Knitting help?

[Xavismom]

Does anyone know of an online tutorial on how to knit a wool soaker? I'm pretty new at knitting (started while I was preg with DS) but I would LOVE to try to make one. I am loving the new fleece soakers we bought, and I made a few on my own last week, I want to try wool

Any help or ideas are appreciated, thanks Mamas!!

[goldfinches]

This is my favorite
http://www.fernandfaerie.com/freesoakerpattern.html

I can whip one of these up in 2 days, and I'm not an experienced knitter.

[Xavismom]

Thank you! Do you need any kind of special wool to do this, or is any kind of 100% wool yarn ok?

[MEcatlady17]

I was wondering about what kind of wool yarn to choose as well...I don't knit but my husband's aunt does and I wanted to provide her with yarn and a pattern and see if she could make us a couple.

[cristeen]

Any kind of soft wool will work. Some will felt more readily, some will pill more readily. Knitpicks Wool of the Andes pills like mad, but is uber-soft and pretty darned cheap. Pattons wool is nicely soft and doesn't pill as badly (does still pill though) and you can find it at just about any craft store. My fave of the cheaps though is Lion Brand felting wool. Unfortunately I can't find it at my local craft stores anymore, but it doesn't pill much at all and it's really soft. Merino doesn't have the springiness that some others do - ribbing loses it's stretch pretty quickly, so I tend to put drawstrings in when I'm using merino.

As for patterns, there are literally dozens of them. I really like Curly Purly and LTK's Hybrid Soaker.

[*Devon*]

There are tons of great patterns out there!! If you knit, I HIGHLY suggest joining ravelry.com - there is a forum just to talk about soaker knitting, and a HUGE database of like, every pattern under the sun.

Cascade 220 is a nice wool for soakers, as well - it's not sold in craft stores but most yarn stores carry it, and there are a million sources online!

Of course, if you want GORGEOUS... check out Three Irish Girls, Selah, or tons of etsy sellers. BFL is a good keyword to look for in handpainteds for soakers!

[Xavismom]

Omg those yarns ARE gorgeous!! I'm practicing first with some regular yarn before I buy any wool. I am just not good at knitting though. I wish I could find a crochet soaker pattern... I've been crocheting my whole life, but only recently tried out knitting. I'll just have to keep at it until I feel like I can do justice to some beautiful yarn!!!

[starrmama]

I like the crocheted soaker pattern from Wigglebunz creations on Hyena Cart. Its cool in that you put in your baby's measurements and it does all the calculations for you so you have a perfect fit...

knittinghelp.com is a great resource... there are videos for just about every type of stitch - casting on and off, increases, decreases, everything is there, so if you find an easy pattern, you can look everything up and walk yourself through it. If you get stuck, most local yarn shops are friendly enough to help you out, especially if you buy yarn there every once in awhile.

Peace Fleece is another option that is pretty reasonable. Not as soft, but very pretty colors, holds up well, and does get softer the more it is washed.

You might also try some small farm yarns. Beaverslide and Cestari are 2 ideas, and the most reasonably priced I've found is Bear Farm.

good luck - whatever you go with you'll likely have fun!

[Xavismom]

Originally Posted by starrmama

I like the crocheted soaker pattern from Wigglebunz creations on Hyena Cart. Its cool in that you put in your baby's measurements and it does all the calculations for you so you have a perfect fit...

I just looked at this pattern! THANK you so much! This is just perfect for me. I've always wanted to knit, but I'm teaching myself with no one IRL to help me, and it gets frustrating sometimes. Crochet I've loved since I was like 4 years old though, awesome!!

Umm... one more thing.. are the wool yarns blended with silk ok for soakers? It seems like they would be much softer for DS, but I dont want leaking issues YK?

[*Devon*]

knittinghelp.com is amazing, and you absolutely have to join Ravelry!! It's a free site for knitters and crocheters and there are tons of crochet soaker patterns as well as knit!

[*Devon*]

P.S. Here are some free crochet soaker patterns I just found on Ravelry:

http://crochetcastle.wordpress.com/2...oaker-pattern/

http://www.crazyhatlady.com/ (this one needs to be downloaded but it's also free)

http://web.archive.org/web/200504160...s/crochet.html

Hope this helps!

What kind of yarn are you practicing knitting with? I find a lot of new knitters get super cheap acrylic or cotton, thinking it's best to learn with something cheap, but this is actually a big mistake, IMO (and one I certainly made!!) because these yarns are much, much harder to use than even an inexpensive wool like Patons Classic. Get some 100% wool, you won't regret it!! And if you want, you can always rip out your practice stuff when it's done and re-use the yarn!

[*Devon*]

I don't know if I'd use a silk blend, unless it was a very low silk content. There are some very soft wools out there for sure!

[Xavismom]

Thanks for your help everyone!!

Good point about yarn quality Devon... It makes sense now that I think about it. Even with lots of crochet experience, using a 'grabby' yarn gets frustrating!

I've been using aluminum needles so far too.. I always have used metal crochet hooks so it just made sense to buy those for knitting.. but I have been eyeing the bamboo knitting needles at my craft store..

What do you experienced knitters like better? The metal or wood/bamboo needles?

[goldfinches]

sorry, I just came back to this thread so late!

Honestly, I don't make mine soakers, so I use a blend yarn. I have so much trouble finding wool yarn I like in Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and I can't spend a ton on it, either.

About needles, try a pair of bamboo. I love them! My yarn doesn't slip on them like it does on metal. I lose stitches on metal needles all the time.