Knitters' Thread ...

[NotQuiteCockney]

I have started knitting again. I've finished two baby hats (one with a four-eyelet design, another with panels of a fern-looking lace) and am working on one with a simple all-over lace.

I figured lace made sense for this weather.

What is everyone else working on?

fanjo, is this knitting or crochet? i don't recognise the name of the stitches (celtic knot???)! perhaps i should get the walker book... sounds lovely! are you still going to use 3mm needles?

i'm onto second prototype sock. the first sock worked really well and fit dh's foot, although i'm not sure he should be seen in public with them on. people will think he's a complete lentil-stewing wierdo. perhaps just as bedsocks...

am i the only one that knits things for the enjoyment of knitting and would be really really surprised if anyone actually wore any of it??

Oh, my stuff does get worn. I make hats, and they are (generally) wearable. DH wears his. DS1 sometimes wears his. Most of the rest have been for newborns, but I think they get worn, too.

This is knitting. I'm doing mosaic knitting, which is a style of colorwork where you use slip stitches and alternating rows of colours, rather than intarsia or fairisle.

And then the celtic knot is just a mosaic pattern I'll use. The Walker book I'm using for this (there are four!) has lots of different mosaic patterns in it.

well ive picked up the clown from my mum's ... it is totally moth eaten!I had forgotten quite how basic it is actually - it looks really quite sad. Any chance I could email either of you fanjo or wartywarthog with some photos and see if you think it is possible?

Wartywarthog is probably a better bet. I could have a look at it and tell you how I think it's done, but it sounds like wartywarthog has actually made toys. I haven't.

My scarf is coming on leaps and bounds!! I love the yarn and after I got bigger needles for it today its grown and grown!! I didnt get enough yarn though so I am buying some more now so I can finish it and eventually make a little one for my son who will be born in a couple of weeks so he and his Daddy can have matching scarves.

I LOVE knitting and am actually upset thinking I may have a few days with no yarn, I'm already addicted!

I'm glad to hear it's going well! I'm working on my blanket, done the centre bit, and borders on two sides, and picked up stitches for the third.

It's obviously blanket season! I'm knitting one too, it's the Debbie Bliss "Entrelac" blanket from her Baby Cashmerino book. The picture looks lovely, but it's one of those patterns where I have absolutely no idea which bit I'm knitting at the moment, or how you move from one bit to the next. So far, so good though!

Eenywifemum - knitting is so addictive isn't it!

Nice to see you back as NCQ, rather than fanjo!

Oh, I'm changing back and forth, I'm afraid. Am NQC on one 'puter, and Fanjo on the other.

I was considering making an entrelac blanket, I have details of the technique somewhere. Let me know how it goes ...

What does entrelac mean?

How is your foot today?

It's ok, maybe - just started being wrong now.

An "entrelac" is a diamond shape, made with increases and decreases. I think you join them together as you go? I don't have any book with them in, in front of me. (Two of my best knitting books have been loaned out, and I'm getting anxious about getting them back, frankly )

Is the blanket you're on like that? Or is it something else?

Yes, lots of triangles and rectangles which may (or may not) make diamonds. It's hard to tell from the picture so I'm just following the instructions slavishly

Ah, here is a page about entrelacs. Lots of picking up stitches and doing reductions etc.

sounds amazing nqc / fanjo. wonder if i should get this book...

i checked my patterns and don't have anything resembling a clown... cjmummy, you can email me, although i warn you that i need to knit my dh his socks (he's waiting for them!), and then i could get round to looking at your clown. but i still need to find a pattern. my email is wartywarthog at yahoo dot co dot uk.

glad you're enjoying it so much eeny!

Which book?

I can strongly recommend dear old mad Montse. And all the Barbara G Walker books are good, but the second treasury is best.

was thinking about the barbara walker books as i've never heard of mosaic stitch. so you'd recommend this one?

what's in the montse books?

Yeah, that's the best one.

It's just lots of different textures. Actually, there's no mosaic knitting in there, though, that's in book 4 and maybe 3? (Can't find 3 at the moment.)

Montse just sets out all the basics of knitting, really. Lots of different ways to cast on, and all the different techniques possible. She really just covers all the different sorts of things involved in knitting, down to basics like, how to best sew in ends.

i must admit i'm mainly self-taught, so i found knittinghelp.com really interesting. got a few good tips, but realised that a lot of things that i was doing was the standard way. does the montse have more info than that website?

thanks wartywarthog ... I will take some photos over the next few days and email you if that is ok. If you dont fancy it dont worry .. it is just an idea thats all!

Nothing wrong with being self-taught, I learned from books, not other people (mostly, anyway).

Montse is much more detailed than that website. She has a mindboggling amount of detail.

cjmummy, i look forward to the photos.

nqc, is it this one or this one ?

wartywarthog, it's the second one. I've never seen the first one before, it looks a bit strange.

yeah - 'get clicking' with 'purls of wisdom'... errr

Montse is so not like that. She's very very direct and opinionated.

I'm still slogging along with my blanket. Found out that one of the people who has my knitting books is a) on holiday in Taiwan b) moving to another bit of London. Must hassle a bit more, when we get back from holidays.

Actually, the blanket's looking a bit busy and taking forever, so I think I might have it just have the central panel (which has 6 rows of plain garter stitch around it), the border I'm on now, a big block of garter stitch, another border, and a much bigger border of garter stitch, with rounded edges. I think that might be enough. It's taking bloody forever. So it'll be a small blanket.