Halifax Knitting Mamas!! - Page 2

[lesley&grace]

So, a little advice...next time you are trying to learn from a book, read ALL the instructions before moving on: I read it over again and realized where I was going wrong, I now have a lovely little swatch with all the bumps on one side...turns out I was trying to do stockingette stitch, without knitting

Next up: ribbing!

[Alison]

So, let me get this straight--you were purling perfectly all along??

For ribbing, the thing to be careful off is to make sure that when you bring your yarn from back to front and front to back, that you don't go OVER your right hand needle, but that you go over your work under the tips of the needles. And always make sure to switch your yarn from back to front or front to back. You're going to be fine, I'm sure, especially since now you know to read all the instructions carefully!

Alison

[lesley&grace]

Yup, I can purl like a champ. Well, almost. :LOL

[inchwormz]

There's lots of knitting chatter going on in here!

Any ideas on what you would like to re-name the thread?? I could just change it to mamas if that makes everyone happy?

Not one creative idea amoung us?

[rbeaufoy]

I was perfectly happy with the "bit**es"....but that may have something to do with my overall mood this week I'm trying to be happy, I swear I am! Yes..."mamas" is fine with me.

I did some yarn shopping therapy this morning...found a super yummy buttermilk colored wool for a diaper wrap.

Hey ladies....congrats on making it to page 2 of our thread!!

Oh and Lesley, I was thinking.....the bear hat/monkey hat that we talked about is really only a combination of knitting, purling, increasing and decreasing (plus some ribbing).....seems like it might be a great next project for you?????

R

[inchwormz]

Don't worry Robyn! Things will get get better!

[xian]

the damn evil sweater is almost finished :yawning: just....can't.....stay.....up....... must .....sleep..............

[lesley&grace]

Xian, I understand completely. I haven't gone to bed before 12:30am since I started knitting!

I have mastered ribbing, worked on the seed stitch, and last night was working on the Heart practice pattern in the book from Alison, I was doing quite well until it slipped off, unravelled a bit and I was too tired to save it. Thankfully I was only 3 rows into the heart shape! I think I will work in increasing and decreasing today, I have a pattern for a bathmitt that calls for a lot of each and I want to be able to make a few for xmas presents.

Oh, and I know now why the S'nB lady recomends a small bottle of handcream in you knitting "toolbox", my hands are so dry they hurt!

Oh, she also mentions a row counter...does anyone use one of these little items and are they very useful? Just wondering before I go out and buy one.

[rbeaufoy]

I keep track of my rows on a post-it-note stuck to whatever pattern I'm using.....but that's just me.

ETHICAL QUESTION......

At what point does a pattern become your own? For example....I often work, re-work, and re-work a pattern again until I get it the way I like it. These diaper wraps are a perfect example. So at what point does it stop being someone elses pattern, and become "mine"???

I've often thought about this in the wee hours of the night.

[Alison]

Robyn, they have just been discussing this over on the wool soaker yahoo group. There was an article in knitty written by a lawyer regarding this issue. i think that the consensus was that no matter how much you rework a pattern, you need to start from scratch with paper and pencil to call a pattern your own. Try this article and see if it helps. Also, you could check out wool_soaker_group at yahoogroups.com and sign up to read their archive--someone brings up the issue of copyright there every so often, and there's been some great information come through.

Here's the knitty article:

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/FEATcopyright.html

Alison

[Alison]

Lesley, I never use row counters any more. In fact, at this point in time, I'll figure out where I am by counting on the knitting or measuring (sweater patterns tend to say knit til it's 9 inches from beginning or something like that). If you want a row counter, you can have one of mine, they aren't very expensive. I used to absolutely rely on them til I learned to "read" my knitting.

Alison

[rbeaufoy]

Wow...that article made my head hurt.....I have completely lost interest in creating my own designs!

[lesley&grace]

Thanks Alison, that'd be great.

[Alison]

Sorry Robyn! I guess it's a pretty complicated issue, and they can get really worked up about it on the wool soaker group. You might want to look at that yahoo group, actually, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Alison

[inchwormz]

Originally Posted by rbeaufoy

Wow...that article made my head hurt.....I have completely lost interest in creating my own designs!

What about just picking up the needles and starting to knit based on what you know? If you have a good idea of what you are doing, couldn't you just go for it making changes along the way? If you kept notes as you went along, I don't think it would be too difficult (coming from someone that would have no idea what she was doing! lol!). Just an idea. I know my grandmother used to do this all the time. Not all of her creations were pieces of art, but they functioned! If they had been tweeked along the way they might have been much better.

How many rows are typically casted (cast?) on for a dishcloth? I started with 50 and it's *way* too many! :LOL So I'll be taking this one apart and trying again!

I guess I'll change our name to mammas unless anyone's got another idea? I'd be nice to have something different than the Vancouver group, but hopefully no one will mind if it's the same. If you think of anything let me know!

[Alison]

Tamara, dishcloth, you knit diagonally from corner to corner. Cast on 3 stitches. Then you work each row like this:

k2, YO, k to end

until you get the size you want

Then start to decrease by making every row like this:

k1 k2tog YO k2tog knit to end

until you have three stitches left, cast off by k3tog and then pull the last stitch really long and just cut it.

Just change our name to Halifax Knitting Mamas. I don't see why anyone would care! If they do complain, we'll change it later!

Alison

[rbeaufoy]

Hey all you who have been to tangled skeins recently....does she have any organic cotton, cotton/hemp type yarns? I'm going to make up some diaper liners (garter stitch rectangles, basically) and it's been recommended. Softer on the tush than a wool liner would be, i guess!

[Alison]

Can't remember, but you could call her and ask!

Alison

[rbeaufoy]

Yes, I could....but i"m being lazy! I guess it's easier to type than to pick up the phone

[lesley&grace]

I got a really cool yarn, it's really soft, I'm making a striped scarf for my Nan for her upcoming b-day. She's in a Red Hat group (which I am totally joining when I am old enough, those red hats are awesome!) and I am making the stripes red and purple to match her outfits on meeting days.

I am so excited about this knitting thing, I have projects in mind for almost everyone in my family for christmas....I should probably get them started soon...