Knit, Crochet and Natter 7: the School of Stitchcraft and Wizardry

[lazylinguist]

A thread for woolly crafters of all kinds, from beginner level to advanced sorcery!

Previous thread here

I agree@lucysmam

I had the knitty gritty second book and I thought it was great. I also really like the demonstrations given by VeryPinkKnits on YouTube. Not keen on the channel title but I find her really clear and she doesn't waste my time chatting about stuff I'm not interested in.

@lucysmam are the socks made in rounds? When I did Striped socks I didn't cut the yarn or carry it for an entire round. I just changed at the start of each round and dropped the old colour.

@CrochetBug they are but the under the foot bit was in rows then slipstiched together in the back loop of the last row. The rest is in rounds so I'll be changing at the start of the rest & dropping/picking up as necessary.

@sandwiches77

How are you getting on with getting started?

Marley Bird is brilliant for beginners. Her timing is great, she uses giant needles so you can really see what she's doing.

The videos with her teaching her mum are fabulous, because they show common mistakes & confusion, plus they're amusing!!

The only downside is that there are a million of them and you have to search through her videos to find what you need (though I'm a Luddite re youtube so you might do better than me.

Try this video

m.youtube.com/watch?v=nkzVGuaKsR8&list=PLCtrs9o46Za5Azzr80hqbt3DBVf0tZ7lj&index=171

Let us know how we can help

Thanks JugglingJanuary which needles and wool for beginners?

@sandwiches77

Thanks JugglingJanuary which needles and wool for beginners?

Well, woolwarehouse is a good online place to order from.

I have usually recommended uk4 needles and Stylecraft DK, but I can see the merit in bigger needles and chunkier wool.

I guess it's just personal preference.

Would you prefer to go into a charity shop & see what they have or order new online?

@sandwiches77 I use a company called Deramores online for yarn, they sell needles too and have a sale on at the moment. I’ve also got some from hobby craft and from Aldi when they have their craft special buys.

I started with bamboo 4mm needles, the yarn doesn’t slip off them so they are good for beginners.

I’m having a break from baby cardigans and hats to have a go at a knitted doll - a little footballer for my DS. Only done one leg so far but it’s my first time really switching colours so a new challenge for me.

Can someone just double check that this bit is telling me to decrease the last hdc & first bpdc, on my socks? I've done the increase by 10 (5 either side) like it previously said but had 16 rows so ended up with 21 either side totalling 45 plus the 9 bpdc = 54. If I then decrease those 2 together, am I not going to end up with too few stitches?

Maybe I should get dd to try it on before I carry on, then decide 🤔 Or maybe I'm just overthinking 🤷‍♀️

Never mind, dd used her common sense for me and tried it on

I'm glad you figured it out @lucysmam I can never picture a pattern unless I'm actually doing it!

Oh goodness, my maths was shocking there 🙈 21 either side = 42, plus the 9bpdc = 51 total . Good job I'm starting in nursery really...brush up my maths as I go! 🤣

Either way, I may actually go back and remove some of the increases - I'm not sure dd's ankles need 51sts and the pattern only called for 44 from that point - and then increase my way up the leg.

I think I need the animal slippers book. Anyone know where's best to buy it? I only have a little bit of birthday/Christmas money & need a few more work tops and a pair of smarter jeans out of it too 🙄

I need the animal slipper book too. I don't but then again, there was a pattern which I'm 99% sure was from the book in a magazine I've got somewhere. And I could (probably) adapt that into different animals and save the money.

🤣 well, I probably don't actually NEED it, but y'know 🤷‍♀️

Finding one to adapt would work out cheaper though 🤔

It feels cheeky to adapt the pattern though. Having made a few of my own patterns now I really appreciate how much hard work goes into it, the designers should get money from it!
But then again, I'm poor

Yep, I'm there with you on that!

@lucysmam & @CrochetBug it's on eBay for £14.49 but that is quite pricey really I think! It is a really good book though in my opinion! Slightly annoyed that all the patterns use either 4ply or Aran though, I have a tiny amount of 4 ply leftover from sock making but not enough and those two yarns aren't ones I use very often!

I had the first lesson for my crochet course yesterday and I’ve done my homework already I am keen to get practising but I should really finish knitting my fair isle sweater first I have 7 rows of sleeve and the neckband left. It’s in a pile looking at me but I can’t find the enthusiasm to pick it up.

@NiceCardigan

I had the first lesson for my crochet course yesterday and I’ve done my homework already I am keen to get practising but I should really finish knitting my fair isle sweater first I have 7 rows of sleeve and the neckband left. It’s in a pile looking at me but I can’t find the enthusiasm to pick it up.

Noooo, you NEED to practice what you've learnt!!

I'm JJ & I'm an enabler

Lucysmam and crochetbug my copy was ordered from Amazon and it’s currently £11.57 on there!

sophs most of the ones I’ve looked at are 4ply and I don’t have 4ply in either. I’m going to try the 4 ply patterns in DK and just crochet a bit tighter. I hate 4 ply. I think my fingers are too fat and my eyes too bad for 4 ply and after battling with a mug cozy at Easter, I’ve decided life is too short for 4 ply One of DH’s friends loved the sound of my animal crochet slipper book and has asked for a penguin pair. It’s just quite far down the list, which includes messing about with Tunisian crochet.

I'm just catching up now, lazy will be needing to think of a new thread title soon is it this weekend your spinning course is lazy? I'm vicariously excited

I've got a new sample knitting job 🥳 a colourwork cowl which I'm looking forward to. I also applied for a different wool related job, I don't know if I have the right experience but I've got my fingers crossed

@InTheNightWeWillWish I don't mind working with 4 ply too much but my whole stash is just DK! I was going to try using it and just going down a hook size maybe, the book does say though not only will the slippers be bigger, but they will be wider! I do have wider feet now though since have the DC's so maybe that will work out well 😂😂 just trial and error I guess!

Good luck @FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack how exciting!

@JugglingJanuary that did make me smile

Well I’ve done some crochet practice and finished knitting a sleeve so the best of both worlds!