Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
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Subject Topic: Teach myself to knit? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Sarah
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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 3:50pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

Mary G. and all. . .

Here's a humbling example of what I think might be knitting.

Garter Stitch??

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Mary G
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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 4:32pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

Yep!   

Looks GREAT, Sarah!

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Sarah
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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 6:50pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

Yay!!!!! I'm so glad. Whew!



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Sarah
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Posted: Jan 08 2007 at 6:51pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

Oops meant to say, THANKS!!!, too, Mary.

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~Rachel~
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Posted: Jan 11 2007 at 9:19am | IP Logged Quote ~Rachel~

WAHOO you're knitting!!

*I* think you did a great job... and I agree with Mary... very nice and even!

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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 1:49pm | IP Logged Quote BrendaPeter

Hope this isn't too off-topic but since we're talking about knitting... I have a question for the *experts* . I have a multi-sized mitten pattern (in the round) that I love and have used in the past with fingering yarn. Thanks to a dear friend, I have a ton of scrap yarn - mostly mohair which I believe is worsted weight. Can I use the same pattern & just use whatever needle size will get me the proper gauge?

Thank you!

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nissag
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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 2:00pm | IP Logged Quote nissag

Brenda,

I suppose you could try that route, but I suspect you'll find your stitches are frustratingly tight. What I would do instead is to convert. For instance, if you know that your fingering weight yarn with the suggested needle gives you 6sts/in. and that worsted with a size 8 needle gives you 4sts/in. you divide the number of stitches in the original pattern by your fingering weight gauge to get the number of inches. Then multiply that by the number of sts/in. you get with your worsted weight and that gives you the number of stitches to obtain the same size in worsted.

Now, if you divide the worsted number of stitches by the fingering number of stitches, you'll get a percentage. Apply that percentage to the entire pattern - wherever you have an increase or decrease in the stitches, just adjust by your percentage.

Is that about as clear as mud?

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Sarah
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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 4:18pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

Wow! I hope I get that good someday. . .

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Mary G
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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 5:00pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

nissag wrote:
Brenda,

I suppose you could try that route, but I suspect you'll find your stitches are frustratingly tight.


Nissa, depending on the yarn and the needle, it shouldn't be so awfully tight especially with mohair. After all, you want the mittens at a tighter knit than say a sweater.

Brenda, Nissa has a great idea to do the conversion but first I would try using a 4, maybe a 3 with the mohair and see how different the gauge is. But most importantly, decide if you like the "hand" (or feel) of the knitted swatch. Is it stiff or flexible, would it feel nice to the wearer?

Another thing is to do the smallest size and with a 7 or 8 and the mohair and see how much bigger the size is. After all, if it's a multi-size pattern, than they've already done the percentage increases -- just use a smaller size than what you would want.

Hope that helps -- please let us know!

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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 7:26pm | IP Logged Quote BrendaPeter

Dear Mary & Nissa,

Thanks so much for your help! I love having the "formula" as this issue comes off often when trying to get rid of excess scrap yarn. I really dreaded finding another yarn pattern so at least there's an option.

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Posted: Jan 14 2007 at 9:04pm | IP Logged Quote nissag

You're welcome, Brenda! Let us know how they turn out!

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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 11:49am | IP Logged Quote BrendaPeter

I will let you know but it might be awhile as I don't knit as much as I like to. I sneak in a little when teaching my son to read, in the car and in front of the tv (which is rare). When do most of you knit?

I started a new project yesterday. It's a sweater that uses 8 different yarns so it's great for using up scraps of yarn, which I have a ton of. I'm working on something called a basketweave stitch but it doesn't look anything like a traditional basketweave stitch to me - it's more of crisscross. You can see it on my Yahoo 360 blog.

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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 12:30pm | IP Logged Quote nissag

BrendaPeter wrote:
When do most of you knit?


Every chance I get. I like to knit while the kids are at their studies, when someone is reading aloud, and I've learned to knit and crochet while nursing a babe, or cuddling a toddler. I try to take projects with me to games and such. I have not, as yet, attempted knitting during dinner or while sitting in the bath! I'm thinking that the Channel Islands fisherment had a good plan of knitting during church. I'm not sure how that would go over...



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Mary G
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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 1:37pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

nissag wrote:
BrendaPeter wrote:
When do most of you knit?


Every chance I get. I like to knit while the kids are at their studies, when someone is reading aloud, and I've learned to knit and crochet while nursing a babe, or cuddling a toddler. I try to take projects with me to games and such. I have not, as yet, attempted knitting during dinner or while sitting in the bath! I'm thinking that the Channel Islands fisherment had a good plan of knitting during church. I'm not sure how that would go over...

We are definitely soul mates! My dh thinks I'm a bit loony since I've started bringing knitting to lectures, concerts (that is, organ concerts or Cathedral music programs). I've never knitted in Church altho I have been tempted to bring knitting to Adoration as I can keep my fingers busy while my mind and heart are on the Lord -- but I haven't gone that far yet

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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 7:17pm | IP Logged Quote Sarah

Mary G wrote:
   I've never knitted in Church altho I have been tempted to bring knitting to Adoration as I can keep my fingers busy while my mind and heart are on the Lord -- but I haven't gone that far yet


This is funny because I was just thinking yesterday that Church would be a great place to knit because (I'm learning) that once you get the stitch down you think of other things and you could certainly pray. . .

I think you're right. People might not understand.

I can't wait to move to the next level which is just simply purling. I've noticed that with teaching myself I cannot have any distractions as I'm learning the stitch because I have to concentrate so hard. With this rotten weather I haven't been able to get to a bookstore, library, or decent craftstore for supplies.

My ds5 is begging me to finish his scarf. I think that's cute that he's so excited. It will be perfect for him since he's so forgiving.

I knit in the evenings after dinner but I'm such a beginner that I don't feel like I can even answer this question. I have a hard time knowing what to do when it gets dark at 5pm. This is perfect.

I really am excited to knit and get better at it. My dh has a huge head and needs a hat for playing around the yard with the kids. I hope I can make him one. I think I need to learn how to purl and do ribbing and then I guess I need a pattern.


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nissag
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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 7:42pm | IP Logged Quote nissag

Sarah wrote:

This is funny because I was just thinking yesterday that Church would be a great place to knit because (I'm learning) that once you get the stitch down you think of other things and you could certainly pray. . .


That's how prayer shawl ministries work. Knit and pray. Look in your phonebook to see if you can find a good knitting store. Or...Brown Sheep has a list of knitting shops that carry their yarns. There are lots of little shops that probably also carry some really good quality yarns. You can go and have a feel of the offerings, but beware! It's an expensive trip for me and my children, they're all fibre hounds like their Mama.

Oh, and these little shops often offer knitting classes or Open Knits where you gather one day a week to work on a project, chat with other knitters and get help.

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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 7:52pm | IP Logged Quote nissag

Oh and I wanted to share a great site. It's full of free patterns - very stylish ones, silly ones, some are really too risque... Each pattern says whether it's easy, medium, or difficult.

We've enjoyed making many of their patterns at our house.    Knitty



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Posted: Jan 15 2007 at 8:32pm | IP Logged Quote Mary G

Sarah wrote:
I can't wait to move to the next level which is just simply purling. I've noticed that with teaching myself I cannot have any distractions as I'm learning the stitch because I have to concentrate so hard. With this rotten weather I haven't been able to get to a bookstore, library, or decent craftstore for supplies.



Sarah, Let me let you in on a little secret -- if you get circular needles (both ends are connected by a cable), and you work in the round (in a circle), then you don't have to learn purl yet because the knit stitch is always on the front and you get the smooth stockinette that you'd get by working one row knit, one row purl.... how's that for cool!

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Posted: Jan 17 2007 at 7:17am | IP Logged Quote Karen E.

I still have a lot to learn, but thought I'd post links to two posts on my blog about my knitting efforts --

Here and here.

We're just getting the basics down -- my 10 yo is already in on it. She loves it!

p.s. Jennifer: I love your chopsticks idea!

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Posted: Jan 17 2007 at 9:20am | IP Logged Quote nissag

Great Job, Karen! We all make little mistakes when we start, but you learn how to diagnose problems, fix them, or fudge them.

What yarn is on the chopstick needles? Cream coloured... It looks lovely.

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