Home » Discussion Forums » Blog Post Discussion » The horror. The horror.
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38650 is a reply to message #38647 ] |
Wed, 26 January 2011 21:18   |
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I went on a parents evening to a potential new school and my abiding memory was a knitted GI tract - mouth to ... well, you know, the other end, in realistic proportions & colouring - the biology teacher was immensely proud of her students work.
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38652 is a reply to message #38650 ] |
Wed, 26 January 2011 21:23 |
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equus_peduus
Messages: 437
Registered: September 2009
Location: France |
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| southdowner wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 18:18 |
I went on a parents evening to a potential new school and my abiding memory was a knitted GI tract - mouth to ... well, you know, the other end, in realistic proportions & colouring - the biology teacher was immensely proud of her students work.
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That is incredibly awesome. At least as cool as a car covered in knit/crochet-ware.
Is it a bad thing that the "single cast-on" illustrations in the book in the first photo looks familiar? I wonder if I could figure out how to knit again? I haven't knitted in something approaching 20 years (which is to say, when I was about 10, I had a live-in babysitter for a couple of weeks while my dad was on an extended business trip to France and my mother went to visit him for a little bit, and she taught me to knit, sort of; I have occasionally thought of trying to re-learn, but haven't figured out where my mother hid her knitting needles. I refuse to buy any in case I end up not knitting beyond a single attempt, and my mother has quite a large box of knitting supplies sitting somewhere in the house. Where in the house is the mystery).
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38657 is a reply to message #38654 ] |
Wed, 26 January 2011 21:44 |
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Beautiful, Jodi!! I've never knit with pure silk - what are it's knittability qualities?
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38662 is a reply to message #38657 ] |
Wed, 26 January 2011 22:07 |
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| southdowner wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 21:44 |
Beautiful, Jodi!! I've never knit with pure silk - what are it's knittability qualities?
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It's magic! Try it as soon as you can!
Okay, it's definitely different than knitting with wool. It's not as unstretchy as cotton (which hurts my hands), but it's not as stretchy as wool. It also catches on rough bits of skin.
But it's really, really nice. I love silk. I want all the silk!
Smooshes!
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38666 is a reply to message #38646 ] |
Wed, 26 January 2011 23:11 |
 claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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Knitting with silk depends a great deal on how it is spun. Knitting with fluffy, soft silk is trickier than wool, but it works, and it feels so wonderful that it's well worth coping with the lack of stretchiness. However silk that is spun into a hard, slippery, dense little string is a whole different story and rather more challenging.
Fortunately, there are enough lovely blends -- silk with merino, silk with bamboo (rayon), silk with both of the above, et cetera et cetera -- that there are lots of fluffy choices.
In my experience, by far the best way to learn to knit and to get through the initial period of learning and forgetting and relearning and forgetting again... is to have someone show you. I have a standing offer that I will cheerfully teach anyone to knit anytime, but it has to be someone I can meet in person.
The advent of videos online is also a tremendous help, because if you've never done these things there's just too much to remember all at once. Being able to look at something and replay it is really helpful.
(Knitter since, I kid you not, 1956 here....)
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38671 is a reply to message #38646 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 00:31 |
susancassidy
Messages: 21
Registered: May 2010
Location: Modesto, California |
Junior Member |
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One more post like this and I am going to open that bottom drawer that is stuffed with yarn and needles. Any day now...
Susan Cassidy
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38678 is a reply to message #38646 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 03:16 |
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damerosehay
Messages: 1
Registered: August 2010
Location: Washington, DC |
Junior Member |
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Silk is lovely to knit with, but if you can't manage wool (and even if you can), buy some Alpaca yarn. Non-allergenic, much cheaper than Cashmere, and soooo soft. And Alpaca/Silk blends are the creme de la creme!
Also, one can knit and read. Few people seem to develop this ability--or maybe they just don't talk about it--but I've never considered doing anything else. Once you're reasonably competent at the knitting, practice without looking at it, and once you can do that, you're golden--if you can read a book that's propped up in your lap (easier with hardbacks). I know that seems utterly impossible if you're just learning now, but it's really possible--I'm not that brilliant and talented, and I knitted all the way through all the reading for a BA and an MLS (yes, I'm a librarian, too. Terrible, isn't it).
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38682 is a reply to message #38646 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 08:11 |
skating librarian
Messages: 576
Registered: October 2008
Location: Vermont |
Senior Member |
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Yes, knitting groups ... I am "teacher" at one at our tiny little library, which is a hoot, as there is only one person who has any need of help ... we other three are all on the same level, but I read more about knitting, and so have more reference material at hand. With three heads working on explaining things, our novice has more of a chance of finding one explanation, or demo which works. It is also fun to talk books, local activities, etc. while our hands are busy.
Last week we had a sort of cast on race and "long tail" (using one needle and fingers) was the winner, by far.
I am in the process of learning sock knitting ... I have never wanted any socks other than the ones I buy ... but the challenge. Anyway this tip might help beginners. I use the pictures in books or on-line to begin with and a Not the Real Project bit of yarn and medium size needles to try out the procedure. When I find out where the pictures are not clear, I go on line and look for different pictures ... video ... whatever, and if one isn't clear I try another. The really important thing is, I don't try to learn as part of a project (too much rides on that) and I have my needles and yarn in hand and am trying out the process while I work through the directions.
I learned to knit doing bandages for lepers in the early 60's (supporting Presbyterian missionary work) and in all the years since have learned from my failures.
Like any new skill, you don't start without a learning curve ... hey, beginners give yourself a break and relax, it'll be fun before you know it.
"Winning a war is like winning an earthquake" Jeanette Rankin
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38689 is a reply to message #38677 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 10:08 |
lecuyerv
Messages: 61
Registered: January 2011 |
Member |
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| Diane in MN wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 02:03 |
I did it straight off, first time. And I thought, oh. How very odd. So I pulled the little row off the needle and tried it again . . . and couldn’t do it to save my life.
I believe this. That's why I said that if I think too hard about it, I can't start casting on right. And I agree that the videos are orders of magnitude more useful than illustrations.
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I've been teaching a friend in an off and on way. Like Robin, she nailed the long-tail cast on. Unlike Robin, she had someone there to say "Good job. Now on to the next step."
Knittinghelp.com is a great site for the self-taught knitter. I go there all the time.
| Diane in MN wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 02:03 |
I need a Knitting Bag. There was a really cute one at the yarn shop. It had cupcakes on it.
You DO need a knitting bag, because after you've bought your yarn and your needles and your pattern, you will start acquiring other useful little bits of paraphernalia that will fall out of a plastic bag. And plastic bags are definitely Not Cute.
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I second this. If you don't have a dedicated bag, your project wind up snarled and scattered and you never have what you need when you need it. You put tools in a toolbox. Knitting is no different. Also, plastic shopping bags tear.
-Victoria
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38693 is a reply to message #38646 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 10:58 |
lecuyerv
Messages: 61
Registered: January 2011 |
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Confessions of a self-taught knitter: It took me three tries to learn to knit. Plus, I started out as a crocheter.
The first time, I managed to do what I now know is a provisional cast on followed by knitting and purling. My friend/teacher moved away, and I failed at remote instruction on the cast off. This was before the internet was ubiquitous and the instruction books made no sense. I frogged (tore out, as in: "rip it, rip it, rip it out") the whole swatch. It didn't even qualify as a wash cloth. Time passed and I forgot everything.
For the second try, I had two different people teaching me, tag team style, each with a different method. Talk about confusing. The only thing that stuck was long tail cast on and the knit stitch. I couldn't purl to save my life. Casting off was an iffy thing, too.
The third time involved me sitting in an empty, quiet room going, "if knitting is the opposite of purling... Then instead of poking the needle through the loop this way, I should poke it that way." The rest of my efforts involved using crochet methods of increasing (bad, baaaaad idea) and decreasing (not bad, just ugly). Knittinghelp.com, youtube.com searches and obsessive googling took care of the rest. I also managed to find out that I'm the rarest of knitters, a combined knitter. On the one hand, that means 99.9% of knitting patterns don't decrease/increase/act right for me. On the other, it allows me to knit without looking at my hands at all. I've manged, through obsessive swatching and note taking, to translate standard knitting instructions on the fly into something that works for me.
I can now read a knitted object the way others read a book. I don't know if that counts a superhero power or not. I have the sneaking suspicion that it should.
My early projects involved wash cloths and matching hand towels, plus scarfs and bottle carriers for flat knitting. Dice bags, play purses, hats, and more bottle carriers for knitting in the round and I-cord. I've recently moved onto socks via miniatures the size of Christmas tree ornaments. My only two cardigans have been made for infants.
Each project used one or two new techniques. And yes, I'm still learning. I'm just about done with a full sized pair of slippers knitted in a (modified) sock style.
-Victoria
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38695 is a reply to message #38667 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 11:09 |
lecuyerv
Messages: 61
Registered: January 2011 |
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| blondviolinist wrote on Wed, 26 January 2011 23:48 |
Fine. If pushed to the edge of a cliff and ordered to 'fess up or jump, I will admit that I am glad there are people who have a whimsical enough sense of humor to desire to drape public things in yarn. I will also admit that it is good for the community at large to be treated to such displays of fibery randomness, and that since there is definitely *not* enough public art in the world, yarn bombing is a positive thing. (I wish I could have been on Wall Street the day they covered the bull statue with crochet. That was fabulous.)
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The first time I saw an example of yarn bombing, my first thought was "What a great use for orphaned yarn." Ditto for partial skeins left at the end of a project.
Ditto on the Wall Street bull cozy.
-Victoria
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38696 is a reply to message #38678 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 11:21 |
lecuyerv
Messages: 61
Registered: January 2011 |
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| damerosehay wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 03:16 |
Also, one can knit and read. Few people seem to develop this ability--or maybe they just don't talk about it--but I've never considered doing anything else. Once you're reasonably competent at the knitting, practice without looking at it, and once you can do that, you're golden--if you can read a book that's propped up in your lap (easier with hardbacks).
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I never thought of reading and knitting. I knit and watch movies/TV all the time. I also do it while chatting with others. At first, knitting and other small hand crafts were a way to keep my figits under control. I can't sit for very long without getting antsy.
One of my friends knits and walks at the same time.
-Victoria
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38699 is a reply to message #38673 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 12:44 |
claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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First, there is no Law of the Universe that says anyone HAS to learn to knit. It's more like a law of "try it and see if you like it."  There is no shame in not knitting. (For instance, I knit, but while I can crochet, I don't do it very much because I have to keep my eyes glued to it every second and it tires out my eyes much faster than knitting.)
Second (and especially to Robin), as the Yarn Harlot says (that's Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, she's great fun) don't expect to be an expert and execute everything perfectly when you've been doing it for all of, say, ten minutes or three hours or a week and a half. It's a skill. It's new. It takes a while of trial and error before it really starts to make sense. There will be a certain amount of learning and forgetting and getting it wrong and "But I could do this ten minutes ago, why not now?" Many of us tend to forget that this is how it ALWAYS goes with a completely new skill because it's been a while since the last time we acquired one.
Third, be aware that if you start a pair of leg warmers now, you will probably not get them finished before the weather stops being cold. Many of us find ourselves still knitting on those warm sweaters in July (which were supposed to be for LAST winter) and cool lacy things in November. It's an occupational (avocational?) hazard. It's fun anyway
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38700 is a reply to message #38678 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 12:50 |
claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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| damerosehay wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 03:16 |
Silk is lovely to knit with, but if you can't manage wool (and even if you can), buy some Alpaca yarn. Non-allergenic, much cheaper than Cashmere, and soooo soft. And Alpaca/Silk blends are the creme de la creme!
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Amy Singer has written a very amusing and useful book for people allergic to wool: No Sheep For You. It has patterns and many many suggestions for yarns and projects.
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Also, one can knit and read. Few people seem to develop this ability--or maybe they just don't talk about it--but I've never considered doing anything else. Once you're reasonably competent at the knitting, practice without looking at it, and once you can do that, you're golden--if you can read a book that's propped up in your lap (easier with hardbacks). I know that seems utterly impossible if you're just learning now, but it's really possible--I'm not that brilliant and talented, and I knitted all the way through all the reading for a BA and an MLS (yes, I'm a librarian, too. Terrible, isn't it).
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I can do this pretty competently if neither the book nor the knitting is too complicated. My "brain buffer" seems to be able to do repeat patterns of about 4 to 5 stitches (such as K3, P2) but the system breaks down beyond that But it does take awhile to develop the skill. Also, it's a fun party trick: if you can knit and read at the same time it amazes other people, especially those who don't do handcrafts.
I have said more than once, BTW, that the advantage to having so many years of knitting experience is that I've made just about every possible mistake. So I know how to find them and fix them!
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38701 is a reply to message #38680 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 13:00 |
claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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| Knitronomicon wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 06:06 |
So my next 'level up' things are colour-work and cables. *whimpers, bites fingernails up to elbows*
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Not to toot my own horn too hard, but there are some nice easy colorwork patterns in an article I wrote here -- all the ones except the two biggest are easy because they have regular repeats and there are never more than two or three stitches of one color before you switch to the other color. You might think that a lot of color switching would make it harder, not easier, but actually it IS easier because the tricky part of colorwork is not pulling the "floats" -- the yarn of the color you're not using, which stretches across the back of your work -- too tight. You have to Reeeeeeeeeee-lax!
Everyone I persuade to try these patterns has said with surprise, "Hey, this isn't nearly as hard as it looks!"
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38703 is a reply to message #38682 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 13:09 |
claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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| skating librarian wrote on Thu, 27 January 2011 08:11 |
I learned to knit doing bandages for lepers in the early 60's (supporting Presbyterian missionary work)...
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Glad to hear someone else remembers this! I did a bunch of that at church camp one year. There are days when this makes me feel ooooooooooooooolllldd.
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: The horror. The horror. [message #38706 is a reply to message #38703 ] |
Thu, 27 January 2011 18:36 |
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Corellia
Messages: 111
Registered: June 2010
Location: Norway |
Senior Member |
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I learnt to knit when I was a kid. At first my mother would cast on for me, but after a while I got tired of always having to wait for her, so I invented my own cast on. It was incredibly tight for the first row, but it worked. In my early twenties, I suddenly discovered that my knitting friends were casting on in a totally different manner, but I was too ashamed to admit to them that I couldn't cast on properly, so I had another friend teach me in secret
I knit continental, but use the Norwegian purl (and I'm actually rather fond of the purl stitch, it has such a nice rhythm to it...).
I never just knit, I always watch something or read, or listen to something at the same time. I've even played computer games and knit at the same time.... However, I must admit that my drawing and flute playing suffer from the competition...
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Re: The horror. The horror.
