Knitting

The items made by our knitting group sell easily and make money for a local hospital but we do tend to stick to small items, such as baby clothes, soft toys and scarves. The duck bootees that I crochet are popular. They are in yellow with orange beaks. For safety reasons, I do not use buttons for the eyes but crochet a tiny black circle.

rosequartz that fairy doll is just gorgeous. Wish I hadn't seen it, because now that's yet another project to add to my list of things I'm making for my DGD . I love being busy, though, and what better way to be busy than to be creative? Especially if it's for someone you love .

Grannyknot I loved that story of your office knitting! I read it out to my DH and he had a good chuckle too. I was also intrigued by your mention of bow tie scarves and had to google this. There are some very nice patterns out there! Oh God, something else added to the list .....

And I've just found the fairy doll pattern as a free download from Deramores (through Ravelry)

www.deramores.com/patons-doll-pattern/

Grannyknot & Indinana there are four dolls to knit; the pattern is for Paton's smoothie, however I think you could use leftover yarn as it could get expensive if you bought it all.
Mine looks just like that one, although I have seen variations.
I must knit another one at least; the worst bit was the fiddly sewing up!

A free pattern! Even better
I bought mine in Trago Mills so it was cheaper!

I had a long train journey to Scotland recently and was surprised walking through the carriage to see so many young women knitting . I thought I had come across a convention. They were all doing lacy scarves with intricate patterns. And they seem to be random although they were commenting on each other's patterns as they passed on the way to the buffet. I used to love fair isle and Aran patterns but moved onto crochet.

I love the rose fairy Rosequartz.

I love knitting and crocheting. Yes my sweaters look hand knitted but I like to think that they are all the better for that - and they will certainly last longer and are better finished than the shop bought equivalent. Some of patterns and yarns that are available at present are beautiful.

My OH loves the hats that I knit - says they are much better than the ones that he buys.

I get bored watching television so knitting and crocheting keep me occupied in the evenings or when it is to cold or wet to get into the garden. OH says that he never sees me so relaxed as when I have needles in my hands.

It's a combination of several factors. I have been knitting since I was twelve, my knitting is very even. I also made my own dresses from that age, plus any crafts I could learn, so my sewing is good, it looks like machine stitching. I know when to sew up knits with cotton and when to use yarn.

However, as someone else mentioned, a good pattern is really important. There's no point in knitting a shapeless square and expecting it to look good, a pullover or cardigan needs shaping just as much as anything you would buy. Also aran/cable knits make very few people look good. They keep them warm, but are usually best kept for cushions - as that is what most people end up looking like when they wear one!

However, I would be happy to make this

blog.loveknitting.com/free-wendy-cardigan-pattern/?utm_source=Loveknitting&utm_campaign=12815c876a-070614_TRENDYWENDYSAT&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a0f9d56561-12815c876a-49354093&mc_cid=12815c876a&mc_eid=38240c34f8

Thank you Indinana and janerowena for the links. I have just had time for a quick look before I dash off to my knitting group. If I can print the fairy pattern, that would be great for our group.

rosequartz I bought some Patons Smoothie last week to use as the crocheted edging round the second fleece blanket I'm making for my GD. I buy a lot of my knitting and craft materials at Trago Mills, though their yarn range isn't wonderful

I like that mix of colours Indinana

You could do the dolls in any colour combination, I would like to make Violet, although she is not in the pattern book it would be eady enough to work out a colour combination.

My knitting is not perfectly even but I notice it varies with different yarns.

However, if I see a child

??

Try again
If I see a child in a hand-knitted garment I always think that someone loves them
However, many young mums don't like hand-knitted garments.

Rosequartz, love the Fairy Doll, and also thanks to Indinana, I have found the link to the pattern, and have downloaded it. As I have got some left over wool, the pink from Tiny Clanger, I could get started quite quickly.

I like knitting and crochet and usually have something on the go. I can only watch TV properly if my hands are occupied - lots of us seem to feel like that.

I have just knitted a bright red scarf for my 6 year old GS and a bright red one for his younger sister. I'm going to finish them off with big red or blue or yellow bobbles and then make identical smaller ones for their doll/rabbit. I'm going to make one a yellow hat with a bobble and the other a red hat with a bobble. The doll/rabbit won't get hats, though - too fiddly. They'll get these items at Christmas along with a small toy and some money for their bank accounts. I sometimes write them a book as well about a naughty mouse who lives in their utility room.

My Mum taught me to knit and my MiL taught me to crochet. I've tried to pass on these skills to my daughter and now to my two GDs, with varying degrees of success. I think it's great to see a revival in all sorts of crafts. I have to agree that hand knitting on women sometimes does not look good but it is lovely to see children in handknits - shows someone cares a lot for them. Last Christmas I got labels from off the internet which said 'Made with love by Grandma' and sewed them into jumpers I made them.

I mean BLUE for the second scarf!

Last Christmas I got labels from off the internet which said 'Made with love by Grandma' and sewed them into jumpers I made them.

That's lovely, NotTooOld

I think I saw them when I was ordering name tapes, which I sew into the garments I knit for DC (one lovingly knitted garment went missing ).

Thank you rose 're doll pattern.

Here is the link to Vintage Bow Tie Scarf that I knit, it is really lovely:

thevintagepatternfiles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/1930s-knitting-bow-scarf.html

Drag they seem to have taken the pattern down. Will try and find it elsewhere.

Here you go:

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bow-knot-scarf

I wear mine with the upper edge turned over like a collar. I always get compliments on it

Those are very fashionable, also the knitted headbands with a bow on the side.

Handknitting is very fashionable at the moment. Our knitting club is currently knitting xmas jumpers for our OHs, and with most of them you would never know they had been knitted by hand. A good steam press will sort out the others!

A really good quality wool sweater costs a fortune if you want to buy one. DH bought me one some years ago. It is deliciously warm and saw me through the cold winters beautifully but it left him very little change from £100.

The sweaters I have bought in the last few year on the High Street, may have looked chunky but I need to wear a t shirt under them because you can see through the holes and in cold weather I need long sleeved thermal vests under them and more cardigans on top in order to keep warm.

In the 1950s and 60s all Jaeger knitwear was hand knitted and a friend of my mothers passed their stringent quality test and knitted for them and tried to recruit my mother to join her.

Some hand knitted clothes do look awful, but really well knitted sweater to a carefully chosen pattern with good quality material can look very good indeed.

Thanks for the link Grannyknot. I don't know when I'll have time to make some of these with all the other stuff I'm in the middle of, but I definitely will at some point!

monica I have seen pure wool jumpers for well over £100. I had been balking at the price of wool, thinking it would cost too much to make a jumper nowadays, but once you get back (after acrylic) to wearing cashmere, merino and pure new wool there is no going back, and with sales of wool on online sites it does mean that you can make a jumper far more cheaply now.

Where do you buy pure wool or cashmere for hand knitting, janerowena? My lovely local wool shop doesn't have any. I wonder if wool/acrylic might wash better than all wool? Also, wool can be itchy sometimes although I agree it is much warmer.