Knitting 🧶 (also crocheting and etc)

Hi there. Anyone enjoy doing some knitting? What’s the best thing you’ve knitted? What tips do you have for less experienced knitters/what questions do you have for more experienced knitters?

:yarn:

I can knit.

My tips for beginners:

  1. Try a few of the different methods out to find the one that suits you. A lot of beginners beginners tutorials show you the most cumbersome method where you let go of the needles and manually loop the wool round the needle, and you don’t actually need to do that

  2. The most tricky bit is getting tension right. Instead of making a crap scarf on your first go, just knit loads of little squares and unravelling them until you can get the knitting smooth and even, and you’re not fighting the wool because it’s too tight or too loose.

  3. Don’t start out with the shittest wool on metal needles. Don’t waste your money on expensive alpaca or whatever for beginners either. Just get some decent stuff and some bamboo needles. The bamboo needles have a much nicer feel.

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https://www.knittingforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Tracey-e1579266925270.jpeg

I got a set for nålbinding- a Viking type of crochet type thing that uses short scraps of wool- a few years ago from the gift shop at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, but still haven’t given it a go.

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Hello, I knit. I will come back later and add some tips but here is a poorly lit photo of what I’m knitting at the moment. Progress has slowed because I’m procrastinating doing buttonholes.

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I knit. On the taking tips side rather than giving tips.

Mainly done scarves, hats, socks and glove puppets. Planning a #sofaded sweater for myself at some point. My best (fave) is probably my green gradient scarf:
image

If anyone has any recs for yarn shops I would love them - ethical, minority owned if poss

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:wave: I definitely did this - but I do love my crappy old metal needles - haven’t managed to get on with bamboo ones, don’t they catch in the yarn?

When they’re new they do a bit, but they wear in nice and smooth. They also work better with natural yarns than 100% synthetic.

Is it worth sanding them at all do you reckon?

It’s more that they seem to pick up some oil from your hands and the yarn, which makes them smoother. I guess it’s like oiling a chopping board.

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On the one hand i like bamboo because they don’t get cold, but they’re less slippery so there’s more friction when you’re moving stitches along the needle. I wouldn’t sand them apart from any bits that are snagging.

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Ooh I do have a tip!

When I’m using double pointed needles I find it easier to work on a long sock if I hold them more like a pencil (needle over hand) than hand over needle as when using standard needles.

I might need to confirm I’ve explained that right

I tend to the tight so this might be why I’ve struggled

YouTube and Ravelry for methods and patterns.

Knitting is great, I started when I was 4. Got old lady arthritis hands now though so can’t do it so much these days.

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My 4 year old daughter has just started knitting, I thought she’d be too young for it but clearly not. She can cast on and everything, it’s ridiculous

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Tips

  1. Techknitting is a now mostly dormant blog that has loads of useful reference material for more advanced/improving knitters, eg comparison of types of buttonholes and which one is best.
  1. Knitting in the round means less sewing up and you can try it on more easily as you go.

2a. This is a good book which will tell you about the percentage system for jumpers and cardigans as well as various styles of jumper - make your own pattern easily based on your measurements (easy to adjust some of the percentages for personal preference/body shape if it doesn’t quite work for you). Or you can google ‘elizabeth zimmermann percentage system’.

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-ga-rev1&q=Knitting+Without+Tears&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLUz9U3sIw3NqpS4gIxTSsLLIyqtKSyk630k_Lzs_UTS0sy8ousQOxihfy8nMpFrGLeeZklJZl56QrhmUDJ0hKFkNTEouIdrIwA68D7PlEAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjggfOr7YHsAhWSQhUIHbpBB0EQ9OUBMAN6BAgCEAU&biw=412&bih=782&dpr=2.63

  1. When I was learning to knit, learning it as a sequence of steps (insert needle here, wool goes here, etc) didn’t work for me. I think beginners who learn by following steps without understanding what they’re trying to achieve get stuck more easily when they make a mistake. I didn’t really get it until I understood how knitted fabric works, that it’s loops that loop through one another, and so long as you get the loop through the one below it, and in the right direction, it doesn’t matter how you do it.
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Yeah I learnt it like that and if I make a mistake I’m basically screwed. Relqlt annoys me that I cant get it the way my mum does when she looks at the overall piece and sees what’s up with it. I think I’m getting better but its jotnhelped by the fact I knit really tightly by default so I need to manage that too

that’s nice. i would really like one of those.

Something like this might help maybe?

You can use bigger needles if you knit tightly, then your fabric will come out looser

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They take up less space on the needle! Stitches on the needle are never the width of whatever you’re knitting as they’re turned sideways on and can be bunched up. No stretching required, although you can ‘block’ the item once finished (google for how to do this, personally I never bother because it only seems to work on animal fibres and I don’t use them but it supposedly helps with real wool).

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Good output/avatar combo this :+1:

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