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

[lazylinguist]

All welcome! Previous thread here

Thanks @FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack sadly they don't have what I need. I've got enough other things to get on with once my wrist is better that I can wait. I might actually sort my stash while I'm resting. Its entirely possible I've got another ball somewhere anyway

A lot of the yarn I want seems to be out of stock at the moment. I ended up ordering a 20 colour multipack of ricorumi as i couldn't get the two individual colours I needed as out of stock everywhere.

The Sirdar snuggly I want to buy comes in 30 colours, 17 are currently out of stock...

Yes I’ve also noticed yarn i want being out of stock! V frustrating...I have so much yarn but none of it ever seems to be right for the project I have in mind.

I've just order 40cm, 80cm circular needles, 3 crochet hooks, 55 dpns, count markers, and wool sewing needles. Someone reassure me that circular knitting isn't that hard? I am terrified of the dpns too. I've only ordered as 90% of the free on line knitting patterns need either circular or dpn

Circular knitting isn't that hard! Once you've cast on and done the first row, it's pretty easy. With dpn it feels a bit weird at first, getting used to holding multiple needles at once, but it starts to feel more stable and less wobbly as the work begins to grow. The only slightly tricky bit imo is the initial 'joining to work in the round', where you have to be careful not to get your stitches twisted.

@lazylinguist thank you. I've just been binge watching nimble needles on YouTube. Seems fairly straightforward once you get used to handling. I think I ordered and then panicked. Hoping as well with the crochet hooks I can turn my hand to that too. My mum tried teaching me when I was a teen but I had no interest. I am sorely regretting that now.

I think the basics of crochet are easier to learn than the basics of knitting. I was a knitter for quite a while before I attempted crochet. The only thing I found confusing about crochet was the concept of the turning chain when you're crocheting in rows, which is why I stuck to granny squares for ages instead of projects in rows! But it turned out not to be hard after all!

Argh! I just had to frog two whole rows of the KAL. I finished the Under the Arches section and didn't have anything like enough clusters. Then realised it was because I'd missed some trebles on the previous row.

These are the colours i ended up with for the duck. Pleased with how it turned out.i often end up frothing things when choosing my own colour combos as I can't judge the colours until it's made.

@lazylinguist if it makes you feel any better I frogged about 3 rows of something once, each row was about 200 stitches. Only to realise I hadn't made a mistake after all

He looks great @tizwozliz. Duck coloured

I've very very slowly done a couple of rows today. As in 10 mins of crochet every few hours. And I've ordered a support bandage from amazon. Apparently resting isn't in my repertoire!

@lazylinguist

Argh! I just had to frog two whole rows of the KAL. I finished the Under the Arches section and didn't have anything like enough clusters. Then realised it was because I'd missed some trebles on the previous row.

Thank god it was not just me!! 2 rows frogged too! Was it the last section of the popcorn bit that threw you out too?

Where it said in every stich and each chain space I had counted every right side bit as a space when it was a stich and a space!! Very confusing!! So when I finished the next row i had way less clusters than I should have as the previous rows count was out!!

Nightmare! Hated it!! And annoyed with myself as I have been counting every row! Only one I don't and it cocks up!

Now finally on the last row of under the arches thank goodness!!

He looks lovely, @tizwozliz!
@CrochetBug - how annoying! I'm making fewer mistakes than I did on my first crochet blanket, and I think it's a bit neater too, so at least I'm learning!

The CALs (and ducks!) all look great. I’ve just finished one of the sleeves of my sweater but I’ve decided to knit a quick sock before starting the second one. I’m too tired to do anything that requires a lots of thought.

Wow, Part 3 of the CAL is loooooong! How is everyone else getting on with it?

I'm half way through stacked waves. Why are there so many of them? I don't know if its because I'm having to do it so slowly, or just because it's so repetitive, but it's so boring!

I did buy a wrist support though in the hope it will help heal faster.

@lazylinguist

Wow, Part 3 of the CAL is loooooong! How is everyone else getting on with it?

I thought it was just me! Popcorn seemed to work up quite quickly but I’m still trudging through under the arches. I can’t get a rhythm going with it and have to constantly check which stitch I’m up to, do a few wrong and have to redo them. There are so many more rows after under the arches though.

Uff, I've done 3 rows of dd2's blanket today, in short bursts & was really pleased with myself.

Just can't get back into the rhythm I had going on this evening :(

I'm on row 6 of under the arches, and finding it very slow and repetitive, haven't actually picked it up this evening because I'm not finding it enjoyable haha, but the bobbles are next and they're my favourite

I'm about to start the last row of Under the Arches - phew!

I'm debating switching stitch for dd2's blanket. The pattern calls for yo-slipstitch-blo, but it's annoying me trying to pull the loop through the yo part. I'm thinking sc will look exactly the same & be much faster. Hoping for an hour or two today when downstairs is tidied to do a couple of rows and see whether you can see a difference.

If you can, I might frog it and start again later on.

My brain is fried, can I borrow anyone elses to think this out? I've finished seaming my brioche lace jumper and now I've the sleeves to do.

I have 82g of 4ply which is held double with a strand of laceweight for the arms. I'm not going to get full length am I? I'm knitting a size 42 and it's a drop shoulder but not dropped very much. It's been so long since I knitted full length 4 ply sleeves I genuinely can't remember...

Sorry Flavia and lucysmam - I am not remotely equipped to reply helpfully to either of those posts! I don't know how to do anything but buy exactly the amount of yarn it says and follow the instructions to the letter. Adapting, estimating and going off-piste in any way are alien to me! Plus I'm not practiced enough at making any particular item to be able to say "Oh well when I make jumper sleeves, I usually do x, y or z"

I hope someone more useful can help!

I was just musing out loud really lazylinguist, I have no idea how it'll turn out but am going to try it and see 🤷‍♀️

I'm sure it will look great, lucysmam.

Talking of things I can't do though... the thing that really blows my mind is the whole idea of designing a pattern from scratch. I mean... I realise you don't need to be an actual bona fide genius in order to do it - because lots of pretty normal people clearly do do it. But I just can't even imagine being able to. Quite apart from the creativity involved, I think the mathematics of it would be too much for me.

I suppose we all have our strengths and weaknesses though. People boggle at my linguisty skills sometimes. Or the fact that I can teach teenagers all day without committing murder. One of the best things about knitting and crochet for me is that I'm learning and making progress at something that doesn't come naturally to me and isn't like anything else I do. It enables me to feel creative without actually being a creative person!

Sorry for the waffle - I'm obviously in a musing sort of mood today.

lucysmam I also have no idea but my school of thought is generally try it and if I don’t like it, frog it. But that’s not overly productive And sorry flavia you might as well be speaking a different language...

lazylinguist I can’t wrap my head around the designing either. With the CAL, presumably the designer had to work out which multiple would work as a base for all the stitch patterns she wanted to use. For a whole blanket. I’ve got a bit of a block on maths, in that I tell myself I can’t do maths (despite using it daily in my job and now crochet ) but I’d need to get over that block before even attempting a design. I bet I could get DH to make me a spreadsheet to work it out but I’d still have to work out the right base before giving that info to DH. It also seems like crochet/knitting and spreadsheets are opposite ends of the spectrum and I’d probably be looked down on for using a spreadsheet