More knitting chat ...

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, new pictures, photobucket.com/albums/c176/NotQuiteCockney/?sc=6 . I like both new hats, although the photos are rubbish. (Am I not holding the camera still?)

Not sure what to do next, am slightly uninspired. Thinking about tubular knitting? DH has a colleague whose wife is having a baby, so I should do one for them ...

aha - what a good idea - a dolly skin graft! I might actually have the skills to carry that out, whereas my darning skills probably don't come even close to yours

thanks for the offer of the patterns, would love to take you up on them...

brill, once i get organised (dh away all week) i will try to remember to bring the book into work to photocopy.

i would think 60 degrees too.

bundle went to loop, bundle went to loop...is it as much a triumph of style over substance as other London knitters claim bundle?
ROFL at the disfiguring darn in the tights, very Blakes Seven.
My dolly knitting will be confined to twinsets for dd's lilydoll, the beloved Arsula of S London.

yes marina, it's pretty small with no rowan () and they only had wooden dpn's in half (not quarter) sizes. sigh. bought one of those "ergonomic" crochet hooks, which feels quite nice to use. went back to our local wool/christian icons shop though, for wodges of felt for dolly. and cheapish 4ply cotton for her knickers.

VERY well styled though, loop, that is. but we could do WAY better in terms of content Marina

and god do they know how to charge for the workshops...

thanks for pattern offer Bundle, DD will be thrilled (she always treats the dolly my mum made me with much reverence, so sweet) do your dds love them?

We SO could MP. But I like the aspect of sitting there waiting for customers to tip up, knitting and chatting...

are you doing a workshop then MP? the girl on the till looked amazed when the barcodes on the stuff i bought actually worked on the till. they do have a good selection of books. did you see btw that there's a row over who "owns" the Stitch n Bitch name???

my crochet/knitting group met at the Royal Court theatre last week, i couldn't go but they say it's a fab venue as food good and obviously all the sofas clear at 7.30ish when performance starts...

(dd1 took her - still naked, but with hair - dolly to school for Show n Tell today)

mp, you will be startled to hear that Montse disapproves rather strongly of people using washing machines for felting. I think if you're trying to felt something down to a specific size, you need to do it manually. If you're making a bag or something else whose size isn't very specific, I think an automatic machine is fine.

I will try to dig up Montse's instructions re: felting, if you want them?

tamum, the package came today, it all looks lovely, thanks so much! I've not tried silk before, but am very much looking forward to it.

nqc i bought a book in the secondhand shop the other week, it's quite old, and only noticed the other day that it's written by montse

no, not doing a workshop bundle although would love to, I love that kind of thing

glad dolly went to school today, that's really nice - kids get so enthusiastic about knitting at that age which is just great (think I remember your DD1 being a little older than mine) - DD1 sat at the kitchen table with me yesterday very proudly turning the little dial on my row counter everytime I notified her that I'd reached the end of a row...(she was doing other stuff in between, she is not a complete knit row counter freak )

NCQ, thanks for the offer re Montse's advice, but I've got my copy now (thanks to your recommendations) and so will turn to her tonight (it is the Handknitter's handbook, right?) - the pattern for the felted slippers I have recommends doing felting tests with a swatch of the knitted fabric first, then adjusting the pattern according to the felted gauge that results IYSWIM - we'll see how it goes, am hoping to get to the felting swatch stage tonight. I guess slippers don't have to be exact (just exact-ish)

dd1 is doing some weaving, got this kit from argos that has weaving, knitting, crochet & cross stitch in it, it was only a tenner and has all the materials. she is also colour supervisor for dolly production. dd2 has chosen pink hair and green eyes for her yet unmade dolly.

Oh, if you do a sample felted swatch, then I can see automatic working pretty well. The manual method does look more precise, though.

I'd try a lower temperature, so that less felting happens per washing cycle, iyswim. That way you have more control.

I have about 6 swatches ready to test felt so will probably try at a couple of different temps and durations

should be interesting, will let you all know how I get on

NQC, I'm glad you liked it- just sorry it was so late.

I have felted bags quite a few times, motherpeculiar- I think it's harder for us then it is for most people in N. America because they tend to have top loading machines, so you can stop and check. The bags all worked fine, having said that though! I think it's important to have something heavy in there with them, as bashing about helps the felting process no end- old jeans, that kind of thing. I would like to try slippers, I'll be interested to see how you get on I've got the Bev Galeskas book, so I should really try.

so what temp did you find worked best Tamum?

I think the silk may motivate me to try lace-making. The texture is a bit like bamboo, but it feels lighter - bamboo is very heavy.

The stitch markers are lovely, too. I keep meaning to try using some, particularly for circular knitting, and those will no doubt motivate me to have a go.

I gave away the Greek fretwork hat today, which may get me to make another in that style, but without the errors that bugged me (fret too low, hat body too long). I got a thank-you card for the beret, and I'm churning away on the butterfly hat in green. I think I'm about to start reducing.

I'm running late on it, too, as the baby has already been born.

I like knitting with silk, and it does make nice lace. So glad you like it

Motherpeculiar, I am pretty sure I just used 50 degrees, but our machine underestimates temps, I think, so I would probably say 60 at least to be on the safe side. Ours is a Dyson too, so it's quite rough.

tamum, have you tried bamboo? It takes some lovely colours, and is quite smooth and soft, but heavy, and easy to split.

Actually, for "lovely", read "very strong". Not as nice as the colourway you sent me. I don't know whether bamboo works for gentler colours, but I remember purl only having it in flourescent tones.

I must try it- our LYS sells South West Trading yarns, so they must have some. I think you're right though, I have only seen it in very intense colours. I finished dd's beret last night, v. proud of myself for persisting with the dpns, but v. relieved to be back with my jacket on the Denises

I'd be cautious in what you make in bamboo. It's so heavy, I think normal clothes in it would be alarming. Maybe better for throws etc?

Damn, must make dinner now, while children are playing happily.

New hat picture here . I think I might try to sit down and write out the butterfly hat pattern, if it might be useful to people? I probably should write up the triangle-and-pleat one first ...

How do I get digital pictures to not look so bad?

Ok, does this make any sense? I need to add the tension square information, the information about yarn, needles, and so on. Oh, and when to move to DPNs as well. But as a start at a pattern:

Special instructions: MB - Make butterfly: With right needle, collect the five strands of yarn on the RS of the hat. Pick up strands and place on left needle. Knit the strands with a single knit stitch.

CO 100 stitches, preferably using a loose CO method, like loop.

Roll Brim:
Knit 15 rows.

Body of Hat:
1,3,5,7,9: (slip 5 stitches wyif, k5) *
2,4,6,8: K*
10: K2, (MB, k2tog, k8) * (K6 on last repeat)
11, 13, 15, 17, 19: (k5, sl5 wyif) *
12, 14, 16, 18: K*
20: K7, (MB, k2tog, k8) * (K1 on last repeat)

Repeat rows 1-20 once.
Then repeat rows 1-12.
(Total: 52 rows of body)

Crown of Hat:
53: (k2, k2tog, k1, sl5 wyif) *
54, 56, 58: k*
55, 57: (k4, sl5 wyif) *
59: (k2, k2tog, sl5 wyif) *
60: k3, (MB, k2tog, k4)* (k1 on last repeat)
61: k2, (k2tog, k5)* (k3 on last repeat)
62: k2, (k2tog, k4)* (k2 on last repeat)
63, 64: k*
65: k2, (k2tog, k3)* (k1 on last repeat)
66, 67: k*
68: (k2, k2tog)*
69, 70: k*
71: k2, (k2tog, k1)* (end with k2tog, including first stitch of row 72)
72: k2tog until only 3 stitches left
Knit i-cord with last three stitches, for three rows.
CO, then sew up.

This is my first attempt at really writing out a pattern. As I don't actually use patterns, it probably sucks. Let me know if it makes sense?

I have to knit the pattern to test it, don't I. Ugh. I hate knitting from patterns ...