Stitch Whimsy

I finished knitting this hat sometime last night. It is based on the basic structure of this pattern, but I modified it and the stitches to an extent. When I make another hat like this, I am going to make it longer to cover more of my ears. I love the feel of it. I might just be getting addicted to this knitting thing.

Tags: nablopomo, knitted+hat, knitting

Here is the list of Yarns I like so far:

Lion Brand Seal Brown (vintage, no longer made) 3.5oz
RH Baby Clouds 6 oz
Bernat Baby Coordinates 5.25 oz
Caron Simply Soft 6 oz
RH Super Saver (in 5 oz, 7 oz, 8 oz, and 16 oz)

All of it seems to be worsted 4 ply, except for the Bernat which is Sport weight. The labels always have a pattern on them. I saw one for a knitted diaper bag.

I have been looking around for yarn comparable in price to that which I get from Walmart. I can get a 7oz RH skein for $1.98. The baby softs are under $4, and I buy those only on sale for like half price. I also get the simply soft for $2.09 a skein. I have yet to find that online. I hate how most sites go by grams. Then I have to go crack the calculator to figure out how many ounces it is.

50 grams is the most popular weight for knitting yarn. Then when you read a knitting pattern and it says use 7 balls of x yarn, you go WHAAA??? That’s a whole lot of yarn. In actuality, it’s 350 grams of yarn which equals a little less than two 7 ounce skeins.

Then you will go through these sites and find 50 gram balls of yarn for like a dollar and you go *whoohoo* because you think you have found a bargain. It’s only a bargain depending on the materials the yarn is made from. A dollar ball of mohair compared to a dollar ball of acrylic… hmmm the mohair is much more of a bargain. Consider that 50 grams is less than 2 ounces of yarn and you will see what I mean.

Frankly, I’m tired of looking through yarn shop after yarn shop online to find great deals only to be shot in the foot. When someone finds a really good yarn bargain online PLEASE let me know!

I didn’t do all these conversions myself, I had a little help.

Tags: yarn, shopping+for+yarn, yarn+shops, nablopomo

Scrunchable Scarf is a simple pattern, the simplest I have found. I am having a lovely time knitting it up. Believe me, it is definitely giving me plenty of practice with the knit and purl stitches. This is what I have after working for under an hour:

A buddy of mine just made a scarf using this pattern. She stressed how simple it was, so I had to check it out. I only wish I had fluffier threads to do this with. Maybe another time. I am contemplating using the striping yarn to knit one of these, see how that crunchy stuff fares in knit. It worked well with Tunisian crochet. I might try my hand at my own design, since I am getting so familiar with the way the knit purl design works. I have also learned how to increase and decrease stitches. I have not crochet since I began this knitting excursion, but I miss it. I have to force myself not to just drop the needles and go back to what I know. I really want to learn and be able to help my son so we won’t both end up frustrated.

Tags: knitting, learning+to+knit, purl, scrunchable+scarf, nablopomo

Today after all the festivities, I decided to sit down and figure out this 2 needled wonder. I can see how an ambidextrous knitter would be able to turn out projects in no time flat. It’s interesting to watch a creation grow off the needles. I am only on the 3rd row, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I am actually trying to find my Knithym (knitting rythym). I guess that will come in time. So far, I am thinking that knitting will become yet another thread based obsession of mine. I know when my son gets into it, there will be no stopping him, either. I bet the craft section of Walmart will be smiling big every time they see us come through the front door!

Tags: learning+to+knit, knitting

Well guess what my mommy gave me! As you can see, it is an array of knitting needles. Now I can master the basics in time to teach my son. JOYFUL!!!! I am excited to get started, but since this is the day before Thanksgiving I might have to wait. You know, prep work takes time and energy. Learning new things is a skill best tried when one has had at least 5 hours of sleep.

Tags: nablopomo, knitting, knitting+needles

Frogged. I never knew that the word had anything to do with yarn. I just thought it was something people said in substitution for the obvious. You know like “Omg that’s so frogged up”. I have said it before, so don’t laugh.

It actually means to rip out your work to the point where you screwed it up. In crochet, it’s ripping.I am slowly learning the language of knitters. If my son is really serious about learning to knit, I will have to learn with him anyway.

Purl. Who would have ever guessed that pearls aren’t the only kind of “pearls” in this world. When I read knit purl, I think of computer code : 01101 ..  knit purl purl knit purl.

It actually means to work your knitted stitch through the back and not the front of your row.
 
Binding. There are a number of references one could make to binding. There is the binding of feet, binding of books, etc…

In this case it is used in the phrase “binding off”. This is the way one would finish a knitted project. The process of taking the loops off the knitting rod so that your project doesn’t have loose stitches hanging off the edges.

Faggoting. Now we are all well aware of the implications of this word, no explanation needed.

In this case, it is a means of making lace with increasing and decreasing knitting stitches.

I learned a lot today as far as knitting is concerned. My son keeps talking about it. I know that when the money gets deposited next week, that will be the first thing I buy. I don’t think he could watch me work with yarn for another 3 months without going stir crazy. He likes to wind the yarn into balls for me, but he yearns to make things on his own.

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Tags: knitting, knit+purl, knitting+terms, nablopomo

I have always wondered how to knit and now I know how. My son and I are having a ball watching youtube vids about knitting. It isn’t as hard as I thought it was… well, at least not for the basic knitting projects.

I would probably get a few knitting needles just to make some really nice tube things or scarves that look really well put together. The closest I can get thus far to a knitting type of stitch is the Tunisian in crochet. I love it, but I am glad to know that the cross over wouldn’t be that hard to do if I ever decided to do it.

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Tags: crochet, knitting, tutorials

Hey all! Welcome to what I have just deemed to be Work With Me Wednesday. Every Wednesday I will do my level best to make you a crochet tutorial that will help you to progress in the process of you learning to crochet. Let me know what you think!

Blogged with Flock

Tags: work with me wednesday, crochet tutorial, crochet, nablopomo

# You signed up on October 20, 2007
# You are #46611 on the list.
# 760 people are ahead of you in line.
# 10149 people are behind you in line.
# 79% of the list has been invited so far

Looks like I will be getting an invite tomorrow or the next day. The list behind me has grown tremendously. I can barely contain my glee.

In other news, I have completed a few projects and would like to share them. One of them I am not so sure about. I mean, I like it, but I don’t love it. The other project I love, but it takes a lot of yarn. *in that order I shall show them to you*:

I adore the snowflake. I really would love ot make smaller ornaments with that design. I can also see it in a wintry afghan or shawl of some sort. I would have to break down and buy a pure white or almost white color yarn. I don’t like those as they tend to dirty quickly. I hate having something look dingy five minutes after you finish it. I love the grey that I have, but I would need the lighter one to do the type of thing I am wanting to do.

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Tags: nablopomo, crochet, patterns, ravelry