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Knitting for nitwits

crustychick said:
I hosted my first knitting circle last night! It was awesome. We have 4 new fledgling knitters who all learnt how to cast on, knit, purl and cast off. Including stocking stitch and ribbing. And I was one of the teachers (having only been self-taught from a book about two weeks ago). It was awesome. I also made/started/almost finished a mobile phone cover, with 3 different colours. It’s got a mistake or two in it but I might do another one now I’ve got the hang of it. Ooooh, knitting is FUN
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oh wow, i'd love someone to teach me stitches. I've seen some videos of various websites and I cannot make sense of the purl stitch :( i want to knit a scarf and would like to put some sort of pattern in it. I liked the knit stitch, think with a very smooth yarn it could be quite lovely but I want a chuny textured scarf sometime soon.
Am I right in thinking you'd need at least two balls of yarn for for a scarf?
I've done casting off and i think its great.
I'm going to get some sort wool tomorrow, will probably go to that place in herne hill again. For now I'm going to undo the square that I did and practise some other stitches a bit more.
 
ShiftyBagLady said:
oh wow, i'd love someone to teach me stitches. I've seen some videos of various websites and I cannot make sense of the purl stitch :( i want to knit a scarf and would like to put some sort of pattern in it. I liked the knit stitch, think with a very smooth yarn it could be quite lovely but I want a chuny textured scarf sometime soon.
Am I right in thinking you'd need at least two balls of yarn for for a scarf?
I've done casting off and i think its great.
I'm going to get some sort wool tomorrow, will probably go to that place in herne hill again. For now I'm going to undo the square that I did and practise some other stitches a bit more.
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that's what i did. kept practising stitches over and over again and now I can do it pretty neat.

I recommend youtube for vides on how to purl... that's where I learned :)

I'm about to knit a ribbed scarf for my sisters xmas... and I bought two balls... but not all balls of yarn are created equal so ask in the shop!

There's a great "pattern" for a chunky, stripy scarf using just knit/garter stitch in the S&B book too....
 
wiskey said:
HELP!

I started off with 30 stitches across. Now I'm up to 35. how do I stop it getting longer??
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Technically this shouldn’t happen! You’re either “making” stitches somewhere along the line, or somehow mistaking something which is only one stitch for two, or something similar….

If you’re only practising, I’d recommend starting again. And pay really close attention to what each stitch looks like and make sure you’re knitting the right bit. Then count after every row. If you’ve got too many after knitting one row, then you need to go back and think about what you might have done wrong.

One thing to look for, is to not confuse the “loop” holding on the first stitch (after you’ve knitted at least one row) as two stitches. Make sure that the knitting you’ve just done is pulled down to the right and that the wool that is attached to the ball is in front of the needle and pulled down properly. Ummmm, not sure if that actually made sense…
 
crustychick said:
Technically this shouldn’t happen!
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:D:D trust me :D

Actually I think I've capped it at 37. So from now on it will be 37 wide.

I have been very careful to make sure I dont add a stitch at the start by having the thread the wrong way - but maybe last night I wasn't paying attention.

I'm not starting again. This will have to be how it is :mad:
 
A square :D or maybe a rhombus.

Its the first square of a patchwork blanket.

I know that if I stop this one I'll give up, whereas if I carry on and finish it I'll persevere with the others. Then I can make one extra and not use this one iyswim.

I've met me before, I know how I work.
 
wiskey said:
I'm not starting again. This will have to be how it is :mad:
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Whatever it is it will look homespun. It wouldnt quite be handmade if we didn't allow for human error.
Yes, I'm a shoddy knitter too :D

Thanks for the youtube suggestion CrustyChick
 
ShiftyBagLady said:
Whatever it is it will look homespun. It wouldnt quite be handmade if we didn't allow for human error.
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"this is a handmade product and some inconsistencies and imperfections are to be expected"

I think I've sorted it - I doubled up some of them till I got back down to 30. two or three rows might be a bit skewiff but I'm sure it will be ok.
 
wiskey said:
"this is a handmade product and some inconsistencies and imperfections are to be expected"

I think I've sorted it - I doubled up some of them till I got back down to 30. two or three rows might be a bit skewiff but I'm sure it will be ok.
Click to expand...
Yeeessss... this is not the first time I've known of a new knitter doing this :hmm: :hmm: :hmm: It's really not a long term solution, you need to figure out why you're getting too many stitches in the first place, and stop. There is a reason why new knitters get too many stitches. But I can't remember what it is.
 
maybe its because apart from a 2"x6" scarf I made when I was 9 (that my mother lovingly found last night) I've only been knitting for about 24 hours?
 
I have done my first square!! and I remembered how to cast off :)

Its not quite a square but I know what I'm aiming at now. 30 stitches by 58 rows. With a few less wonkynesses and no holes!
 
Went and bought some more wool today, spent a lot of money on it, this is not going to be a cheap hobby is it? Still, if I end up with things I can actually use then it will be worth it.
Have spent this evening knitting up a scarf which is turning out really quite well. Not one little hole so far and almost completely straight. I'm on my second ball of wool, I reckon I'll finish it tomorrow. Must look up how to put some sort of fringing on it. Want something very simple, how easy is it to do?
 
hmm. maybe it wont need a fringe, could just be a very plain and boring kind of scarf... will post pictures when i'm done
I'm expecting other people's pictures too :)
 
Big needles and thick wool :cool: Also having no social life helps :)
I am actually quite impressed with myself. let's hope shiftyjunior is suitably impressed too. I will do somethign for me next
I saw a lovely blanket in the shop today. The woman told me it was an increasing and decreasing stitch pattern and it gave a wavy pattern with pretty holes in. It looked so intricate but she said it was really easy to make... I must master some more stitches before I tackle anything else

Are you supposed to wash it once you've finished? :confused:
 
If you're looking for thick wool, I can recommend colinette point 5 In fact, all of the wools on the colinette site are lovely. With the point 5 wool, you need very thick needles (12mm). with 2 balls of point 5 you'll be able to knit yourself a lovely scarf over the weekend - the wool is so thick that you only need to cast on about 7 stitches for an average width scarf.
 
ShiftyBagLady said:
it's called rowan country and is 100% wool. thats all it says on the label :confused:
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I wouldn't worry about washing it. If/when you start making more advanced things, it'll help to find out about blocking (when you've finished something you pin it out to the right shape and either press it or wet it and leave it to dry, so it holds the shape) but you wouldn't block a plain garter stitch or rib scarf.

Keep the label though because it's got the washing instructions on the back.
 
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