Knitting!

[Tushka_BeLLa]

I'd love to try knitting but I'd never really need a scarf over here...

 

[purpleviolets]

purpleviolets - i have been knitting for a while, but i could never get the hang of crochet. i'd like to give it another chance though...there is some amazing stuff that i want to be able to do!

With crochet, you have to learn more types of stitches, but it works up faster than knitting. Crochet usually makes a bulkier piece than knitting but if you play around with hook size and types of yarn, it feels just the same as knitting.

 

[Amy Louise]

I'd love to try knitting but I'd never really need a scarf over here...

Scarfs don't have to be warm and heavy--they don't even have to be scarves!

Once you learn the basics of knitting, you can create beautiful, lightweight, lacey or mesh shawls to wear if evenings are cool or if you're in an air conditioned room.

Hope you decide to give it a try.
Amy
the Knitnut!

 

[NOE]

start posting some of your creations, you!

this is a scarf i made for a friend and gave her for christmas (it's me modelling it). i haven't seen pictures of her wearing it yet, but i'm sure she looks lovely. i hope she doesn't mind my posting it here!

OMG! I love that! Is it just one small piece wrapped around the neck and buttoned? Care to share how you made it?

I just started knitting and am working on my first ribbed scarf in a really nice pea greenish color.

 

[Amy Louise]

Finally Finished My Handknit Dress

The yarn is really wonderful--you can't see it here bec. our digital camera can't pick up refracted light, but there's metallic gold plied into the yarns. I also added two shiny, small buttons to play up the back slit and add just another design element to the mix.

I've been working on this since, I think it was--December. It's hand-dyed yarn, and I realized I wasn't going to have enough, freaked out and asked the company if they had another skein. They didn't, but I could hardly believe when they offered to dye just one skein for me. I took them up on the offer, but it turned out they no longer had the metallic gold to weave in with the blues/greens. Fortunately, I have a big cone of the same gold, so I used a yarn twister and just wove in my own.

I've been trying to get this thing done for Stitches in February. The only thing left is for me to sew up the lining hem. The convention is next week--so I barely made my deadline. I am SOOO SICK of 2 x 2 ribbing!

I just signed up for Yahoo photo album, so I'm trying it for the first time. I'm posting 2 photos here, but if anyone's interested in seeing some of the closeups/stitch details, (hope this works!) try this:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/abcam...tp://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/abcameo/my_photos
Amy

 

[DriversHigh]

I used to know how to but it's been a while. I always said I'd buy things to practice but...you know how that goes.haha I pretty much forgot the little that I did know. =[ Oh, man and all the flack I got for being the only boy in my knitting class.

 

[palyxa]

This is a great thread, it deserves more attention

I've crocheted since I was very young, and just started knitting. Starting over when you've made a mistake is killer when you're knitting, but the end product is much more delicate and intricate.

 

[Amy Louise]

I'm glad someone out there is still knitting and crocheting beside me.

I just finished my 4th baby outfit for my new "Baby Boutique, Baby Unique" section added to my website. I combined machine & hand knitting as well as crochet and embroidery in this twinset ensemble. I find it's especially rewarding when you can incorporate several needlework skills into one finished product.

Here's another lace top also recently completed.
Amy

 

[palyxa]

Those pieces are so beautiful Amy Louise.

I have a scarf. Heh, but it's a very nice scarf.

 

[Amy Louise]

Those pieces are so beautiful Amy Louise.

I have a scarf. Heh, but it's a very nice scarf.

Thank you so much. Your reply is cute and funny.

Listen, I've been knitting really seriously for about 15 years now. Knitting and jewelry (and some fine arts) are now my full-time business. You've just picked up your needles again. Please, I want you to feel proud of your work and, if anything, encouraged to keep forging ahead. Just add to your repertoire--like increasing, decreasing, trying new stitch pattern, etc. don't get discouraged if you find you're doing plenty of ripping back. It's all part of paying your dues.

Every garment I knit is a one-of-a-kind original of my own design, so I've got to tell you, damn it, every single one has a new learning curve (sometimes a steep one!) and plenty of potential for disaster. So I conveniently developed a theory that there are no mistakes--only design elements. If I screw something up, I just try to work with it and change my original concept ito match a new creation that takes advantage of what I've got staring back at me from my needles.
Amy

 

[meme527]

ahh, the learning curve. what a knitter lives for.

since i moved back to the bay area (yeah!) i haven't had time to knit, which is a shame. i miss it. it was my main creative outlet in las vegas. i have several big projects on the needles that are in storage, until i can retreive all my stuff.

in the meantime i am shopping for some yarn for scarves for friends. hoping to find some light weight merino for that.

amy louise, great baby stuff!!!

 

[Amy Louise]

Meme--hi there! Sorry to hear you've hads to put down your needles for a while. I once put mine down for SIX years--after my divorce. So, don't worry, you'll get back to it because knitting is something you enjoy.

Have you looked at Knitpicks.com for light merino? I haven't used their yarns, but the prices are unbelievable, and so many people in the knitting forums are turning to them for bargains.

I went to the group you started, but I see there's no yakking going on there. Are you in SF now? I'm up in Roseville (just past Sacto). I used to live in Marin (Novato) and Sonoma County (Petaluma).
Amy

 

[palyxa]

Amy Louise, thank you so much for the boost

I've been so busy lately, but I love knit, even if it is for a few minutes.

That knitpicks.com site has some good prices. I think I might need to order something.

 

[daisyDuck]

This is my new obsession. I'm not that good, except for scarves I love making them in different colors and lenghts. I'm convinced that I will have so many new scarves by the winter so I don't have to buy any at all. It's also really relaxing and cheap!

Couple of weeks ago I knit a black/white scarf, and I got some compliments and people asked me where I had bought it.. I was so proud of myself The black/white stripes seem to be "In" thing right now and I'm so glad I was able to knit one myself with just 3e, the price of the material.

 

[palyxa]

That sounds really cute daisyduck. I switched to knitting mainly because I want this dress by Alexander Mcqueen:

http://www.stardustfashion.com/index.php?show=1&id=3&mainmenu=1%23PRET-A-PORTER&season=4%23Winter+2005%2406&location=&showlocation=4%23PARIS&designer=Alexander+McQueen+Details&mode=show

I made a scarf with the same colors and flowers, I'm working my way there

 

[daisyDuck]

^^ palyxa, that dress is to die for!! good luck with the project, I'm sure you'll make it.

I think I should also extend my skills, my mother is a really good teacher when it comes to knitting, but I just haven't had proper time to ask for her help, I should definitely do that sometime. She has made beautiful gardigans when I was a child, I think she knows some techniques that would help me.

 

[Amy Louise]

That sounds really cute daisyduck. I switched to knitting mainly because I want this dress by Alexander Mcqueen:

http://www.stardustfashion.com/index.php?show=1&id=3&mainmenu=1%23PRET-A-PORTER&season=4%23Winter+2005%2406&location=&showlocation=4%23PARIS&designer=Alexander+McQueen+Details&mode=show

I made a scarf with the same colors and flowers, I'm working my way there

Oh--that's nice and ambitious. Did you knit or freeform crochet your scarf flowers? I sold a mohair jacket that was a combo handknit, loom knit, freeform crochet and some beading and embroidery for about $400 at a craft fair over the holiday season. It's showing several pages back somewhere in this topic thread--but it's also on my website marked as sold. I had fun crocheting the flowers and thought I'd get more into freeform crochet, but then I bought my computerized knitting machine and had to focus on learning that. Now I've got a new serger that I'm trying to figure out for seams and decorative embellishing, so the crochet is going to have to take a backseat again.

The first sweater I ever made was a Calvin Klein cardigan I saw in a knitting magazine many moons ago. I fell in love with it and had to have it. I was brand-new to knitting--had only made one intense cabled Aran afghan and matching pillows as a way to teach myself to knit. I went to my local yarn shop (LYS), and the saleswoman helped me combine three separate patterns plus part of the original CK pattern to come up with something as close as humanly possible to the CK sweater, yet have it doable for a new knitter. To date, I swear that pattern remains one of the all-time hardest patterns I've ever seen in my life--and I'm a fairly expert knitter now years later!! I still have that sweater, love the yarn and the design, and I feel really proud when I look at it. At the moment, it's packed away. It's mid-90's temp. here in Northern CA--not so conducive to knitting with anything other than the lightest weight yarns.

I'm planning on joining the American Sewing Guild tomorrow night when I attend a local chapter meeting. I want to meet other woman and make some friends who share a common interest with me, and I also hope to network out for business purposes.
Amy

 

[cutxpaste]

I am a huge knitter but I haven't knit in a while because I can't find any nice patterns...besides the Stitch and b*tch books, does anyone know of any books with cool patterns?

 

[Amy Louise]

You might like to check out a fairly new knitting magazine called "Knit 1." They describe it as, "[SIZE=-1]Knitting magazine targeting hip 18-35 year-old knitters."

[/SIZE]Here's the link: http://www.knit1mag.com/

Amy

 

[palyxa]

I haven't tried any from this site but they look fun:


http://www.berroco.com/