knitting and crochet, nattering and sharing

sock knitting in bed last night and I am on the foot, turned the heel yesterday, now big enough to try on, had a sharp intake of breath, fits perfectly and is lovely, proof to me that my leg diameter has reduced with my weight loss I wore my first shawl, was good, nice and warm

I did watch youtube about making a sock on 9" circulars, I just did not fancy doing that, the needles are much smaller and I would have to change the way I hold them. My sister uses the magic loop method with a circular but I don`t fancy doing that either. 5 x 15cm karbonz are perfect for me but I am open minded for the future

I ended up ordering more expensive latex balloons from amazon, I wasn`t about to risk a broken bone, just for a balloon. Those balloons are easier to blow up and have a long neck, easier to tie. I shall soon have a lifetime supply

I know I have been putting off making swatches for 2 tops, one a 2 colour pullover and the other is for viburna by fabienne gassman from laine magazine, I should make 2 for that jumper, rice stitch and slip stitch and measure after blocking. The row count is most important as the jumper is knitted sideways. I don`t know, I am seriously thinking about winging it again with smaller needles, I would prefer to knit, estimate and frog if necessary, blocking means that I would `waste` too much yarn and I don`t want to get into a game of yarn chicken

laine magazine is expensive but really is like a book, many lovely designer patterns

I’ve just remembered a cry for knitting help. It was ages ago, when a dd’s friend was knitting a basket of fruit and vegetables for her GCSE Home Economics, and the deadline was imminent.
Hence the urgent message via dd - ‘Could your mum please knit me a lemon, because my mum can’t knit!

At least it wasn’t the cauliflower, though - I was most impressed that she could manage one of those.

Wow! That really is gorgeous.

That is lovely rosiebee

teacheranne
Try Raveley and search for Tinna. I started my mosaic journey through her. She does a brilliant tutorial showing you how to do it- 2 swatches. I followed this then tried her Small Simple Queen pattern, pictured.

I think that is why there are so many patterns that incorporate a deliberately curled edge. It also happens when making t shirts and sweatshirts, unless a separate bottom band is sewn on.

I am waiting until lunchtime to get the balloon, I tried going out but came back, far too dangerous underfoot and still not yet zero degrees

cooperpedi re your crochet bedspread, I think I would block as best I could and then encase all sides in petersham, bearing in mind that you would have to make a nice mitered corner. If the bedspread is wool, I would first try turning the sides down, tacking and steaming, just to see if that would work

Great news! It's maddening when you finally finish something only to find it has a 'flaw' that's going to get on your nerves.

The jumper I'm knitting now has a bottom that looks like it's going to flip. I did the knit the purl stitches and slip the knit ones trick before switching to stocking stitch, but I'm not convinced it's worked. Blocking when finished will be the acid test, but there needs to be a lot of knitting between now and then ?

yes re acrylic, touch it with too much heat and it becomes lifeless, did that and learnt, at the time when I only used acrylics, for small children and ease of washing.

I have a result: lovely result I found one pin and one needle in my stored mess. Ironing board, its a wide one that can carry my excellent steamer. Straightened one shawl edge, pulled out the corners and pinned them, hovered over with steamer and immediately saw the fibre relaxing, yay, patted the edge down and waited to cool, no cloth needed as no contact. Repeated all around and am more than happy now. All edges are flat and corners are corners. Phew. I shall weave strands shortly. Iron is tefal steam generator as I needed a good lightweight iron for sewing also with continuous steam for woollens. The shawl is alpaca, silk and merino

I am going out to buy a balloon later, just a walk away. Re the hat I winged it re tension as rib is forgiving. I used size 3mm tips which are 4"long (I have various tip lengths) linked to an 8" wire and dpns when I did the crown decreasing. It is a good and easy pattern

What is it made of, karmalady? If it’s acrylic you might spoil it with steam, and acrylic doesn’t have a ‘memory’ anyway. Wool and other natural fibres is more likely to have a memory (ie it will bounce back to the shape it was dried in after blocking). Acrylic doesn’t block as well as natural fibres for this reason.

I can’t make any suggestions for crochet, as I’m a knitter, but would a fringe or deep hem (added on, to save pulling it out) help?

oh heck, It has crossed my mind, to improve the cream edging on my shawl. I would have to remove one stitch at a time and maybe crochet some loops but with no guarantee that it will be better. 800 stitches is very daunting, I have to think about it some more, no turning back once I have secured the loose ends. It is folded on my sofa, I shall unfold and put it on and gaze into the mirror. I don`t think it will be worth the effort. I will decide later. I may use steam on the edge and outside corners, patting wasn`t quite enough. Constant steamer held over or used over a cloth but have to be careful not to flatten the star pattern

cooberpedi, I am wondering if your edge tension is too tight. My shawl edge is still not perfect but I have controlled the curling by blocking. It is fine now, I won`t notice it but it certainly is not perfect. I think I should have loosened the tension on it

I have a hat, finished it and it really is nice, could be worn slouchy or turned up at the brim. I need to buy a balloon so I can block it properly, it will be better on a curve shaped like a head. Enough of the same yarn is left for wrist warmers. I am not going to do much knitting for a couple of days, did a lot today and I need to do something else with my hands, maybe pruning outside

And in the wardrobe!

Yes, they breed under the stairs where it's dark

Calistemon

^Staff told us that the three of us started knitting faster and faster during the exiting bits and slowed down during the quieter scenes. I wonder if other knitters unconsciously do this too!!^
I used to notice that my knitting got tighter and tighter if I was watching something tense or even feeling tense.
It doesn't seem to happen with crochet.

I find this too!
Gosh Twinnytwin I remember knitting a tea cosy too, yellow and blue. That was at least 60 years ago and Mrs. Smith was the sewing and knitting teacher (I’m sure she probably taught more than that), I can even picture the classroom.
I love that blanket Minimoon, beautiful colours. I must look up Tunisian crochet, I promise not to get literally hooked on another yarn-based craft!
I have been thinning out my stash, an embarrassing number of balls of yarn have found a new home elsewhere but I still seem to have a plethora of other balls ?. Do they breed or something?!

My crocheted bed spread curls up for the last few rows. How do I flatten it? Would working rows at 90 degrees do the trick?

free hat pattern from purl soho. That will do me, rib is good for fit and extra warmth. Not bothering with a swatch for this, I will use circulars and start this morning

www.purlsoho.com/create/2018/03/19/lovely-ribbed-hat/

My mum was dutch and was always knitting, taught us 5 girls to knit before we could read, she held needles under her arms, which was my style too, until I started with circulars.

Chairs were always a problem when using long needles, I still have the most comfy armchair ever, very good for knitting with long needles or spinning with a cushion behind my back. It is an ekornes windsor in brown fabric, we spotted 2 in a sale a long time ago and snapped them up. Dd now has one and I will have the other for always, its sits upstairs in my smallest bedroom, next to a radiator and low window that overlooks very old red wonky roofs and higgeldy piggeldy old gardens, blissful place to sit when it isn`t being used to store stuff from my, waiting to be decorated, sewing room. February for that, I heard last night. Oh well, patience is a virtue and knitters are patient

I highly recommend sock knitting. I am following the pattern I linked to, using opal 4 ply. I cast on with 3.25 needles and did a few rows in rib on that size, then changed to 2.25 for the rest of the sock. I love the changing pattern, the closeness to me when I knit these, the lightness, speed of growth and I did some rows in bed again and slept all through

Finger joint settled down again, no aches. The shawl is dry now, underfloor heating is useful. I want to finish ends today and am glad to have that shawl as a popover for the coming winter and also in bed while knitting. It is a square shawl, loads of stitches, expensive yarn which was a bargain from a seller on rav. I have almost a full skein left and will be looking to make a slouchy hat next, I won`t be wasting any of it

re my bamboo dpns, I have a few nice fine brittany sets that I will keep, the cheap ones from china are too sticky

I enjoy knitting and rarely a day goes by without doing some. I’ve never understood using circular needles but maybe I should have another go. I knit holding one needle under my arm. I’ve been told that this is more common the further north you live? I’m also left handed and mum and grandma spent a lot of time getting me sorted out! I also cross stitch and usually have several projects on the go at the same time. Stocking stitch and rib while watching tv and stitching and complicated patterns with the radio on!

my dpns are a complete jumble, half of them fell out of their pockets and some are not really the size marked anyway. I have been attempting to sort and tidy and am sticking with 15cm karbonz and knitpro symfonie. I have ordered a much better storage bag from etsy, all marked with numbers uk 2-8. I have ordered a few dpns to fill in the gaps in smaller sizes, from woolstack

I cast on for socks and think my leg diameter is smaller, I have lost a couple of stone. I did start on the outside of the opal ball but that was a mistake too, frogged what I knitted and pulled a chunk out of the centre, which will make for easier knitting. The symfonie needles were a delight to use, karbonz are much more pointy ie chest stabbers

I used my bamboo dpns for one row but disliked them a lot, far too sticky for me and as they take a lot of room, I have a very varied set, they areall going to the cs in one job lot. Ideal for beginners as there is very little chance of stitches sliding off by accident

I found my first set of dpns in a case, metal 20cm, going to keep those, cannot see me using them now I have interchangeables but never say never. It is a long time since I made socks but they are addictive, a nice small package of knitting

firdaus19, your news shocked me, I watched part of a health update after reading your post, felt very sad. Beautiful family

Aghh, I got finger joint twinges last evening, index finger right hand, obviously rsi as I had several rows of doing a star stitch x 400 times, metal needles are not as forgiving as wooden. I changed stance with r hand as I had reached casting off stage, did k through back type so as to have a loose enough edge to pull shawl out for hand blocking. Unscrewed the r side needle, put an end on wire and used a slippery needle tip on its own for the knitting off. That enabled me to change my hand knitting position and result is also a very neat edge. I abandoned the crochet picot edge, it meant dc into every stitch on the wire, I tried it for a whole row and had a go with dc picot on top but the curling was terrible. I sat and undid the dc, stitch by stitch and knitted 2 rows in seed stitch instead, much less curling. I am doing the final stage today, soaking in eucalan, one rinse in same temperature water. Absolutely nothing except the soak and gentle squeezing, i could do with a little fluffing to secure stitches but definitely no felting. I suppose I am lucky that the decorator has not been in touch yet as I shall be using the living room floor. Waiting for decorator is very frustrating btw

I found a ball of opal yarn and my dpns roll, could not find my trusty vanilla opal pattern, with all my scribblings, so this one will do.
www.theknittingsquirrel.com/basic-sock-pattern-to-fit-shoe-sizes-uk-2to6-eu-35to39-us-4to8-sizes/
I am going to use 2.25 dpns and need to count the number of stitches on a well fitting pair of hm socks, it might be 60 or might be 56. I shall need to cast on with larger needles and grade needles down bit by bit as I have muscular calves through cycling, ok chubby legs. I am going to leave a long enough tail to colour match in the second half of the ball for sock 2, as it is self patterning yarn

In lockdown I joined Facebook page for black sheep wools, they produce KALs and CALs (alongs) very happy group of people x

My Nan taught me to crochet when I as quite young. I was then tasked with making very lacy dressing table mats (remember those) with a fine crochet yarn. They did look nice and I still have two. I also remember making lap blankets for my grandfather, and a poncho for myself. But I haven't crocheted for many years now.

I Mum taught me to knit. She was an excellent knitter and she carried her knitting everywhere with her. She was very fussy about things being well finished, and she never used yarn any thicker than DK. She was horrified when a colleague asked her to knit an Aran sweater for her! She knitted all my jumpers and cardigans, mainly for economy, until I started secondary school when I wanted shop-bought cardigans like everyone else had.

I made a few jumpers and cardigans and baby clothes for friends' babies. But I have never really enjoyed knitting. It just takes too long to finish things, I get bored! But I really do love hand knitted garments. The cost of yarn is horrendous now so I can understand why they're so expensive.

But I'm pleased to see that so many people still enjoy knitting, and are passing on their skills to younger generations.

I also recently discovered Fruity Knitting on youtube and would recommend it as I very much enjoy its varied and interesting contents.

Sadly Andrea's husband, who used to knit alongside her, passed away last year. The episode called Remembering Andrew was one of the first I came across and I found it both touching and lovely to watch.

It gave me a lot of respect for not only their skills as knitters and presenters, but also their general approach to life, joie de vivre, interest in nature, etc.

I thought their concept of 'extreme knitting' was cute, too - pulling out their knitting needles in most unexpected places

I learnt to knit at an early age too. Never got on with circular needles but may try again. Recently made some gloves which was a first for me. I've made plenty of mittens but never gloves or socks although my mother could knit both without a pattern. She also knitted our jumpers from the top down when we were young so that she could lengthen garments as we grew.