Knitting - help and advice super thread!

Obliq

Yeah, did the every 2nd needle thing. Worked fine in 4ply - no use in anything else so far. I'll go back to youtube to see where I'm going wrong - how anyone learned anything before youtube......??? Ta

Eathrin

Where do you guys generally buy your supplies from?

duckling10

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Q for the hand knitters, how do you handle floats and tension in coloured knitting? I'm knitting a elmo pic as part of a kids sweater and it keeps getting too tight where there are loads of colour changes. Also I have holes where I switch colours. I am twisting each strand and no float is longer than 5 stitches.

It is not easy to ensure it doesn't get too tight when you have floats and colour changes, i suppose you might have to ensure you leave more slack than you think you need, check at the end of each line, that if you were to stretch the piece would the strands at the back be loose enough to allow it stretch. I would do 2 twists when changing colour, if I recall correctly.
is it working out better for you?
d

duckling10

Eathrin wrote: »

Where do you guys generally buy your supplies from?

all over the place:
Lena's and Singer's wool shops in Limerick,
pound shops for cheap bright acryclic for kids,
online in Ravelry destashes,
online from Etsy sellers,
online from Irish suppliers: Springwools, This Is Knit, Hedgehog Fibers,
and
at yarn shops on my holidays...
too many places, in other words...

Eathrin

Any reason? Are all yarns different?

duckling10

Eathrin wrote: »

Any reason? Are all yarns different?

yes indeed all yarns are different, but really you wouldn't have to go to as many different suppliers as that at all, that just shows you some of the options available. Your local yarn shop may have just what you want to start off with, and then you can work out as you go along what you prefer and what you want to try out.
Yarn comes in different thicknesses, eg 3ply, 4ply, Double Knitting, Aran, Chunky.
Yarn is made of different fibers, eg wool, cotton, linen, bamboo, acryclic, or any mix of fibers from this list and much more, etc.
Yarn can be smooth, or bumpy, eg boucle, textured, nubbly, all sorts.
There is yarn suitable for babies and yarn for knitting chunky wool sweaters, and everything inbetween.
Yarn can also be handspun on a spindle or a spinning wheel and therein lies another whole chapter....

wmpdd3

duckling10 wrote: »

It is not easy to ensure it doesn't get too tight when you have floats and colour changes, i suppose you might have to ensure you leave more slack than you think you need, check at the end of each line, that if you were to stretch the piece would the strands at the back be loose enough to allow it stretch. I would do 2 twists when changing colour, if I recall correctly.
is it working out better for you?
d

TBH, my head is wrecked, I finished the hat in one solid colour!! The 3-6 yr hat just fits my 13 month old!

Das Kitty

wmpdd3 wrote: »

TBH, my head is wrecked, I finished the hat in one solid colour!! The 3-6 yr hat just fits my 13 month old!

I've only ever made one fair isle hat. It took ages and much ripping back but by god, I finished the bugger.

Here tis: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/DasKitty/simple-baby-hat

duckling10

Das Kitty wrote: »

I've only ever made one fair isle hat. It took ages and much ripping back but by god, I finished the bugger.

Here tis: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/DasKitty/simple-baby-hat

That is a lovely hat!! well done!

wmpdd3

Well done, your a better one than me!!

(appoloigies, my daughter pulled off the letter 'r' from my keyboard)

Das Kitty

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Well done, you a better one than me!!

Sacrificed my sanity for those squirrels!

aknitter

Can anyone recommend a good quality black dk yarn I can use for a cardigan I'm knitting, couldn't find one in my local and its wreaking my head looking online!

Baby75

aknitter wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good quality black dk yarn I can use for a cardigan I'm knitting, couldn't find one in my local and its wreaking my head looking online!

Hi ya I get wool from these two ladies on line

https://www.facebook.com/KnittingYarnWithRuth?ref=ts&fref=ts Ruth could order in for you

Also
https://www.facebook.com/babyhandknits.andwool?ref=ts&fref=ts and Bernadette could have it in stock, she does Prisewise DK and Stylecraft DK
wool

Hope that helps

The_Morrigan

I've been plodding along with the blanket for the last few weeks and after several false starts and ripping it back a few times while I got to grips with the pattern I'm now about half way through one side.

I'm just wondering though, once I'm finished - would you advise washing it?


Thanks

Baby75

The_Morrigan wrote: »

I've been plodding along with the blanket for the last few weeks and after several false starts and ripping it back a few times while I got to grips with the pattern I'm now about half way through one side.

I'm just wondering though, once I'm finished - would you advise washing it?


Thanks

I would normally hand wash it and then wrap it in a towl to get all the excess water out and then dry it flat in the right shape, there are other ways to block your blanket or garment
http://www.keep-on-knitting.com/blocking-knitting.html

ShaShaBear

Pretty new to knitting, and have really been enjoying it! Decided to have a look at some different wools, but my local shop is quite pricey if you want wool to knit anything larger than baby-sized.
I came across Ice Yarns site, and the Tuesday deal and bargain basement had me overwhelmed with the difference in price.
Anyone bought off them before, know what the quality is like and if I can really expect to get 8 x 50g balls of yarn for a tenner?

wmpdd3

Quality is great but shipping is a killer. They also sell on Ebay which sometimes can be better.

Only recently have they started introducing more natural yarns, usually its mostly novelty yarn, also theres a seller on adverts selling ice yarns.

My favourite is this:

http://www.iceyarns.com/products/s.super/q.11-12#ajaxitem/superbulky-chain-white

ShaShaBear

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Quality is great but shipping is a killer. They also sell on Ebay which sometimes can be better.

Only recently have they started introducing more natural yarns, usually its mostly novelty yarn, also theres a seller on adverts selling ice yarns.

My favourite is this:

http://www.iceyarns.com/products/s.super/q.11-12#ajaxitem/superbulky-chain-white

Shipping doesn't seem incredibly bad, considering I just spent 4.50 on a 100g ball of acrylic wool to knit a dog jumper...

wmpdd3

Oh, that seems grand , did you just order 1 ball, I usually order about 4 x 400g packs.

Shipping is about 1/3 of the price once you get over €10 worth of yarn.

Still thats a little bit expensive for a 100% acrylic.

ShaShaBear

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Oh, that seems grand , did you just order 1 ball, I usually order about 4 x 400g packs.

Shipping is about 1/3 of the price once you get over €10 worth of yarn.

Still thats a little bit expensive for a 100% acrylic.

No sorry, that was in my local shop - I meant their shipping costs don't seem so bad when I realise I spent 4.50 to buy one ball of wool that I collected in person, when they're charging about 8 quid to have four of the same delivered!

krankykitty

I finished my baby blanket! (at last). Pic attached.

Have some pink bows and/or pink satin roses to sew around the border, though not sure whether to do that now.

cofy

krankykitty wrote: »

I finished my baby blanket! (at last). Pic attached.

Have some pink bows and/or pink satin roses to sew around the border, though not sure whether to do that now.

That is so pretty and delicate, I can that being treasured and passed down.

Das Kitty

Wow, beautiful!

aknitter

Kitty that is gorgeous, did it take you long?

krankykitty

aknitter wrote: »

Kitty that is gorgeous, did it take you long?

It's hard to say really. I knit it in 3 sections and then the border separately, and I started it months ago and then left it for ages.. I think it probably took me a weekend to get one section done while watching telly etc, (that would have been afternoon/evening both days, was resting at the time!) then maybe another few evenings to get another done. The border was the most annoying bit, as I kept forgetting the stitches and had to check the pattern.

kandr10

It's gorgeous kranky kitty! Do u mind me asking what pattern you used?

krankykitty

I just winged it a bit, it started off as just a piece of "little shell stitch" and a pattern called "Dancing Daggers" from a book on Google Books that I found.

2 sections were was about 52 stitches or so (the 3rd section slightly narrower as I got lazy) and then sewed together, I just knit until I got to about 48 repeats of the pattern. It really looked better after I steam/ironed it when finished, so depending on the yarn that might be appropriate too.

Little shell stitch: multiples of 7 stitches plus 2

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K2, *YO, P1, P3TOG, P1, YO, K2 Repeat from * till end
Row 4: Purl

Border: (From 50 Fabulous Knit Borders, from Google Books)
CO 4 st
Row 1 YO K4: 5 st
Row 2 Sl 1, K1, P3
Row 3 YO, K1, YO, K2tog, K2: 6 st
Row 4 Sl 1, K1, P4
Row 5 YO, K1, YO, k2tog, YO, K3 : 8 st
Row 6 Sl1, K1, P6
Row 7 (YO, K2tog) 3 times, K2 : 8 St
Row 8 Sl1, K1, P6
Row 9 Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, YO, K2tog, YO, K3: 7 st
Row 10 Sl 1, K1, P5
Row 11 Sl1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, K2: 6 st
Row 12 Sl1, K1, P4
Row 13 sl1, K2tog, PSSO, k3: 4 st
Row 14 Sl1 K1, P2

Repeat row 1-14

kandr10

Thanks so much! I'll have to give it a go.

TreasureBin

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Pretty new to knitting, and have really been enjoying it! Decided to have a look at some different wools, but my local shop is quite pricey if you want wool to knit anything larger than baby-sized.
I came across Ice Yarns site, and the Tuesday deal and bargain basement had me overwhelmed with the difference in price.
Anyone bought off them before, know what the quality is like and if I can really expect to get 8 x 50g balls of yarn for a tenner?

I've been buying from Ice for over a year now and have always found their yarns good quality. As pointed out, shipping looks expensive by comparison but it all balances out, especially if you're taking advantage of their promotions. They only sell in full packs but that's normally 4-8 balls so not huge quantities. They send by DHL* so I find that if I order on a Tuesday it usually arrives by the Friday unless they're out of stock of something. I don't think I've ever had to wait more than a week. (If you're given the option of surface mail, don't bother - as far as I remember, they say that takes 6-8 weeks. DHL isn't more expensive ... it might even be slightly cheaper!)
They have a group page on Facebook where knitters compare projects and discuss the different yarns. (This is separate from their company page.)

krankykitty

I like this baby hat pattern Baby Hat Pattern but I'd like to use some DK wool that I already have.

Does anyone have any idea how to scale the stiches down to work with the wool and needles that I have? (Would normally use 4 or 4.5mm needles with that wool.

Thanks