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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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Gloworm · 12/01/2006 12:03

havent knitted for over 3 years but browsing this thread has inspired me and I am thinking about taking it up again...instead of spending all my spare moments on MN!

just had a look at your pictore tiktok and DD,age2, came flying over to say "wow, is loooovley"
acyually there lies the big problem with starting to knit again...how to keep her out of the wool!

NotQuiteCockney · 12/01/2006 22:02

Ok, I've just frogged a bunch of this bloody hat.

The problem is, it's two complicated cables (repeated 4x, each), with single knit rows between them. Each cable is on a background of perl stitches. The cables get wider and narrower, so to speak, by being twisted over the perl stitches.

So I tried to reduce by just doing k2tog and k3tog from the single knit rows. And it looked like ass. I got reasonably close to finished and realised I did not want to look at the top of DS1's head, and see this mess!

So how do I reduce this reasonably seamlessly?

I guess I'm off to read the madwoman again. Maybe some Barbara G. Walker, too.

NotQuiteCockney · 13/01/2006 13:52

I think I will try reducing in the perl stitch, next to the cable? As it's already all weird there, anyway, what with the cables?

If I do that, do I want to be leaning left, left of the cable, and right, right of it? Or the other way?

NotQuiteCockney · 13/01/2006 13:53

Why am I uptalking? I am not 12. I am not from California. Please ignore all the unwanted '?'s in previous post.

NotQuiteCockney · 13/01/2006 13:56

Oh, and welcome to the mad knitters thread, Gloworm. I sometimes knit and do MN.

Original poster
tamum · 13/01/2006 14:02

I find it a bit confusing- I think that sounds right, that if you decrease in the purl bit it won't show as much. The decreases should (I think) lean in towards the cable, so I would be inclined to do P2togbl, then the cable, then P2tog. I was wondering if it was worth looking at this Chemo cap pattern, as it has cables and shaping, to see how they did it. Incidentally, while I was looking for this through the Girl From Auntie site I found all these lovely free Celtic cable charts .

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Original poster
tamum · 13/01/2006 14:03

I frgot- hello Gloworm, nice to think this rather rambling thread has inspired anyone

Tiktok, that bolero is gorgeous. I shall have to snatch a passing toddler and make one for her.

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NotQuiteCockney · 13/01/2006 14:09

The sad part is, I actually do uptalk sometimes. Oh, the shame. But then, I call both my sons "dude", all the time, and I'm still not Californian.

Some of those cables look unfamiliar. I'll have a glance. This hat has a single open twirly cable, and another one made out of four 2-stitch strands, that come together and apart.

The chemo hat is lovely, a really nice way to go from cabling to decreasing. I had wondered if it made sense to steal stitches while cabling over them, but hadn't had the guts to try it.

tiktok · 13/01/2006 15:04

Thanks for comps about the bolero

Actually, a shrug for a little girl would be very cute (would suit a little one better than some grown ups, I think). Would be quite quick to knit up.

NotQuiteCockney · 16/01/2006 14:06

I think I might have sorted out the reductions on the hat.

But ... if one book is saying a left-slanting perl decrease is a ptog-b, and Montse "Madwoman" Stanley is saying to slip the stitches knitwise, move them back, then ptog-b ... do I assume madwoman knows best? I am so far, but it's not an easy stitch.

Original poster
tamum · 16/01/2006 19:20

I think that both of those would be left leaning wouldn't they? I think you'd have to try both side by side to be sure though, on a swatch. She is the guru, so I would tend to do what she says, but I think Girl From Auntie always uses P2togbl and I rate her when it comes to cables.

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NotQuiteCockney · 16/01/2006 19:22

Oh God, I'm totally avoiding doing a swatch on this. The idea of working up several examples of the cables I'm reducing, then trying out all the various ideas I have for reducing them ... no no no no no.

I do swatches for sizing etc, but this would be too much. I'll just carry on with madwoman's methods, I guess. It is looking ok.

Original poster
tamum · 16/01/2006 19:24

Oh no, I can see that, I just meant a bit of plain knitting with some decreases in, so you can see if they look the same however you do it

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NotQuiteCockney · 16/01/2006 19:30

Ah, that makes sense.

I do keep feeling like I ought to do a real sample for the cables, but I won't I won't I won't.

I just keep trying to work out how to reduce reasonably smoothly, while keeping the cables looking nice. Very tricky.

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 07:24

I finished the hat! I think it looks good, will try to get a photo of it today.

It's a bit big, but DS1's head is big, so it should be ok.

Next project has to be some sort of baby hat I can stand. I've decided I can't really give the synthetic baby hat I don't like to anyone, really. So will make another. Maybe a fast one in multiple colours with that DK, with single stripes of two different colours, worked in the round?

Also, need to make breasts.

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 09:45

Here . The first two pictures are the new hat.

tiktok · 19/01/2006 12:03

lovely, NQC - and great colour!

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 12:55

Thanks, I like it.

It doesn't totally show in the pic, but I got the reductions and cables looking good, rather than rubbish, which I was very pleased about.

I gave one the purple baby hat away today, to the grandmother of the baby. She seemed to like it. Hadn't realised it was handmade, so I guess it looked reasonably professional.

I'm now working on a very simple multi-colour hat from my giant bag of DK. I've started with a tuquoisy sort of blue, and thinking of adding a medium grey. Not sure. May change my mind on the other colour. But I'll do horizontal stripes, but maybe make the edge of the stripes a bit zig-zaggy, with slip stitch. Not sure yet - I'm just doing the roll brim now, which will just be blue.

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 13:43

No, it's dark turquoise with very pale green. That will look better, I think.

tiktok · 19/01/2006 14:07

I have some sympathy with knitters who sew in an 'handknitted for you by xxx' label and who make a song and dance about it being a unique, one off designer original made with their own fair hands....people don't undertand otherwise!!

Hand made stuff should look better than something bought!!

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 19:12

Well, I think my stuff looks more interesting than machine-made, but the finishing isn't always as good.

It's worth noting that all the hats I've done for ages have been entirely original, anyway. I haven't worked from a pattern for ages. So they really are originals etc etc.

NotQuiteCockney · 19/01/2006 21:46

And now I'm wavering a bit about this hat.

It's mostly in a v. dark sort of turquoisey sort of blue. With accents in a pale minty/bluey sort of green.

So far, I have a blue roll brim. A row of greeny dots, a row of blue, a row of green, a row of blue, a row of greeny dots. Which doesn't look great, but isn't very visible above the rim anyway.

Then I did a bunch of blue, then a slightly wiggly 3-row stripe of green, then 3-row stripe of blue, then 3-row stripe of green (all wiggly in the same intentional sort of way). I think I'm now going to do a bunch of blue, and then some more stripes near the top, and then end it? I was thinking of doing it all stripes, but frankly, the green is a bit much, so I think it should stay an accent.

I wanted to do Greek keys but I think greek keys, stripes, and the dots, is all too much.

(I'm not doing intarsia or fairisle! Just slip stitch. Very easy.

Original poster
tamum · 19/01/2006 22:14

I agree about the accents even though I don't know what Greek Keys are

I really, really think you should submit some of your designs to a magazine. That new hat is stunning, it's a gorgeous design. Incidentally, I just saw your post on the other thread about books, and I agree about browsing. I'd have a much smaller and more focused collection if I coudl browse properly. Have you tried Borders? They usually have more than Waterstones, not that that's saying much. Otherwise you will just have to come to Edinburgh- the shop at the end of my road stocks most of the Interweave books, along with more conventional ones

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NotQuiteCockney · 20/01/2006 07:28

tamum, writing up designs is much more work than making them! I wrote up my butterfly hat for someone on here, and a) it took forever and b) I wrote it up for any yarn, which of course isn't what most knitters want. They want "buy X yarn, knit Y stitches etc etc".

I should have a go, though, I do like the hat for DS1, both the cables are classical, as a friend has my favourite Walker book.

NotQuiteCockney · 20/01/2006 09:24

And of course I'm frogging the blue hat. Well, at least the bit with the green in. I will redo it in plain blue with two or three greek keys on it in green. And because it's circular knitting, I can design my own greek keys that only work in circular knitting, as I am not restricted to using an even number of rows of each colour.