" and changed the way they package it? It is fingering weight, 100% merino wool and seems to be the right colorway, but it's still sort of weird. :/

In any case the yarn is soft and easy to work with and so far I love it.

I very recently finished a sweater out of KnitPicks Main Line. Unfortunately the yarn is pilling very noticably after only two wearings. I emailed Knitpicks and expressed my disappointment in the durability of the yarn. They suggested their sweater stones, and said that "once all the loose fibers have worked themselves out of the garment, the pilling should be very minimal." This does make some sense to me, but I was wondering about others experience with pilling in general.

Will pilling stop/slow significantly after enough use? And will the shaven/sweater stoned sweater still retain the look of a clean quality made sweater, or will it appear much thinner? I understand this will vary by yarn, but I'm hoping for general input about others experiences with pilling in the long term.

In the meantime, I'm going to be much rougher on my swatches and more careful about yarn choices in the future. Thanks folks.

Project: Feather and Fan Shawl by Eugen Beugler, from A Gathering of Lace
Date Started: May 18, 2006 (at 9:30 at night - how's that for obsessive accuracy?)
Date Completed: July 23, 2006 - Bound off
July 25, 2006 - Unpinned from blocking.

Yarn: The yarn was a 62% merino, 13% angora, 15% cashmere, 10% nylon blend that had started its life as a Medium-sized Ralph Lauren cowlneck sweater which I picked up at a local St. Vincent Di Paul Thrift Store. Mostly three plies, but four plies on the parts that had formerly been ribbing and the cowlneck. Comparable to fingering-weight, so, heavier than the pattern reccomended. Very soft, but very pilly.
Needles Used: US size #5 (3.75mm) in each of the following: Clover bamboo double-pointed needles, Clover 16" bamboo circular needle, Clover 24" bamboo circ., Addi Turbo 40" circ., Addi Turbo 60" circ.
Size: The shawl was about 40-something inches across before blocking. It blocked to about 60", and sprang back a little bit after being unpinned.
Modifications: Since I didn't know the precise amount of yarn I had to work with, I stopped around 16 rows short of the end, and skipped straight to the last five (stockinette) rows. This is just as well, since I have only a few yards left of this yarn...and I later needed it.
I wasn't able to block to the reccomended measurements. I slipped the second stitch of the SSK's purlwise. Aside from that, I basically followed the pattern to the letter.

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My room-mate wants convertable mittens, you know, the ones with the flip top so she could use her fingers if she wanted to? I'm desperately seeking a pattern for such a thing but have no idea how difficult it would be (is there seaming involved?) or where to start. If anyone knows where I could find a pattern, preferably one online or free, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd also prefer that it be just plain knitting but I can definitely handle fair isle if need be.

EDIT: Knitty's Broadstreet looks good. But the "extraspicy" warning scares me. Has anyone here knitted those before and could ease my anxiety? I've been knitting for about a year and can knit armwarmers, thumb gussets, and scarves no problem, but mittens and gloves are something new.

I want to try and knit my brother-in-law socks for Christmas. (I picked his name this time). He is not fussy on wool because he says it is itchy. Do you have any suggestions on a yarn I can use in place of the wool one suggested? I plan on using this pattern.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Pattern: Stitch and Bitch Nation
Yarn: 1 full skein and about 3/4 of another of Noro Kureyon 154
Modifications: I accidentally knit the left armwarmer with the right one's pattern so it might be reversed of what it's supposed to look like, but other than that, I followed the pattern to a T. I had to get my girlfriend to show me what the back of a stitch is and how to knit in the back of it because I'm left handed and thought it might be different.
What I learned: Cables, thumb gusset, knit in front and back of stitches, reading a cable pattern.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I probably should have used two different skeins to get matching arm-warmers, but everyone I know still likes them despite the fact that they don't match. They really didn't take much time at all. I finished the first one over the course of a weekend. The second one took a bit longer but that's because I ran out of yarn and had to find where the first skein ended in the second skein. I had to go back and stitch up the thumb gusset for the left one because it was a little loose where I picked up the stitches but overall nothing major went wrong.

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I'm looking for a free pattern for a rectangular lace scarf which is interesting enough to knit and will look okay at about 30" long and between 4 and 8" wide. I'm not fond of the Feather and Fan pattern and would prefer not to knit Branching Out, but otherwise I'm open to any suggestions which don't involve beads. This will be my first lace project, but I've done all the necessary stitches before, so if it's fairly complex I'll probably enjoy it keeping me on my toes. Good pictures of the finished product are helpful, too- some of the ones I've been looking at are pretty bad for seeing what the pattern's meant to be, beyond having occasional holes in.

Also, I plan to make it in some white sock yarn I have which is 75% superwash wool, 25% acrylic. Will this block okay, or does it need a higher wool content?

(Next post I make, I'll have pictures of my last FO, a pair of gloves, along with the circular needle case and stitch markers I've just finished...but I have to coax my sister into lending me her camera first.)

edit: I think I have a pattern- the only thing is, it's 16" wide. In theory, I could just knit half the repeats in each row, halving any stitches which fall outside the repeats, but is it as straightforward as that? This is the one I'm considering, though I'm going to look at others if making it narrower is too difficult.

A little bit of background information: I recently transferred to a new school where I am pursuing a degree Textile Engineering. Two classes that I'm taking thus far have been a theoretical survey of fibers, textiles and the industry and a hands on lab course. I hardly have any time to knit, but I'm learning lots of great things that are relevant to my knitting.

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Let me know if you find this interesting or useful or if you need anything clarified.

ETA: Next to spandex, it should say "Elastomeric," not "Electromeric." It refers to the elasticity of the polymer used to make it. I would go back and fix it, but it was a PowerPoint document that I took a screen shot of... you'll forgive me, right?

1. Is there a rule of thumb to determine what a yarn will look like knitted up, versus how it looks on the skein? Particularly with varigated/hand-painted yarns? 

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2. I have some Socks That Rock in the "lightweight" gauge at home, so I know what that is like, but can anyone who has used the medium-weight tell me what other sort of sock yarn it would compare to gauge-wise? They recommend 0-1 needles for the lightweight, and 1-2 needles for the medium-weight...So is lightweight more comparable to Lorna's whereas medium-weight would be more comparable to Koigu or something? I'm thinking about trying the medium-weight since the socks would probably knit up a little faster, but I don't want really thick sport-weightish type socks either, so I wasn't sure.

So I'd like to knit this Iris Afghan but the pattern isn't  wide enough for my taste. I want a big one. Not huge, but 88 stitches wide... that's nothing. I want it to be an oversized lap blanket for my dad. I'm considering making it around 248. The pattern is multiples of 10 with 8 stitches for the 4 knit stitches on the end for the garter border.

Do you guys think this would be possible? I already bought a craaaaap ton of yarn to make it. Two 1 lb. skeins. I think they're quite possibly the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in my life. Haha

Either way it'll be big. If i have to make panels and seam them together.

I was also thinking about what needles I would use if I were to knit it in one big piece. My biggest circs are 21" so I'll probably buy a new set for this project. What length would you guys recommend? I havn't decided on what size needles I'll actually use. Probably the 15s the project recommends.

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Basically because I'm a moron and didn't realize the yarn in the pattern I initially found was thicker than the yarn I purchased, I found a new pattern with a similar design that calls for worsted weight yarn. I'll definitely need to buy more, but because I bought a cream color I'm not toooo concerned about the dye lots.

Thanks for all of your help.

Hello fellow knitters!

I'm sure this is a really silly question, but I want to check to save me frogging frustration in the future! I'm adapting a pattern for mittens knitted on two needles and sewn up to be knitted in the round on DPNs. I was just wondering if I should take out some stitches to accomodate for the stitches that would be "lost" when sewing up? The mittens are knitted on 3mm needles with 4ply wool so the gauge is pretty small.

I would happily knit for hours and hours but I despise sewing up!

Thanks in advance.
xx

PS Just under two months till Christmas and so much Christmas knitting left to do...

I would like to attempt a sweater for the first time!
I was looking for something somewhat like this : http://www.interweave.com/knit/TSC/welcome_back.asp
Except about 10 times easier??
I don't know. I'd hate to ask you guys for patterns or pattern sites, but I'm not having much luck!
I'm looking for something turtleneck, oversized, comfy, and not too hard.
Please?

*edit: I've knitted a poncho and shrugs with no problem...so too hard is about equivalent to: 5 million seams to sew up, very hard complicated cables or stitches I don't understand, or anything involving switching colors about every other stitch. I also have quite a bit of trouble with any pattern that isn't extremely specific!
thanks...

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Phase 2: ...
Phase 3: Profit

I sent this pic to my friend, who left his underpants in my dryer. Next thing I know, he's on my phone, laughing hysterically and he needs a gnome. And his sister needs a gnome. Things are getting out of hand!
Still need to finish the once-cardigan-now-tank-with-skulls and begin the dragon shawl. At least I solved Destroy All Humans 2 so I'll be having more time to get these pesky projects done.

Problems with my gnome, beard isn't full enough and should probably be blocked into a downward position...but I kinda like a wild beard. Reminds me of a neighbor down the street. My gnome is also tall and thin not short and stout. I didn't notice until I got the arms on him. Didn't want to take off the legs and redo his limbs, but it's ok, he's OUR gnome, he's unique! LOL I'm happy enough that I could look at a picture and work it all out. That was a learning experience all by itself.

My mama bought me a copy of S'n'B Nation, and the London Calling sweater is my favourite by far. It's very me, and it's the first project from the book that I want to make for myself. However, pricing out the yarn... $150-ish USD (I'm in Canada), not even counting shipping, anywhere I've looked.

The yarn it calls for is GGH Soft Kid. Does anyone have a suggestion for a less expensive (likely synthetic) alternative for this yarn? It's not like any kind I've worked with before, so I'm not sure where to even begin!

Thanks in advance for any help.