Do any of you still do knitting as a hobby ?

Doodledog I'm with you on the question of expensive yarns, cashmere rarely, but natural yarns like wool, silk, linen and cotton. Boughten clothes made of natural yarns are very expensive. Anyway, I really enjoy knitting and often adapt patterns.
My DD, DS and even my elder GS seem to love the jumpers I make, and of course I make for myself too.
Occasionally I do have failures. I made a neck-down jumper for myself, but found that the neckline really didn't suit me. And being neck-down, it was impossible to unpick and redesign. Fortunately it was made of a pretty bog-standard King Cole wool, not hideously expensive. It went to Oxfam and I hope someone loves it.
My sister does amazing little things, like a brilliant knitted crib for her grandchildren. Too fiddly for me!

I like to knit but pretty hopeless! Keep to simple patterns and love to do charity knitting for appeals.

Yarn/wool gone very expensive but keep my eyes open in charity shops and just picked up enough to make a jumper for £3.99 so pleased with that.

Interesting people knitting blankets for animal charities, I worked for a very well known one for years as a volunteer and in the end we asked people very nicely to stop knitting blankets as the claws got stuck and some got pulled out. We asked in the end to make a fleece square blanket so people would buy or use their old fleeces and cut into 10" squares and make a blanket from that and so much better and easier to wash.

Where do you get your cashmere wool from Doodledog

Several of my friends and I knit 12 inch squares out of any dk we can lay our hands on, and these are then crocheted together by another friend and made into bright and cosy blankets. They are then sent by and orphans charity to wherever they are needed.

Rainnsnow

I knit at night for a few hours, good brain training following a pattern. I have a decent stash of wool and have been given some. The young ones do knit and crochet and love to learn off the older ones. I find some really nice wool and patterns in second hand shops. As a child I had to sit as my Nan took a jumper apart and re wound it . I was the hands so she could ball it up . I’ve taught men and some cry at memories brought up from grandparents.Great hobby, my grandchildren wear lots of my knitting.

And this reminds me of sitting crocheting in a tiny waiting room in a hospital. There were about 8 of us all close together and I just carried on and stopped after a while and looked up and all eyes were on my hands! a couple of elderly men said they remembered their Mums and Grans crocheting. 🙂

Sheian62

I have just picked up my knitting needles after a few years break when I knitted baby clothes. I am in the WI and knitted some Easter chicks filled with creme eggs for a children's hospice. Local premature wards in hospitals look for knitted bonnets etc for babies so always somewhere.

Aah, this so reminds me of my Mum. Every year she used to knit loads of these and put them in big easter baskets with yellow shredded paper and sell them for charity. Some years she did it for Cancer Research, then the local Stoma Nurses and later for the Day centre she attended. She raised loads of money. As an aside, haven’t the creme eggs shrunk a lot?

I used to knit for all the family's presents, then did all the Tele Tubbies and various pony and snowmen jumpers for my GD when small. Now I keep knitting but do jackets for the dogs in rescue centres.

I’ve knitted for about 65 years. I love to knit, when I lived abroad my dear mum used to send me patterns and wool regularly.
I’ve recently finished an Aran cable jumper for myself and an Aran cable shawl collared cardigan for DH. I knit non stop and mostly for family.
The only thing I haven’t mastered is fairisle.
I usually buy ‘good quality’ yarn online when it’s on sale, there’s lots of it about.

Yes I still knit. I can’t knit for as long each day as I’ve now been diagnosed with arthritis in my hands but I can’t imagine not knitting. I used to knit 2 or 3 ply shawls but those days are unfortunately over. Women’s Weekly still do knitting or crochet patterns every week. I quite often buy my yarn from Cancer Research Charity shops. They stock brand new DK or chunky as well as needles etc, it’s very reasonable in price and nice quality. I knit newborn baby hats and covers for the maternity hospital, where 2 of my grandchildren were born as well as for my grandchildren.

I prefer crocheting but I do knit socks - toe up, two at a time, on two circular needles. I always feel quite smug <how clever I am!> when I finish.

I knit at night for a few hours, good brain training following a pattern. I have a decent stash of wool and have been given some. The young ones do knit and crochet and love to learn off the older ones. I find some really nice wool and patterns in second hand shops. As a child I had to sit as my Nan took a jumper apart and re wound it . I was the hands so she could ball it up . I’ve taught men and some cry at memories brought up from grandparents.Great hobby, my grandchildren wear lots of my knitting.

Doodledog

Oh no! How disappointing.

I always hand wash jumpers I've knitted. My machine does have a separate spin cycle (also Bosch - how odd), and I use that, then put them on the heated airer to try them flat.

I feel your pain, as I once left them in the machine after spinning, and my daughter 'helpfully' tumbled dried an aran cardigan and a four-ply alpaca jumper 😥. They were ruined.

Next washing machine I buy, I will def. check that there’s a ‘just spin’ function! TBH it hadn’t occurred to me when we bought current one, that there wouldn’t be one.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-506343-img-0068.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202402/medium-649180-img-0054.jpeg

I knitted these two sweaters for my friend’s grand kids. Knitting has kept me sane.

James brett baby wool not too expensive and looks good.

I love knitting and now knit blankets ( baby) there’s always someone pregnant at work and they usually love them.

I remember when I was at Infant's School we did some knitting. I made mittens but there was a boy in the class who made a jumper for his teddy bear. More than 70 years later I can remember the boy's name.

Greyduster

I knitted for my grandson when he was small but he wouldn’t be seen dead in a knitted sweater now! I’m currently about half way through a cardigan that I’m knitting for myself that has cables on the front and sleeves. It’s taking me so long that I may end up about three sizes too big for it! I never got the hang of crochet. I look at the amazing things people make and am in awe.

Tell him about Harry Styles and his hand knits (which cost a lot of money) I downloaded a pattern from JW Anderson's website. It was free. Unfortunately it is a crochet pettern so I will have to relearn that.

I knitted my first cardigan when I was about 12. White bri-nylon, raglan sleeves. It was an effort to persevere, quite boring! But I've knitted ever since and have often designed my own patterns. I am knitting an oversized sweater for DD2 now, the same as the one for DD1 a few years ago. It is an expensive hobby, often much cheaper to buy a jumper/cardigan. I like to always have some knitting on the go, done while watching TV (so only in the evenings).

I have made some fabulous garments with the cheapest wool in the shop and they have come out great. Plus I don’t have to worry about how they will wash. Expensive wool can be a pain when it comes to washing.

Oh no! How disappointing.

I always hand wash jumpers I've knitted. My machine does have a separate spin cycle (also Bosch - how odd), and I use that, then put them on the heated airer to try them flat.

I feel your pain, as I once left them in the machine after spinning, and my daughter 'helpfully' tumbled dried an aran cardigan and a four-ply alpaca jumper 😥. They were ruined.

I learned to knit at primary school, and my mother and granny helped too. I taught myself to crochet from a book when I was sixteen. I’ve never stopped, and have a fair stash of yarn still, as I used to buy when they were on sale. Good quality yarn is expensive now, and this may well put people off. Ladies who think you can’t knit, take heart, you can. It really isn’t difficult. Ask a friend or relative to help, or buy a teach yourself book.

Doodledog, the last time I used an expensive yarn (extra chunky pure new wool for knitting a lovely big, slouchy-type jumper, I hand washed it (as per label instructions) for the first and only time.

New washing machine didn’t have a ‘just spin’ function like my old one, only a ‘rinse and spin’ that you had to faff with, to get ‘spin only’ - and no instructions in the handbook, wretched Bosch!!! - so of course I mis-faffed and nearly 80 quids’ worth of pure new wool came out ready to fit a 2 year old. 😩

Aside from a very few items for the Gdcs, since then I’ve stuck to items for charities and our local hospital - twiddle muffs for dementia, and the ‘knitted breasts’ they requested, for their BF-ing advisors!!

My mum taught a school full of nursery kids to knit in WWll. She was really miffed she couldn’t teach me. I just didn’t have the patience.

Yes, I love knitting. A worthwhile hobby as my daughter in law loves receiving the jumpers, cardigans I knit for the grandchildren. Luckily the grandchildren love them too! I have a friend though who's much more competent at knitting than I am, has three granddaughters who refuse to wear her knits as they are "old fashioned". So sad!

I knit and crochet, especially now I have a little granddaughter and several great nephews and nieces. I like to give a hand made item to new arrivals and have a lovely photo of our friends’ little granddaughter in Canada wearing one of my creations. I don’t do complicated stuff but I know family members appreciate my efforts.