Knit, Crochet and Natter 3: Is it really still January?!

[lazylinguist]

All welcome! Previous thread here

Ooh, good idea! We probably have some of those lurking that I could make use of in the future if/when needed.

@lazylinguist I guess choosing the right length? I have one pair which I'm sure I checked was the right length for a project (years ago) but when I started it really pulled, so mustve been too long. And how does decreasing work? Do you move onto shorter ones?

Well, they're back inside now and I've picked the hailstones off them but it was good drying weather while it lasted 😂

I liked the cowl because I reckon it would be pretty easy to adjust for different weights by adding stitches and rows if anyone wanted to stash bust. But yeah, it would be better to wait until the CAL is finished so everyone who wants to join in can.

You use magic loop NervousDave, it really is like magic! I think I did it wrong for ages at the start but it still worked so it's pretty forgiving

NervousDave - patterns usually say what length. The measurement is from needle tip to needle tip though, not just the length of the cable.

With projects where you decrease a lot, you might need two different lengths. Or with something that decreases down to a very small number of stitches, like at the crown of a hat, you usually have to finish off on a set of double pointed needles. I use dpn a lot because I make socks, so I'm used to them.

Circular needles are great when you're making anything tube-like, especially in stocking stitch, because you get to do all knits and no purls because you never have to turn roubd and work on the opposite side. They also mean that you don't have to sew up the sides e.g. on a jumper.

You can also use them for non-circular knitting. Apparently some people use them all the time instead of straight needles,because they are lighter to hold. To use them for straight knitting, you don't join the 2 ends of the work for working in the round, you just turn over and knit the other way like on straight needles.

Oh I forgot about magic loop!

Making slow & steady progress on the first brick row of dd2's blanket this afternoon. Dd1 says it's "swag", dd2 hasn't seen the bricks yet -I'm hoping to finish the first row before she's finished playing Minecraft with her friends.

The girls' dad has just won a tenner on a scratchcard, then given it to me. I'm going to add it to what's left of my birthday money for now & use it towards cardi yarn.

Oh, it didn't post my picture :(

Bugger, it did

Minecraft and calling things 'swag'- that sounds like my house!

Haha dd1's 14, dd2's just 11. It's like they speak a whole different language sometimes!

I'm surprised actually, at how into Minecraft dd1 is lately. She lost interest for a loooong while. Dd2 plays with a little group who she met online in lockdown 1; some of their worlds are amazing!

My dd's 15 and ds is 12. They seem to spend more time watching other people play Minecraft on YouTube than playing themselves. As well as 'swag', they say things are 'pog champ'. I'm baffled.

Ah, yes, I'm familiar with "pog champ" as well and "poggers"! Watching other people play MC is a favourite way to pass time here as well. Baffles me tbh but dd1 always has some stream or other to catch up on 🤷‍♀️

Pog is "the player of the game." So POG champ must be better than that
We get lots of "poggers" and "swag" here too. I do keep telling DS2s friends that POGs are little cardboard discs but they all think I'm weird. And I suspect I'm younger than a lot of their parents so they don't know what they are either

I've done row 1 of part 3 and, amazingly, got the right stitch count. Poggers!

Goodness, I'd forgotten about POGs

lazylinguist that's epic bro! Is it the Spicier Life CAL you're all doing? I downloaded it for a read through when I was dithering about what to make for dd2.

There are really too many lovely patterns out there & I'm not really sure I know anyone who'd appreciate one once we each have a blanket :(

@crochet I am with you pogs massive tiddlywinks 😁 my eldests 6th birthday was today and he's over the moon with his unspeakable hoodie. Plays minecraft but also spends more time watching others play it

I just told my dc that people are pogging all over the MN knitting thread and they are cringing .

Yes lucysmam it's the Spicier Life one. Mine looks less spicy than everyone else's though, because it's all grey and white!

No CAL for me today as I’ve been working on my mum’s blanket. Speaking to her yesterday about the blanket kit she’s bought me for my birthday, that wasn’t the one that originally caught her attention. Apparently there was one more in her style than the one she’s sent me, it was a shell pattern with pinks and purples. She doesn’t know I’m doing this blanket for her (the orange is a pinky-orange in real life), so I’m hoping that’s a good sign she’ll like this one that I’m doing a similar pattern.

No crochet at all for me because I'm being a grown up and resting my wrist. Its not aching any more which is good. Hopefully another couple of days rest will be enough.

Does anyone know why scheepjes yarn is out of stock almost everywhere? Is it a supply issue do we think? Maybe covid/brexit related.

Very sensible, CrochetBug! I imagine the Scheepjes lack of stock could well be to do with Brexit or Covid.

@CrochetBug well done for being a grown up. Despite it being the boring option. Hopefully a couple of days of rest and you’ll be speeding through your patterns again.

Probably all those lockdown cliches who decide they’ll take up knitting or crochet now they’ve got all this time, buying all this wool! I should probably state this is probably lockdown 3.0 cliches. Lockdown 2.0 cliches, like myself, won’t be impacting supply at all. I don’t know about scheepjes in particular but my recent order from deramores they said that with increased people working from home, covid safety and increased demand they don’t have as much stock as usual and it’s taking longer to get everything out. In my industry, we’re seeing shortages in some really random areas, not ones we predicted with all the brexit planning. It’s partly brexit and partly covid and partly just because. So scheepjes might be experiencing something similar.

InTheNight those colours are right up my street!

Very grown up CrochetBug; just don't over-do anything else since you mentioned colouring in earlier on!

I've just noticed, but am not going back to correct it, that my first row of the coloured yarn has an extra stitch 🙄 I've been counting & marking so carefully too! Do you think it'll be disguised when it has it's border? Dd2 won't notice but dd1 mentioned the "sticky outy bit at the bottom"

I should be able to colour with no issues because it doesn't involve using my left hand at all. Plus I get bored after 10 mins

Luckily I'm not in a rush for yarn so I will wait until its in stock. I found one place that has it, but the colours I need of something else are out of stock and I'm not placing 2 orders and paying 2 lots of postage

@lucysmam is it an extra stitch or the turning chain? Were you meant to count that as a stitch but didn't? A border should cover it up I think.

Definitely an extra stitch, the other rows all have a single turning chain that's not counted in the stitch count & they're all lining up (that's what the pins in the side are for - as well as to help me space a border evenly).

My local shop has Scheepjes in stock depending on which one you’re looking for Crochet

folkloreyarns.com/collections/scheepjes?page=1