It's late. I can't sleep so was wondering - Is knitting easy?!

[Alambil]

Yes, I am sat here in bed contemplating the intricacies of knitting.

I think it is a worth-while skill to have, especially as a parent so was wondering:

Do any MNers knit?

Can left-handed people do it?

Is it a cheap or expensive hobby?

How hard is it to learn?

Where can I learn?

Ok, will go to sleep now!!

You can get Rowan at a bit of a discount from Janette's Rare Wools on eBay - good service

Goat are you back?
Do you fancy a trip to Bruntsfield?
I am free all week

i am toying with the idea of buying vast quantities of rown from cucmberpatch from ebay are they to be trusted?

[gently strokes pruni's rowan mountain]

ooooh all week! so am i. give me a shout. i also need to drop buy the shop in new town to pick up some acrylic stuff i started knitting and realised i need more.

I can't even remember, it came from the States but that sounds familiar. You can imagine my dismay when I cast on the required number of stitches and realised that my 'throw' was set to be a little bigger than a tea towel. Of course I had to have some new giant bamboo needles for it too. At around the same time I was always ordering Crystal Palace stuff, I used to salivate over all the patterns and yet can barely finish a scarf - am a disgrace as a knitter

Dunno about Cumberpatch, soz.

Can it be recycled Vacua? A nice scarf or a hat? Hang on there is a great pattern for very chunky yarn, I made one of these in an evening and it turned out rather nice.

Oh god, I LOVE knitting. Took it up initially a couple of years ago when ds3 was a baby, knitted a crap jumper and gave up again. Started again a year ago and just love, love, love it. I've come to the conclusion that as I spend so much time knitting things then it's worth spending money on good-quality yarn so that things feel nice as well as look nice! You can buy big packs of yarns on eBay or I sometimes ask friends and relatives to send stuff from the US because of the good exchange rate and there seems to be a wider range there too. I spend far too much time on Knitpicks lusting after their yarn which is really cheap and I've been very impressed with the quality.

I would also second the recommendation for the knittinghelp site - I don't know anyone irl who can knit (apart from my MIL and having seen her results I wouldn't be asking for her advice anyway ) - so everything I've learnt has been from there or from the Debbie Bliss beginner knits book. Last Christmas I knitted a scarf for my mum - in 2007 I did hats, cardigans, socks, lace, cables and intarsia! Once you get started it gets easier and easier. I SO wish I'd knitted when my children were babies but I will be making up for it with my grandchildren!

I dream of winning the lottery so I can buy stacks of Rowan wool. I could (and do) spend hours in John Lewis's wool department. It's like a yarn brothel

I love rowan wool. I have far too much debbie bliss which is lovely but has a silly name (sorry debbie bliss but you have a daft name) mainly because I bought a debbie bliss book and was too nervous to experiment.

HOwever tamum (I think) recommended I try cascade yarns so I have just made another cardigan and it was delicious!

I've seen tamum's sweater she made in Cascade - it is indeed lovely stuff and you get a lot in a skein.

You might want to look into whether there's a Stitch'n Bitch club meeting in a pub near you - if so, it will be advertised in your shiny new local arty wool shop.

yes, 220 for 100g

Oh, and it was quite lucrative once - knitting Queen Victoria's stockings kept my ancestors in Shetland going through bad harvests and poor fishing...

Pruni - good thread on ravelry - you have been answered!

Is it true Queen Victoria's stockings were knitted on needles less than 1mm?

I'm afraid my family history research doesn't go into quite that sort of depth, BellaBear

Lou, theres a magazine out at the moment called Lets Knit, its got a pair of 20mm kneedles free with it, and a pattern inside for a beret.

I started it last night and would have finished it if I hadnt run out of wool 3 rows before the end! (Im rubbish at tension)

Someone once told me that at a knitting fair, when I was still in awe of dpns

OK I have a plan - get some needles from my nan, wool from wilkos and see if I can learn to knit (extremely tight budget - don't want posh wool if I can't even DO it!)... then invest in decent wool and make a proper "thing" - scarf or blanket or something simple to begin

What do ya think?

i have a pattern thnks fubsy

dd2 got a knit your own beret kit from my sister for xmas

Lou, is your sister a sadist, sending a 6 yr old a knitting kit?

Ive been googling, and found some good sites with knitting videos. Im looking for tips on socks and dpns atm.

lol im the one knitting it oddly enough

what would be an EASY introduction to dpns?

haven't got any yet but have ordered a shedload, something other than i-Cord or socks would be good (can do i-Cord without dpns and socks = scary)

a hat?