Knit, Crochet and Natter into 2021

[lazylinguist]

A thread for chat about woolly crafts. All welcome, including complete beginners.

Previous thread here

Hi Mina!

How big is the blanket? Is it for your DD? Small can be really useful when they are out and about in a pram - they can also be used as a play mat or doll's blanket.

I've reported your duplicate posts to MNHQ so that they can remove them :)

Thank you I'm trying to delete I'm new to Mumsnet but can't figure out how and why it reposted so many times

Don't worry about it - sometimes there can be a glitch where it looks like it hasn't posted due to a connection issue. You can't delete them but HQ will sort it (probably tomorrow)

Hi, I hope it's ok to join. I've been an avid crocheter for about 2 years. Most of my projects are amigurumi but I want to expand my horizons a bit more this year.

I received a book of knitting patterns for Christmas so invested in some needles and have been trying to get to grips with the basics but finding it very difficult.

I really enjoy seeing other people's projects and reading through the advice ☺️

Welcome MindyMalik and Stitchyfingers!

Mindy - I think your blanket looks fantastic as it is! Stitchy - beautiful amigurumi! I think lots of crocheters find knitting really hard at first. You'll get there! It's definitely worth it - I love having the whole range of knitting and crochet patterns to choose from since I branched out to learn crochet.

Hi all. I'm on the final push to finish knitted baby blankets, and have rashly decided that they need fleece backing to hide all the wrong side messiness and stabilise them. So today I need to lay each one out on the table, measure it and buy fleece which I will then have to blanket stitch into place. And I thought the knitting was the big task!

I also have a smaller "for me" project on the go as respite.

First finished project of 2021. Every year I mean to do loads of stash busting projects for charity and end up just doing one or two, going to try a bit harder this year! I’ve got so much yarn and I’m probably going to be moving house sometime in the next three years so I’d like to get it down before then...that sounds like loads of time but I’ve been saying this for a while now!

It’s only a small scarf cos it’s for a kid, I used my niece as a mannequin and it was a perfect length on her.

@MindyMalik

Thank you I'm trying to delete I'm new to Mumsnet but can't figure out how and why it reposted so many times

Hi @MindyMalik - and a warm welcome to Mumsnet.

We've removed all of these duplicate posts now - must have been a wee glitch.

Hi Mindy I found pram blankets so handy. I had about six of them and they all got so much use. The bigger blankets got less use except for the ones on the beds.

Those are amazing Stitchyfingers! Are the first two from Jane Austen by any chance?

That's gorgeous Petri! I love the colours.

Good luck TeaMilk!

I've been spring cleaning and I tidied up my wool stash as part of it. I need to knit 3 jumpers and 3 pairs of socks before I can possibly justify buying any more wool

Had to post to say I have that book too @Midnightstar76 ,and isn’t it fab, although I have only managed to knit dishcloths so far! I found it in a charity shop- apparently she has written more. Would like to try the teacosy next...

@SoupDragon the blanket started as a stash buster but my DD loves the colours if I am not working on it I tend to leave it on display it keeps her entertained she likes to have deep conversation with the blanket it gets quite a few giggles out of her lol

@stitchyfingers your work is amazing I got gifted some kits but I'm still very reluctant to start them feel they will be so difficult hopefully one day. Plus I really want to finish each project before starting a new one. When I had my elder two DDs I took up quilting during maternity and although I had quite a few finished projects I still have a few WIP lying around.

@lazylinguist thank you for your feedback i think after I will leave it as it is @FlaviaAlbia mentioned about the smaller ones getting more use when out with DD I think with her loving it already I am hoping it will keep her settled and entertained for when we go on walks.

Thank you everyone for welcoming me to the group I don't have any crochet, knitters or quilters in my inner circle so when I saw this whilst on here I got excited.x

Thank you @FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack. The first is Jane Austen and the second Amelia Earhart. Both patterns are from a new book full of influential women. I love it.

I love the blanket @MindyMalik. The colours are gorgeous. My DD was gifted a knitted blanket about a similar size and it goes everywhere with us as it fits in her pram and car seat perfectly.

I love the colours of that scarf @petridishmystery ☺️

Oh, I see the goggles now, that book sounds great!

@Buntyforgirls well what a fab charity shop find! It really is a lovely book. I have only made the coat hanger covers from it in the past but there are so many lovely patterns, spoilt for choice really

Since we won't be going out for a while; can anyone recommend any bargainous places to buy yarn? My budget's not very big & I've mainly been using wool from Poundland/Wilko and the occasional ebay purchase from overseas.

@lucysmam I order from Woolwarehouse.
Stylecraft special are a good yarn and not pricey. I found the Aran way softer than the DK though. Or the schjeeps colour crafter is really soft and cheap.

@lucysmam, quite a few have sales on. I've used the deramores DK before after watching a few reviews on YouTube. And this time I got Deramores 100g balls in a number of colours in the DK for 87p which I thought was quite impressive and it is lovely and soft. I'm not sure if it's still on but check them out. Also the little wool shop recently I did a shop from there and my DDs couldn't get enough of how soft the yarn was and it was not pricey.

I have a knitting injury!
The skin around the nail of my forefinger is swollen (paranychia?) think probably from knitting, so i havent finished DS second sock which was his christmas present.

Feel like I'm neglecting the post as I haven't posted recently but I've been reading all your posts, I just haven't had a chance to do any projects yet so just been watching with jealousy haha!
I can't believe how talented you all are!
I'm so tempted to make some toys (amigurumi) for my two boys and was just wandering if you have to use a special yarn for it or I could just use the DK I have?
I've seen a few people post about there yarns used for these projects and just wandered what the difference was!

I prefer 100% cotton for amigurumi because it doesn't stretch and lose shape like acrylic does.
I have used acrylic as well, but I just prefer the look and overall finish of cotton. Its personal preference though.
I also go down a few hook sizes from what the yarn says, so for amigurumi using DK I use a 2mm hook. And yarn under to make a neater, tighter stitch.

Drops Paris is my go to cotton yarn. Or the Drops "love you" ranges, although they seem to be discontinued. Either that or everywhere has stopped selling it.

Oh brilliant @CrochetBug thank you so much! That makes sense!
Hate it when they discontinue something you love!!

Ouch, bruffin - that sounds painful! I've never had a knitting injury, though I got quite a sore wrist when I started putting ij a lot of hours on my crochet blanket over lockdown, when I was unused to crocheting.

No more teaching for me, now that schools are closed,although I was only doing about 5 or 6 hours a week anyway. Annoyingly, the Spanish A Level I was going to do has been cancelled again, only a few weeks after I'd managed to persuade the school to let me reschedule it for this summer (I was meant to do it last June, and I don't work for them any more!).

@CrochetBug @MindyMalik thank you both; my dad's just called round with my birthday card for the weekend & given me some money so I might pay some of it into the bank to use for something pretty for myself!

I' ve been mooching about all day but not actually achieved anything with both girls set up in the kitchen I'm currently picking a birthday present their dad can order online from dd2 but struggling to think of anything I actually want/need.

Any useful accessories that aren't hugely pricey that anyone can think of?