It's crochet, knit and natter thread 11. So much yarn we need a yarn barn.

[CrochetBug]

Oh my, the last thread got full! Hope you all find me. The title is rubbish.

Anyway. I'm off to decorate the thread.

@NonMiDispiace the only problem I’ve ever had was with these colourwork socks as that ended up affecting the stretch more than I’d anticipated. I don’t do a lot of colourwork, so my technique was probably to blame here.

All the cables sock patterns I’ve made don’t have cables under the sole, so no annoying rubbing. Same with the lace socks I’ve knitted.

They are fab @SparkleHard! I treated myself to some sock wool at the weekend but I’m not using a fancy pattern just a basic one and the striped wool does all the work

I love those @SparkleHard , I’m not sure I can cope with more than one colour!

Not much happening here, although I did quickly make a crochet cover for a biscuit tub to repurpose as a plant pot.

Hello lovelies! Can anyone advise? I can do basic crochet and knitting. I enjoy learning new things but what I REALLY need right now is something I can mindlessly in front of the TV and still get an okay result. Not for a Christmas gift or a deadline or anything, just to stop me scrolling on my phone. I tried crocheting a blanket stitch scarf yesterday and had to concentrate so hard, I couldn't have anything else going on. I kept losing count and it was just aaaarghh.

So my questions are 1) is simple crochet or knitting better for being able to (mostly) watch TV at the same time? and 2) what stitch of either do you recommend? single crochet? basic knitting? 3) I figure I should be able to just get some nice yarn and then make a long scarf - am I wrong?

Something like a granny square stripe blanket is fairly mindless apart from the colour changes l, and you can choose to do wider stripes.

https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/granny-stripe-blanket.html

@rivercobbler what about knitting fingerless gloves?
I cast on 40 stitches, then knit about 40 rows of various types but it could just be simple garter stitch (I can tell you the pattern I use, but I just made it up). Then sew up the edge, leaving space for the thumb hole. Super easy, super quick and you can use them as presents though I know that's not your aim.

I’ve finished my socks and am thrilled I managed to match the pattern!

Buy (dishcloth) cotton and make dishcloths? You can make them as hard or simple as you like.

but many patterns are okay once you hit the rhythm, you just need to do a bit until it becomes easier.

@StillNiceCardigan those are excellent socks!

Lovely socks @StillNiceCardigan

Nice socks @StillNiceCardigan.

We moved house. Finally! We’ve put a complaint in with our estate agent and are asking for a refund over how they handled the sale. It’s a pretty detailed complaint so if we get a partial refund that means more yarn money that means we can use doing the work on the house as there’s a bit more than we originally thought. DH has caught covid and possibly given it to me. So I’ve not crocheted yet but my yarn storage in my study is up and my mum is visiting this weekend, so I’m hoping I’m not too ill and can crochet while she entertains DD. My study has a desk that converts to a bed, left by the previous owner, and it’s got some book storage above which is where my crochet books are. DH organised them for me as “random scraps of paper” (single patterns), flowers, home wares, blankets, granny squares, amigurumi, Tunisian crochet so it looks like he has been absorbing some of what I’ve been saying when I ramble on about crochet!

Can anyone give me some advice?

I got frustrated with the jumper I was making as I did the number of rows the pattern said but it was way too short. So I kind of lost momentum and put it out of sight for a while.
Now I've taken it back out of the work basket I can also see I've changed up my tension in the middle so it's tighter and making the side pull in smaller for quite a few rows. Would you carry on or frog it and redo?

It's my first proper project and only cheap yarn so it doesn't need to be perfect, but it's acrylic rather than wool so I don't know if blocking will make up for it. I don't really want to pull it apart as I've made it in stripes so I'll have loads of fiddly bits of yarn to work with

🧶

@LucyLoopyLu Hmm that’s a difficult question. How do you feel about it? Would you wear it with the imperfection? If you frogged the section in question, would you be able to re-knit it at the original tension? And yes you’re right, blocking acrylic will not help you with this particular issue. Personally I rarely frog things and choose to live with the cable that twists the wrong way or the decrease on the wrong row. However yours sounds a bit more substantial.

Wow @StillNiceCardigan those are great socks – and perfect matching, so impressive. I never seem to get it quite right, one of my socks (I usually make two at once) somehow always ends up with a different tensions so the colour pattern end half to a whole a row out. Still close, but it usually shows in the heel. I suppose it could also be the yarn/ my choice of heel constructions.

My purple socks have nearly reached the cuff – hooray. I’m really pleased with the fit – first time I tried a Fleegle heel and it turned out great. I wonder if I can switch other patterns to Fleegle heel?

My personal indulgence for Advent: I bought myself an sock yarn mini skein advent calendar. It’s from Gamecrafting Yarns https://gamercrafting.com/ so colours will be wild. So far I have a mini fade set from yellow to green plus a couple more mixed ones with purple in them. I will wait till I have them all and then turn them into a couple a big projects and some socks – top contenders are a cardigan with a coloured border and a shawl.

I’ve been to see my parents in Germany last weekend and only bought one ball of wool. And that is already planned to be used for a hat, as soon as I finish my current socks 😊. On the plane back I sat next to a young woman (I’m old, she was in her 20s) knitting some gorgeous fluffy socks, so I complimented her and commented on never being brave enough to carry my knitting in my hand luggage (my current project was in my hold luggage); she’s convinced me that small short circulars should be okay. And she recognised the shawl I was wearing, so we were able o chat a bit about that too, which was nice, being able to show to someone who actually appreciates the work involved.

I hope you all have a nice Advent, I may attempt to make a “candle cosy” to go round one of my big glass candle holders, to bring a bit of knitting into my Christmas decorations.

Now they are impressive socks @GlowWine I love the colour! I’ve never been quite brave enough to take knitting needles on a plane either I worry all my knitting will be confiscated.

I’m just doing a little bit of Christmas crochet and making a basket but I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to put into it.

@GlowWine yes I think you're right. I'm tempted to frog it all back and completely start again if I can face it. Or maybe just start a new second panel and then frog the first one after I've got the second one done to soften the blow of being back to square 1. Either way it has been a good learning experience to attempt it.
Although it might have to wait until after Christmas now.

I've been dabbling in a few small projects. I've done a few snowflakes in white cotton yarn (3mm hook so that's new to me), I've almost finished a Christmas pudding chocolate orange cover (Secret Santa present for work along with a mug, hot chocolate and a Christmassy novel from charity shop) and I've been making a chunky basket as well. Although I find the stitch very fiddly for the basket, so keep doing more snowflakes instead. I'll probably keep working through those and use the best ones in my Xmas decs next year.

Hello all! I'm limping towards the (annoyingly late!) end of term with a rotten cold and little time for crafting, although I was in Germany for a week on a school trip in late November and managed to crochet a few granny squares. @GlowWine I was going to take my knitting and do some on the plane, but the particular airline we flew with definitely doesn't allow knitting needles in the cabin, even though some do. I checked in advance, and that's why I took the crochet!

As expected, absolutely no chance I'll finish dd's jumper by Christmas, even though it was meant to be done by September . Ah well... hopefully I'll finish it before the weather gets too warm .

Beautiful socks, @GlowWine and @StillNiceCardigan, and big congrats on the house move, @WeCanLiveLikeJackAndSally !

My Knitting and Crochet club at school has been asked by one of our students if we'd like to make pairs of hearts for a local bereavement organisation her mum runs, as they've lost funding for it. There's a knitting pattern, and I found a nuce easy crochet one and tested it out by making a pair. I think they are quite cute!

Can you share the crochet pattern @AllProperTeaIsTheft

We're in Denmark for Christmas and I have white and red yarn only and would like to make a few decorations

@AllProperTeaIsTheft those are lovely!

I've seen a star one that I'm going to try next week

Here it is @tizwozliz
I'm slow at both knitting and crocheting, but even I can make these pretty quickly!

I've been lurking. My cousin asked me to make him and his partner something for their tree. Last night I did this, and am quite thrilled. Posting it to them today but I am fairly sure they won't be on a Mumsnet crafting thread so the surprise won't be ruined 🤣

They look great @crochetcatsknitting

I've tried to make similar in the past but have never been happy with the results

There are free patterns online but seem to use DK weight yarn. I used Scheepjes cotton yarn (I think 4ply) and winged it, but I kept measuring against the bauble as I went along. I'm not sure I'd have been as happy with DK weight results. I did a tiny bit of surface crochet with metallic fibre, and a teeny bit of very simple embroidery.

@crochetcatsknitting they look lovely! I like the colours you've chosen.

Do they sew onto a standard plastic bauble?