Knit, Crochet and Natter 5 - the roadmap to MORE YARN!

[lazylinguist]

A thread for knitters, crocheters and yarn crafters of all kinds. Total beginners very much welcome! Previous thread here

Oh gosh, crochet cotton is tiny. I've got a ball of it but haven't actually used it! DK would be a lot thicker!

Are we talking sewing thread tiny? I think I have a ball lurking in my sewing things that would have been my mum's. I could try both to try and match the gauge before I go any further.

IIRC it's like DMC or anchor embroidery silk. But it's a long time since I looked at it.

It's actually not sewing thread tiny, looking at someone's stash pic on Ravelry. It does look to be about the same thickness as what I have lurking so I'll see what it does at some point over the next few days...

Oh phew. It seems 'crochet cotton' covers a variety of sizes so mine must be a thinner one! It's all so confusing isn't it

Sorry just realised how many typos were in my previous post 😳😂 I obviously meant bunnies not blanket and interesting not interest 🙄 think that was all of them 😂

CrochetBug it probably doesn't help that it's a "vintage" pattern (although not sure how old that would make it) & the yarn's discontinued. I'll have a play with what I have before I buy anything, & maybe post in a couple of the fb groups I've joined too. Maybe someone there will have an idea what I should be looking for.

If something is referred to as crochet cotton then generally a size 3 (numbers get bigger as width gets thinner for crochet cotton) is going to be the biggest sort of size this could be - DMC Petra size 3 is crochet cotton I work with. In terms of yarn weight it's probably closest to what they call sport weight some places, thinner than dk.

Thanks tizwoz I've been googling & reading for the past 20 minutes or so. Could I sub any 3 ply yarn, so long as gauge is correct (or, more likely, close enough as I'll be skipping the zip & elasticating the waist)?

Can't help on the cotton front I'm afraid - I've bought some in the past but only for amigurumi do not sure it's quite what you're after.

However, I came in to share my discovery for today, which is that my local library have signed up to the Libby app and there are loads of knitting and crochet magazines on there - completely free. You may all be ahead of me on this, but if not, worth checking it out.

I'm back; but then I'm going so I can do some more of my jumper...

Google suggested that 3 ply is baby yarn sooooo, in theory, could I sub a baby weight yarn? Or try a 4 ply since my local yarn shop appears to stock more of those than 3 ply (she only has two 3 ply on her website & they're not very exciting).

I'm going to stop thinking about this for tonight now & do some more googling tomorrow morning!

The size 3 crochet cotton I mentioned is 4 ply, but that in itself doesn't directly relate to thickness ime, e.g. DMC Petra 3 and DMC Natura are both 4ply cotton but Natura is thicker. Sorry, prob not helping much! I think a slightly chunkier cotton might swatch to the right size but it might affect the drape of the finished article

I think it does help actually! I'll do some comparing tomorrow on actual paper, and with the cottons I have & see how far I get.

Haven't a clue about crochet cotton - sorry!

I've really nearly finished my crochet scraps basket! Going to bed now, but I'll do the last couple of rows in the morning and post a picture. I didn't start the all white bit for the final section as early as I meant to, but I think it looks ok. That will mean I'm back down to my allowed total of 3 projects. .

Basket finished! I'm really pleased with it. I'm sure I'll make more of them in the future, or similar things. I've decided I really like crochet as a way of making more rigid, solid objects iyswim.

That looks great @lazylinguist I hadn't realized how big it was from the earlier photos.

I have grand plans to use old t-shirts to make t-shirt yarn and then transform this into baskets but it's quite far down the to do list

That sounds like a great idea, @tizwozliz! With you on the long list though!

That looks really good lazy! I hadn't realised how big it was either.

I've been googling away again this morning. The crochet cotton I have is more suited to a smaller hook, & the dk is toooo thick. I think, for interesting colours, like dd2 wants, 4 ply is my best bet. The pattern calls for a size 3 hook, which I believe to be (also from googling!) about 3.25mm so I'm going to acquire the cheapest ball of 4 ply I can locate & attempt the gauge swatch with the 3mm and 3.5mm hooks I have and see how I get on.

Basket looks great! But I'm limiting myself to one WIP at a time, otherwise I know things just went get finished. Which I suspect is the reason why I wasn't too inspired when I went shopping the other day - I've already got a list of things to do, so didn't need to make that list any longer!

And on the subject of WIPs, Sophie is still progressing nicely. I'm on to the second lot of yarn now, so fading back to the blue, although I'm not sure if it will use it all. Hopefully the longer rounds don't mean that it fades too quickly, otherwise it might look off balance - we'll see!

Lazy basket looks great! A great size too!

Bookshark that looks beautiful! Do you find the variety and concentration needed keeps you enthusiastic about it or is each row a bit of a chore now?

Basket looks great @lazylinguist ! Definitely going to be my next project but I have taken @InTheNightWeWillWish 's advice and found a knit pattern equivalent. Only issue is I have two baby jumpers to sew up before I can allow myself to start... I really hate finishing up stuff! I'm so lazy!

Sophie looks stunning, @BookShark! I just love that colour fade. I'm swearing off blankets for a while though. I don't need any more and they take ages! So I'm down to my Goldwing jumper and my much neglected Sockhead Cowl and fail-to-knit-along cushion cover. That means 3 knit WIPs and no crochet ones atm, but I will not be tempted to add one . All 3 of my current projects are slow progress ones - because they are, respectively, 1) fairisle 2) fine wool 3) cable!

Oo love the basket!

Thanks @petridishmystery! Several FB friends have asked if I take commissions . I've pointed out that I make things very slowly and that the basket is so easy that they could probably easily make it themselves . One has asked me to teach her when she next comes to visit!

I think lots of people are keener on the idea of hand-made household items than they are on actual garments. Not everyone is up for wearing hand-knitted Fairisle jumpers etc! Like on that thread where people were rudely slagging off the handmade mittens made by an MNer (who is or was on these threads, I think!). I always get nice comments when I post anything I make, but it's often non-clothing stuff which people say they'd like to buy!