Pointy Sticks of Doom is something my hubby would say, or to everyone else they are call Double Pointed Needles (DPN's).
I learned to knit last summer because I kept seeing lots of beautiful things on Ravelry that I wanted to make but couldn't, so I decided to learn. I quickly came across the concept of knitting socks but initially didn't understand why someone would do so. However, over time I kept seeing beautiful yarn and patterns for socks and I got drawn in.
It seems the more traditional way of knitting socks is on DPN's so that's where I started, this is where the Pointy Sticks of Doom come in. You see, having a tube of knitting with four or five six inch sticks in it, that you are expected to knit with and not hurt yourself is a bit frightening. Now, there are other ways to knit socks without using DPN's but part of me was upset that I couldn't get the hang of them so every now and then I keep getting them out and trying again, as someone else said "its like wrestling a hedgehog!".
Over time I learned the other ways to knit socks, magic loop, two circular needles and even a tiny nine inch circular needle. However each of these presented their own problems, the tiny circulars was too small to hold for instance. As for using longer circulars (two circulars or one in magic loop style), well the amount of time it was taking me to move the stitches around from needle to cable and back again was getting me down. That's not mentioning the fact I was knitting tightly and getting the loops over the join at the cable was tough at times.
So as a result, yet again, I got out my pointy Sticks of Doom and went to a group on Ravelry where a very nice lady was helping some crocheters learn to knit socks. I was a late starter to all the fun but they answered my questions and made me feel welcome (Even though I was being a pain with daft questions).
With their help I figured out how to hold the DPN's so I could actually knit with them (this turned out to be very important). Something else they helped me with, and I feel silly for not realising it, is why I was getting ladders. Now ladders tend to form at the point where two needles meet, the stitches look stretched out and as a result the stitches look like a ladder. To be honest very small ladders come out in the wash but these were too big for my liking (I'm a perfectionist, or as my mum would say "your a pain!" lol)
The most common way to get rid of ladders is to knit the first stitches on every needle quite tightly, this is based on the theory that the ladder is formed because your knitting is loose at that point. So that's what I had been doing, but oh no, it wasn't working.
The lady who was helping the crocheters to knit, suggested that my actions to prevent ladders may actually be causing them. At first I ignored her comment, then out of desperation I tried, in effect I actually stopped trying. That was the light bulb moment, the ladders vanished, together with the way I was holding the DPN's I now get virtually no ladders at all. Although to be honest there are two points where you can see not a ladder, but that a column of stitches is ever so slightly looser than those around it. Now this should come out in the wash, and I would bet chocolate that no one else could see it (well if I could find the cable for my camera).
So where does this leave me? Well I Had started my socks with my Opal yarn but with circular needles, however I'm getting ladders and gauge problems. So I reckon I will stop and frog them and start again with Pointy Sticks of Doom!
Phew, I didnt mean to go on so long, espescially without pictures :)
Have Fun!
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
My first Toe!
I only learned to knit last year, and having found Ravelry I wanted to try to knit socks. So heres a picture of a sample toe I made recently, its in DK weight so its too big for anyone I know, but it did show me I could make a toe.
Next up, lets see if I can make a heel!
Have Fun!
Next up, lets see if I can make a heel!
Have Fun!
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Knitting In The Round
Shortly after I first learned to knit I discovered people talking about hand knitting socks. For some reason this appeals to me, having a drawer full of pretty colourful socks. I also figured that socks were a short term project, which considering most of my projects are huge, would be a nice change. So I figured I had best do some research.
Where to Start?
It seems there are three (main) ways to knit small diameter tubes; double pointed needles (DPN's), 2 circular needles, magic loop (ML). Around the time I was doing the research to figure out what I was doing it became clear my daughter didn't like mittens and the shops don't sell gloves with fingers for such small hands. As a result I made some basic crochet mittens, these worked as she keeps them on. However they were made with no stretch in them and were hard to get on. So I figured a small pair of fingerless gloves were a good place to practice the three methods of knitting small tubes. The idea is to knit a small tube in a 2x2 rib and make a one row buttonhole for the thumb.
Two Circular Needes
So with some scrap yarn I started with the 2 circs method as that was the easiest place to start. I found I could do this and also found I had no ladders! This was a great start but I found I didn't like the various needles hanging down as I worked. Don't get me wrong, that's only a minor complaint. What was good for me is that I found I have a tendency since getting circular needles to drop the empty needle as its normally attached and hard to lose. This is OK until you switch back to straights or as next DPN's
DPN's - or Sticks if you are my husband
In the meantime I had bought a set of DPN's so I tried them, but had various problems with them. I can knit with them, but found I had to constantly move them and adjust them just so I could knit. It turns out the way I purl doesn't work with the DPN's as every time I tried to purl my working yarn got caught in one of the tips of the DPN's. I was kind of upset by this as for some reason I really wanted to use DPN's, don't know why. Also because of my tendency to drop empty needles when not in use (using circs this isn't a problem as they are attached to each other) meant I kept dropping a dpn and had to chase it. Although I wanted to like DPN's I found I had lots of big ladders no matter what I did, this was disappointing as with 2 circs I had to put in little effort to avoiding ladders.
Magic Loop
So yesterday I tried the last method, magic loop, I like this. It doesn't result in anything hanging down to annoy me, theres no chance of losing a needle as with DPN's. Another bonus was that there were no ladders, OK so getting the stitches back onto the needle was often tight but not impossible.
So Now what?
For some reason I keep wanting to like DPN's, I cant figure out why I want to either. In the end having tried several times to get the DPN's to work for my I had to be sensible and say it just wasn't working. So that leaves either 2 cirs or magic loop, which isn't a contest in my mind now. The thing is the way the stitches are configured on both those methods is identical and ML has the advantage of using only one needle. So I reckon unless something major happens I will be using magic loop from here on.
As I result of my various tests I now have two fingerless gloves in progress, one on ML and the other on 2 circs. This has proved to be a good comparison and helped me make the choice of ML. In the meantime I will finish both gloves and then start practicing some sock knitting as Santa got a me a book for Christmas.
So now I need to figure out what length of needle I want for ML knitting and buy a set of the smaller sizes for whn I get into sock knitting seriously. The other thing ML has going for it is that you can knit 2 things at the same time on the one needle (if its got a long enough cable). You can do this with 2 circs as well but im not going down that road.
So where am I now? Finish those gloves for the Wench then wth some scrap DK yarn and my 4 mm circs practice making a sock. I decided this first attempt isn't going to be made to fit anyone but just me getting the hang of making a sock without worrying about gauge or sock yarn or anything like that (also means I don't have to worry about making a second sock to match).
Have Fun!
Where to Start?
It seems there are three (main) ways to knit small diameter tubes; double pointed needles (DPN's), 2 circular needles, magic loop (ML). Around the time I was doing the research to figure out what I was doing it became clear my daughter didn't like mittens and the shops don't sell gloves with fingers for such small hands. As a result I made some basic crochet mittens, these worked as she keeps them on. However they were made with no stretch in them and were hard to get on. So I figured a small pair of fingerless gloves were a good place to practice the three methods of knitting small tubes. The idea is to knit a small tube in a 2x2 rib and make a one row buttonhole for the thumb.
Two Circular Needes
So with some scrap yarn I started with the 2 circs method as that was the easiest place to start. I found I could do this and also found I had no ladders! This was a great start but I found I didn't like the various needles hanging down as I worked. Don't get me wrong, that's only a minor complaint. What was good for me is that I found I have a tendency since getting circular needles to drop the empty needle as its normally attached and hard to lose. This is OK until you switch back to straights or as next DPN's
DPN's - or Sticks if you are my husband
In the meantime I had bought a set of DPN's so I tried them, but had various problems with them. I can knit with them, but found I had to constantly move them and adjust them just so I could knit. It turns out the way I purl doesn't work with the DPN's as every time I tried to purl my working yarn got caught in one of the tips of the DPN's. I was kind of upset by this as for some reason I really wanted to use DPN's, don't know why. Also because of my tendency to drop empty needles when not in use (using circs this isn't a problem as they are attached to each other) meant I kept dropping a dpn and had to chase it. Although I wanted to like DPN's I found I had lots of big ladders no matter what I did, this was disappointing as with 2 circs I had to put in little effort to avoiding ladders.
Magic Loop
So yesterday I tried the last method, magic loop, I like this. It doesn't result in anything hanging down to annoy me, theres no chance of losing a needle as with DPN's. Another bonus was that there were no ladders, OK so getting the stitches back onto the needle was often tight but not impossible.
So Now what?
For some reason I keep wanting to like DPN's, I cant figure out why I want to either. In the end having tried several times to get the DPN's to work for my I had to be sensible and say it just wasn't working. So that leaves either 2 cirs or magic loop, which isn't a contest in my mind now. The thing is the way the stitches are configured on both those methods is identical and ML has the advantage of using only one needle. So I reckon unless something major happens I will be using magic loop from here on.
As I result of my various tests I now have two fingerless gloves in progress, one on ML and the other on 2 circs. This has proved to be a good comparison and helped me make the choice of ML. In the meantime I will finish both gloves and then start practicing some sock knitting as Santa got a me a book for Christmas.
So now I need to figure out what length of needle I want for ML knitting and buy a set of the smaller sizes for whn I get into sock knitting seriously. The other thing ML has going for it is that you can knit 2 things at the same time on the one needle (if its got a long enough cable). You can do this with 2 circs as well but im not going down that road.
So where am I now? Finish those gloves for the Wench then wth some scrap DK yarn and my 4 mm circs practice making a sock. I decided this first attempt isn't going to be made to fit anyone but just me getting the hang of making a sock without worrying about gauge or sock yarn or anything like that (also means I don't have to worry about making a second sock to match).
Have Fun!
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Christmas Prezzies and Circular Knitting
Right, my in-laws sent us money so that we could buy our own stuff for Christmas this year so I bought some Knitpro stuff.
In an earlier post I wrote about my new Knitpro Interchangeable knitting needles and how i didn't like the acrylic, well I changed my mind. I have a tendency to do this, its normal and quite often end up back where I started. So having decided earlier that I didn't mind the acrylic needles after all I went ahead with my money and bought the deluxe set from Knitpro, the multicoloured set that is!
Along with this I bought some spare cables, cable connectors and one set of 4 mm 6 inch Double Pointed Needles (DPN's). The thing is I've been toying with knitting in the round for a while now, there are 3 ways to do this so I decided to try out all 3 before committing myself to buying lots of extra needles etc. There's magic loop, 2 circular needles and DPN's, my starter set that I already have allowed me to try out the first 2. I found magic Loop do-able but didn't like it, can't put my finger on it though. Using 2 circulars at once to knit a tube worked but I found stopping at the end of each needle to move the stitches onto and off the cables slowed me down. I also found that when it came to putting the stitches back onto the needle from the cable that the last 2 stitches were quite tight and made it harder to do so. I reckon this was a result of me tightening stitches to avoid ladders but couldn't figure out how to stop it happening.
So today I got my first set of DPN's and cast on to try a sample, the first few rounds were a bit fiddly but after a couple of complete rounds it was ok and I way flying, I love these. Don't get me wrong, I could use 2 circulars to knit in the round but I really really love DPN's.
So my next step now that I've figured out how which method I prefer is to buy a set of DPN's, Knitpro do a set in metal and wood
In an earlier post I wrote about my new Knitpro Interchangeable knitting needles and how i didn't like the acrylic, well I changed my mind. I have a tendency to do this, its normal and quite often end up back where I started. So having decided earlier that I didn't mind the acrylic needles after all I went ahead with my money and bought the deluxe set from Knitpro, the multicoloured set that is!
Along with this I bought some spare cables, cable connectors and one set of 4 mm 6 inch Double Pointed Needles (DPN's). The thing is I've been toying with knitting in the round for a while now, there are 3 ways to do this so I decided to try out all 3 before committing myself to buying lots of extra needles etc. There's magic loop, 2 circular needles and DPN's, my starter set that I already have allowed me to try out the first 2. I found magic Loop do-able but didn't like it, can't put my finger on it though. Using 2 circulars at once to knit a tube worked but I found stopping at the end of each needle to move the stitches onto and off the cables slowed me down. I also found that when it came to putting the stitches back onto the needle from the cable that the last 2 stitches were quite tight and made it harder to do so. I reckon this was a result of me tightening stitches to avoid ladders but couldn't figure out how to stop it happening.
So today I got my first set of DPN's and cast on to try a sample, the first few rounds were a bit fiddly but after a couple of complete rounds it was ok and I way flying, I love these. Don't get me wrong, I could use 2 circulars to knit in the round but I really really love DPN's.
So my next step now that I've figured out how which method I prefer is to buy a set of DPN's, Knitpro do a set in metal and wood
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
New Knitting Needles
Well kind of, they are interchangeable circular knitting needles but you get the idea. I started to learn to knit a few months ago mainly because I kept seeing things I wanted to make but couldn't because they were knit. The thing is I used to be able to knit as a kid but never carried it on and for the life of me couldn't remember anything.
So off I went and in my usual style was in search of a book to teach me, although to be fair my mum knits, but she is left handed and I'm not. After some digging I was told that buying a book was pointless as there were many on-line resources to learn from and I was directed to knitinghelp.com.
So that's where it began, after some more research I decided to try to learn continental style knitting as it fit in with my existing crochet skills. So far everything is going fine, I did have some problems with the purl stitch but that's another post :)
So having discovered I can knit I figured I could go ahead and buy some more needles in different sizes and went off to do some more research. I found out that a lot of people use only circular needles, this has a few advantages. You can use circulars for flat projects as well as in the round, small diameter when using the magic loop method and you don't poke people sitting next to you when knitting. There's bound to be more but that's all I can think of right now.
More googling followed and i decided on Knitpro, mainly because they were interchangeable but partly because they looked so pretty. The next problem was which ones to buy, they come in three different types, plastic, metal and wood. In the end I decided to buy one pair of each type and 3 cables, these arrived in the post yesterday.
The look wonderful but I was surprised at the cable lengths, the shortest one was a lot shorter than I had thought but that's not a problem. Putting the cables on is easy they just screw in, there's also a hole for a "key" to go in to help tighten it up (I say key but its really just a bit of wire). Each cable comes with end caps so that the needle tips can be removed and the caps put on so that your knitting doesn't fall off, I reckon these would work as stitch holder too.
So bearing in mind my little wench was around I couldn't do a proper test right away but I did manage about 5 mins with each type before she decided to help. I cant quite put my finger on it but I didn't like the acrylic ones, maybe cos they squeaked or maybe they felt too light, not sure. The metal tips were ok but were quite pointy, and I use my finger to push on the point sometimes so this bothered me. The wooden ones, they didn't actually feel like wood, I liked these.
So my initial thoughts were that I liked either the wood or the metal but I was leaning towards the wood. However someone on-line warned me that the acrylic ones needed to be used for a while before deciding as they had a coating on them. So I grabbed some scrap acrylic yarn and started a stocking stitch sample and did about an hour or some with the acrylic tips, that took me until the end of the Wench's nap. Last night I got the metal tips on and managed about half an hour before my impatience got the better of me so I switched to the wood ones.
When I look down at the sample its a lot neater than normal, an awful lot, so much so I was very very happy. If I'm honest this could be for a few reasons, the new needles, that I have finally found "my" way of purling. I don't care though my knitting with all 3 tips was consistently neat and even so I would happily use all of them for that reason. The thing is I want to buy a deluxe set of these so I need to figure out which ones I love best and it still looks like the wooden ones. Don't get me wrong, I could happily knit with all three types, but for me the plastic feels too plastic-y and the metal is just a bit too pointy. This isn't me saying they are bad its me trying very very hard to find any reason, and I mean even a tiny one, to pick one over the other. I'm quite sure that I would get used to the points on the metal tips and the plastic would be fine once I had used them a while.
So I'm still left not sure which set to get, if there isn't much in it then I may just get the acrylic set for now and save up for the wooden set, especially as the wooden ones are the most expensive. However if my heart is set on the wooden ones then I'm best getting those. Sigh! The wooden set would be about £50 plus postage and the acrylic set would be about £30 for the pink set and £35 if I wanted the rainbow acrylic set.
So what am I going to do? Right now I'm going to buy wool so I can be doing something, and as I'm buying Stylecraft that should be a good amount of wool. After that I reckon I will save up for the wooden set but slow time, right now its not essential as the set I have will do me for a while. What I might actually do is buy some more cables, cable connectors and maybe one set of dpns inn 4mm so I can make an attempt as silvers sock class using DK wool.
Oh and just to throw something else in they do a special edition rose wood set thats about £70-£80 depending where you look :)
So off I went and in my usual style was in search of a book to teach me, although to be fair my mum knits, but she is left handed and I'm not. After some digging I was told that buying a book was pointless as there were many on-line resources to learn from and I was directed to knitinghelp.com.
So that's where it began, after some more research I decided to try to learn continental style knitting as it fit in with my existing crochet skills. So far everything is going fine, I did have some problems with the purl stitch but that's another post :)
So having discovered I can knit I figured I could go ahead and buy some more needles in different sizes and went off to do some more research. I found out that a lot of people use only circular needles, this has a few advantages. You can use circulars for flat projects as well as in the round, small diameter when using the magic loop method and you don't poke people sitting next to you when knitting. There's bound to be more but that's all I can think of right now.
More googling followed and i decided on Knitpro, mainly because they were interchangeable but partly because they looked so pretty. The next problem was which ones to buy, they come in three different types, plastic, metal and wood. In the end I decided to buy one pair of each type and 3 cables, these arrived in the post yesterday.
The look wonderful but I was surprised at the cable lengths, the shortest one was a lot shorter than I had thought but that's not a problem. Putting the cables on is easy they just screw in, there's also a hole for a "key" to go in to help tighten it up (I say key but its really just a bit of wire). Each cable comes with end caps so that the needle tips can be removed and the caps put on so that your knitting doesn't fall off, I reckon these would work as stitch holder too.
So bearing in mind my little wench was around I couldn't do a proper test right away but I did manage about 5 mins with each type before she decided to help. I cant quite put my finger on it but I didn't like the acrylic ones, maybe cos they squeaked or maybe they felt too light, not sure. The metal tips were ok but were quite pointy, and I use my finger to push on the point sometimes so this bothered me. The wooden ones, they didn't actually feel like wood, I liked these.
So my initial thoughts were that I liked either the wood or the metal but I was leaning towards the wood. However someone on-line warned me that the acrylic ones needed to be used for a while before deciding as they had a coating on them. So I grabbed some scrap acrylic yarn and started a stocking stitch sample and did about an hour or some with the acrylic tips, that took me until the end of the Wench's nap. Last night I got the metal tips on and managed about half an hour before my impatience got the better of me so I switched to the wood ones.
When I look down at the sample its a lot neater than normal, an awful lot, so much so I was very very happy. If I'm honest this could be for a few reasons, the new needles, that I have finally found "my" way of purling. I don't care though my knitting with all 3 tips was consistently neat and even so I would happily use all of them for that reason. The thing is I want to buy a deluxe set of these so I need to figure out which ones I love best and it still looks like the wooden ones. Don't get me wrong, I could happily knit with all three types, but for me the plastic feels too plastic-y and the metal is just a bit too pointy. This isn't me saying they are bad its me trying very very hard to find any reason, and I mean even a tiny one, to pick one over the other. I'm quite sure that I would get used to the points on the metal tips and the plastic would be fine once I had used them a while.
So I'm still left not sure which set to get, if there isn't much in it then I may just get the acrylic set for now and save up for the wooden set, especially as the wooden ones are the most expensive. However if my heart is set on the wooden ones then I'm best getting those. Sigh! The wooden set would be about £50 plus postage and the acrylic set would be about £30 for the pink set and £35 if I wanted the rainbow acrylic set.
So what am I going to do? Right now I'm going to buy wool so I can be doing something, and as I'm buying Stylecraft that should be a good amount of wool. After that I reckon I will save up for the wooden set but slow time, right now its not essential as the set I have will do me for a while. What I might actually do is buy some more cables, cable connectors and maybe one set of dpns inn 4mm so I can make an attempt as silvers sock class using DK wool.
Oh and just to throw something else in they do a special edition rose wood set thats about £70-£80 depending where you look :)
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