Knitting! (and other needle arts...)

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kayray
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Location: Union City, California
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Post by kayray »

We have a lot of knitters among us. What is everyone working on?

I've just finished a warm cozy pair of pants, knit from the top down in wide green and gray stripes in a wool/acrylic blend. I did the last bit of ribbing at the ankle this morning, wove in a few yarn tails and put them on. I've had a lot of compliments on them already -- someone said they were Dr. Seuss pants (I _think_ that was a compliment ;-)

So now I have no projects at all, ARGH. But Henry needs mittens before he goes snowboarding in January, so I can get started on those, anyway. And I have enough gray and green yarn leftover for a pair of matching socks!

Kara
Last edited by kayray on February 16th, 2006, 8:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kara
http://kayray.org/
--------
"Mary wished to say something very sensible into her Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, but knew not how." -- Jane Austen (& Kara)
Izze
Posts: 47
Joined: December 12th, 2005, 11:39 pm

Post by Izze »

I'm half way done with a scarf, intended as a christmas gift.

But I'm still so new at knitting that I don't trust myself with anything more advanced yet. :lol:
thistlechick
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Joined: November 30th, 2005, 12:14 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by thistlechick »

Kara, very cool about the pants... i've never thought of making pants for myself... way too much yarn for a project like that.

I'm working on a pair of gloves for my husband ... that i've been promising him for about three years now... i had better get them finished this year... i just lose interest when i get to the fingers...

I also just finished a pair of jazzy socks for our local knitting group's gift exchange.

hmm... i've also been making wool diaper soakers to sell in my etsy.com shop... they are fun to make.

I've also started another sweater for my husband... but it sounds like he is ready to start working on it now that I have the ribbing done...

i have tons of projects that i should look at completing before i begin another new project, but well, it's just so hard to finish them when there are so many other fun things to start.... hehehe
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
thistlechick
Posts: 6170
Joined: November 30th, 2005, 12:14 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by thistlechick »

Izze wrote:I'm half way done with a scarf, intended as a christmas gift.

But I'm still so new at knitting that I don't trust myself with anything more advanced yet. :lol:
Oh, don't be afriad of those advanced projects... how about hats? they are fun and easy and you only have to do one (as opposed to mittens or socks when there is supposed to be a match).
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
tis
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Post by tis »

The only thing I've ever knitted was a toy dinosaur, which I made for my fiancee as a Christmas present.

She promptly christened it 'Leonard the Lizard' and I haven't picked up knitting needles since :) .
[img]http://goringe.net/images/chris.png[/img]
thistlechick
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Post by thistlechick »

tis wrote:The only thing I've ever knitted was a toy dinosaur, which I made for my fiancee as a Christmas present.

She promptly christened it 'Leonard the Lizard' and I haven't picked up knitting needles since :) .
Oh, wow.... that sounds complicated... I'm impressed... got pics of it you can show us?
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
kayray
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Post by kayray »

Yeah most of us start with a nice rectangular potholder, scarf, or doll blanket for a first project -- your dino must have had all kinds of complicated shaping. Pics!

Kara
Kara
http://kayray.org/
--------
"Mary wished to say something very sensible into her Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, but knew not how." -- Jane Austen (& Kara)
osmia
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Joined: November 24th, 2005, 9:31 pm
Location: Sunny Okanagan, BC, Canada
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Post by osmia »

L O L !!! This is great!

My current abandoned project is a tuque with intarsia (learned on-line), orca (killer whale) fins, which I made the pattern after 3 of my favourite orcas, the A36 brothers (they are Northern Resident orcas and their family line, which is matri-lineal, will die out with them as their mother has passed away and they have no living sisters, and A46 Kaikash, the youngest of the three, is my soul-mate, and if you want to see them LIVE, vist: OrcaLIVE , wellll, actually as they go elsewhere for the winter, you won't actually see or hear them LIVE right now, but you can watch/listen to the Highlights).

... big loud gasping breath (it's OK, I can edit it out - l o l) ...

Abandoned in favour of the "Secret Knitting" podcast(http://secret-knitting.podspot.de/), which somebody else (sorry forget who to give credit to) posted the link to, as the project is "socks" and I have yet to actually complete any sock I have ever started!
Izze
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Joined: December 12th, 2005, 11:39 pm

Post by Izze »

I prefer the web site http://www.knittinghelp.com/, it provides video of the techniques, and a large pattern database.

I so need to get of my bum and make a pair of fuzzy socks! :lol:
kayray
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Post by kayray »

Sock are my main knitting output. They're entertaining, they don't use a whole lot of yarn, they're pretty quick to work, and I really need them since my feet are always cold. And since they mostly hang out inside your shoes, they don't have to be EXACTLY the same ;-)

The two most recent pairs I made, I worked from the toe up and they turned out great. I wasn't sure I had enough yarn, so I made one pair simultaneously from both ends of one ball of yarn -- working the toe of one, the toe of the other, the foot of one, the foot of the other. And that way I was sure I had enough yarn to make the leg-part the same length. Fun :)

Kara
Kara
http://kayray.org/
--------
"Mary wished to say something very sensible into her Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, but knew not how." -- Jane Austen (& Kara)
tis
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Post by tis »

thistlechick wrote:
tis wrote:The only thing I've ever knitted was a toy dinosaur, which I made for my fiancee as a Christmas present.

She promptly christened it 'Leonard the Lizard' and I haven't picked up knitting needles since :) .
Oh, wow.... that sounds complicated... I'm impressed... got pics of it you can show us?
I'll try to get one for you :)
[img]http://goringe.net/images/chris.png[/img]
LibraryLady
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Joined: November 29th, 2005, 5:10 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Post by LibraryLady »

Wow, you guys are hard core! My college roomie got me into it but I always had trouble following the instructions for patterns. I think the most difficult thing I made was a winter hat, I figured out the tapering on my own and it turned out pretty nice. I made a matching scarf, too. LOL about the potholders! Potholders and scarves - I'm great at those! You guys have my inspired to try socks. I love a good warm pair of socks. Kara - you're a pro, I saw some of the pics on your website - highly impressive!
Annie Coleman Rothenberg
http://www.anniecoleman.com/

"I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice." ~Whitman
pberinstein
Posts: 550
Joined: September 26th, 2005, 5:47 pm

Post by pberinstein »

tis wrote:The only thing I've ever knitted was a toy dinosaur, which I made for my fiancee as a Christmas present.

She promptly christened it 'Leonard the Lizard' and I haven't picked up knitting needles since :) .
You said you aren't a knitter, Chris. You lied! :lol:
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
pberinstein
Posts: 550
Joined: September 26th, 2005, 5:47 pm

Post by pberinstein »

[quote="osmia"]L O L !!! This is great!

My current abandoned project is a tuque with intarsia (learned on-line), orca (killer whale) fins....

Wow! I have a lot of trouble with Intarsia. What's your secret?

The last project I tried, which was an afghan with Simpsons characters, I turned into a crochet instead of a knit project because I can't do intarsia. I try and I try, and it's all holey and lumpy.

Help!
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
Gesine
Posts: 14137
Joined: December 13th, 2005, 4:16 am

Post by Gesine »

Paula - If you get holes with intarsia, you probably don't wrap the threads around each other well enough when you start a new colour - or perhaps the tension is not right? Or, you don't 'weave in' the ends of the threads well enough. I just did a quick Google, and this explains it rather well: http://www.sweaterscapes.com/intars.htm

I've just bought some yarn for a jumper (sweater), a Kaffe Fassett design - I love his work and have done a number of them. It's based on his 'crosses' pattern - at the bottom of this page click on the fourth thumbnail - it's the sleeve in the middle on the left-hand side in that image. Completely different colours, though (about 15 of them, I think).
http://www.kaffefassett.com/knitting.htm

Here's another question, though: do Americans knit the same way as Brits? In Europe, there seems to be a British and a 'Continental' way of knitting. I was quite shocked when I saw this other method for the first time, it looked very awkward to me.
Last edited by Gesine on December 14th, 2005, 12:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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