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Original poster

Knitting chat

232 replies

tamum · 22/12/2005 19:26

Just thought I would start a thread that can be resurrected when any of us have bits and pieces to share.

NQC, there is a tie pattern in the latest issue of Interweave Knits

For hand-dyed yarn fans, I recently ordered some silk from Curious Yarns that was gorgeous. Highly recommended!

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Original poster
tamum · 22/12/2005 22:14

falaalaa, I put a lot of links to knitting sites on a thread a while ago; it's here - it will save me typing them in again! I have seen lots of patterns for chemo caps- I don't know if you'd rather do something to take your mind off it though? I'm happy to send you some patterns to match NQCs offer if there's anything you particularly fancy

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AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:15

This place has some Debbie Bliss patterns. Do you want to knit for you, or for a child?

Have a look at this

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:16

(tamum ... do you ever feel a little bit like a drug pusher on here? Come on, come on, have some, give it a try, oh, you can get some good supplies here ... I only ask because I suddenly feel that way ...)

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:17

Oh, and it looks like knitty.com has some good patterns. I often look at the patterns listed on knitting.about.com, although I don't think I've strictly followed any of them. But then, it's been a while since I strictly followed any pattern.

Original poster
tamum · 22/12/2005 22:19

Yes, that's exactly how I feel (well, I guess...). It's nice to have so many posts, I must say- I was expecting it to be just you and me

Littlefish, I can see the pattern you mean in Pipsqueaks. It looks gorgeous.

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ThereWASaGiraffeInTheNativity · 22/12/2005 22:22

hmm. Yes ok we can be monarchs of different areas then. This month i have knitted the following:
a double layered reversible hat which was a copy of this . Dp saw it and wanted one. I went into the climbing shop and had a look at it then knitted it for him. It was done as a big sort of sausage shape, you know, starting off increasing, then knitting the middle, then decreasing to close it up, then you fold it in half you see.

I have also knitted three fair isle hats, all different, depending on my mood and experimantation, but i do admit to stealing ideas for snowflake motifs from knitty.com and a reindeer chart from Debbie Bliss for one. Actually if i never see another reindeer i will be happy.

What else have people knitted this month?

AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:25

Oh NQC - I dream of being able to vary a pattern slightly! I just know that I would get it completely wrong if I changed anything! I have enough problems following a pattern without switching the size/missing out a vital instruction to increase/mis-measuring something etc! My knitting usually looks good at the end, but I always know that there's a mistake in the garment that the the knitting police should have arrested me for!

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:25

Oh, giraffe, I'd been thinking about doing lined hats. Sounds good.

This month ... hmmm ... there was some sewing up for the Big Blanket. I made a three-pointed hat for DS2, which he hates, and I'm not too fond of, either. (The three points are made by just separating the stitches into three groups, and then sewing cones. But they all tend to stick together, rather than sticking out, which isn't what I wanted at all. Anyone know a fix for this?) It was in my favourite slip-stitch rib.

And I thought about making a scarf out with indian cross stitch, but got annoyed at it. Probably have to do it in an all-wool, rather than a wool-blend. It did look cute.

And now I've nearly finished a moebius scarf, but it's too small to be usable. Worth doing to work out how it works, though.

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:27

Littlefish, if you need help altering a pattern (for different yarn, texture, whatever), just ask. I can help, tamum can help, I'm sure others can, too.

(It's really not hard, but it does require some arithmetic.)

AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:28

Giraffe, this month, all I have managed to do is to re-knit the top 4 inches of the first sleeve I knitted for my dd's jumper. It was 2 inches narrower than the second sleeve - yet again, I'd missed a vital increasing instruction, and ended up with the right number of stitches for the smaller size.

In my defence, I'm a teacher, and Christmas is a horrendously busy time of year. I'm usually slightly more productive!

AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:30

Thanks NQC (and Tamum!) - maths has never been my strong point (don't tell my pupils!), so that would be really helpful.

ThereWASaGiraffeInTheNativity · 22/12/2005 22:30

It's really easy. Just cast on nine stitches, work in the round and increase every other row. I started off increasing in every stitch, row of knit, then every other stitch,row of knit, then k2 increase in next,row of knit, k3 increase in next stitch, you get the picture, until you have the right number of stitches.
You work the straight bit as far as you want it depending on how long you want the hat, then decrease like the increases but in reverse order.
I suppose you could do ribbing in the middle too if you wanted to.

ThereWASaGiraffeInTheNativity · 22/12/2005 22:31

NQC, maybe if you increase more on the top side of the points they will hang better?

ThereWASaGiraffeInTheNativity · 22/12/2005 22:31

or decrease less, i should say?

falalaala · 22/12/2005 22:32

just a quick one - thank you for all of this. i'm running out of steam and must go to bed but i'll read through all the posts and the links, and sort out the CATing tomorrow (and sorry for not finding the thread with all the info on it before posting tamum! hate it when that happens!)
i think i'll avoid anything related to chemo for now. probably do something lovely for me or for my dd depending on what fills me with enthusiasm when browsing.
no news on the herceptin yet. i need it by mid Feb, so am hoping that when I see the oncologist on 28 Dec, he'll have news. the PCT is delaying a response saying they want to see how I go with the chemo (probably keeping one eye on the high court to see what they can get away with.....seems to be in the news almost weekly at the mo). thx for asking!

PruniStuffing · 22/12/2005 22:33

Do any of you go to a stitch'n'bitch group or similar?
I love knitting but frankly am out of my depth!

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:34

Make them bigger after I've split them off? That might help.

The thing is, it's a ribbed hat, anyway, and ... hmm ... the sides tend to go in a lot, anyway, because of the head going in, iyswim. (The points stick together a lot more when it's on a head.)

So I'd want to be increasing after I split, but also on the outside bits, iyswim.

I probably will rethink the pattern. The idea was cute, and the only weird bit was, I ended up with a hole in the middle, between all the points. Not hard to close, though.

ThereWASaGiraffeInTheNativity · 22/12/2005 22:34

ooh no. Actually a lot of it is jargon, pruni.

NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:35

Pruni, there's one near me, but the times are inconvenient. I have a German (knit hat!) friend who has helped some. Mostly I'm self-taught. Oh, and MN-taught.

There are plenty of S'n'B groups out there, if you join ukhk (yahoogroup), you can look for ones near you.

PruniStuffing · 22/12/2005 22:38

I do quite fancy it - always looking for better things to do...
It's the yarn that does it for me though.
Someone mentioned that haberdasheries have all but disappeared. So true. Everyone you speak to waxes on about knitting becoming fashionable but I see no real evidence of it here. And you have to see and touch yarn to love it.

AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:38

I've started my own knitting group with various people I've met through NCT. We've only met twice (2 of us the first time, 3 the second time) so far, but it was really nice to just sit and chat and knit. Another 3 people have asked if they can come along next time.

AveyourselfamerryLITTLEFISHmas · 22/12/2005 22:39

Anyway - off to bed now. Yet another night when I haven't even started to tackle the million ends on dd's cardigan!

Original poster
tamum · 22/12/2005 22:42

falalaala, I'm really sorry if it sounded as though I was implying that you should have searched. I really didn't mean that . I can only find it because I know it's there, and just search on my name. Have a good rest tonight and then come back and we can see if we can help a bit.

I'm sure the herceptin battle will be won generally before long. It would be great if you could get it without having to fight for it

Pruni, there is one near me but I never seem to have the time to go, and I also feel a bit shy of spending an evening with people I don't know at all. It would be so nice if we could all get together in RL and compare notes

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Original poster
tamum · 22/12/2005 22:43

Where are you Pruni? There do seem to be lots of smaller shops opening, so you may be in luck some time soon.

Littelfish, tomorrow is another day and those ends will still be waiting for you

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NotQuiteCockney · 22/12/2005 22:45

(Should I have a rant about how "smaller" is certainly the right word? And how, next time I come back from Canada, my suitcase will be entirely full of yarn?

Or should I instead be plotting for DH's next trip to the US in January ... SF and NYC ...)