April 2, 2008
1) The first I would suggest is Don’t Use Really Cheap Wool – you may, like me, economise just in case you can’t do it. The problem with cheap wool is that it frays during knitting, your needle slips thru the yarn gaining stitches left right and centre.
2) Keep trying and try different instructions. There are a number of different ways to knit so find one that suits you and your hands (and brain!)
More to come. Feel free to add to.
March 14, 2008
I’ve just checked out some links for DPNS on YouTube and I’m freaked out. And there’s some dogs bollux knitting out there. Super speedy knitting. 5 needle knitting. Left handed yarn holding. One handed cast-ons. The wonderful weird world of knitting is invading my cozy little world of big wool on big needles. As you can tell my nomenclature is only aspirational.
March 11, 2008
Ok, so maybe it’s coz I’m trying to squeeze it into a precious spare 20 minutes but I’ve tried 2 different websites and my knitting bible and The Pictures Don’t Match The Text and the 3 times I’ve tried I’ve ended up with my knitting on 2 needles?? Can anyone point me to an Idiots guide with pictures to DPNS knitting – p-url-ease?!
February 25, 2008
Theres’ this giant pink bunny that’s been knitted in Italy and you can see it on google maps! Take a look – if you zoom back a bit the paths around it also look like a giant bunny monster. I wonder what wool they used and whether it will turn into a horrible mushy mouldy messy monster bunny.
February 23, 2008
Well I thought I would get loadsa knitting done whilst breastfeeding but alas, poking dudelettes eye out isn’t on the agenda.
February 21, 2008
I found myself breathing in time with every knit and purl. No wonder knitting is meant to be quite calming (apart when you are frogging in distress at the wrongness). Lucky I can’t foresee me getting faster at knitting otherwise I would be hyperventilating!
February 20, 2008
I’ve invented a new stitch, well it probably has a name but I haven’t seen it in my knitting book. Its a rib gone wrong but it’s quite nice so I’ve kept it. It was meant to be a single rib but the book says cast on an odd number so i did but I started with a knit stitch every time which seemed easier to remember and I didn’t read the instructions properly as per usual. I’m not sure why you can’t start with an even number of stitches and start with a knit each time to get the same effect as an odd number and knit / purl each row??
Anyway this is the 3rd attempt at a v simple scarf for (un)relaxed dad. I might have it finished before the weather turns warmer.
Note: it probably sais this in my Knitting Bible but don’t use garter stitch for a scarf unless you want a tubular one that curls at the edges!
November 15, 2007
… finish something. My brand spanking new DPNS have arrived and a lovely mink coloured wool for the kitties. But I must finish dudelets scarf. He’s so appreciative at the moment “mummy, mummy what are you knitting”; “a jumper”; “is it for me, can you knit one for me”. He insited I knit him a scarf so I set off with a blue fat wool (not too expensive, I have visions of him losing it the first day) but half way through when he saw it he insisted I use the red wool from the bag (below) – Big Wool from Rowan – as “it is much cosier”! What good taste he has. He has also tried to get (un)relaxed dad to use my new woolly red bag – to (un)relaxed dad’s horror though he somehow managed to distract him and set out with a manly plastic bag instead.
But back to the point of finishing a project. I wanted to add a little pirate motif to his scarf but I can’t find anything on how to do this – is it Instarsia? But that looks like a jumble of wool ends on one side so how to add a pattern to a 2 sided garment??
October 14, 2007
O no I’ve just seen the cutest kittie pattern but it uses DPNs – had to look that up – double pointed needles – not sure I’m quite up to that yet 😦
see this site: http://ysolda.com/wordpress/index.php/patterns at bottom of page
superchunky supermum superknitting 