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Knitting
Xaquin
Right behind you!Registered User regular
Right behind you!Registered User regular
I know we have at least one knitter on here as I've seen the knitted pieces in a lot of pictures (they all look great by the way)!
I'm looking for help and using google-fu, I have determined that there are about a million websites that all help a little.
Can anyone recommend me a good site for beginners?
example: looking at the about.com site on knitting I can find a glossary of general terms. However, each term is a link to a different site with a different layout etc. etc. As someone painfully new to this, it's more confusing than helpful.
I guess I'm looking for an all around easy to navigate site that can teach me from basic to advanced.
any/all help would be appreciated!
I'm looking for help and using google-fu, I have determined that there are about a million websites that all help a little.
Can anyone recommend me a good site for beginners?
example: looking at the about.com site on knitting I can find a glossary of general terms. However, each term is a link to a different site with a different layout etc. etc. As someone painfully new to this, it's more confusing than helpful.
I guess I'm looking for an all around easy to navigate site that can teach me from basic to advanced.
any/all help would be appreciated!
Xaquin on
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Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
I made an account on Ravelry, but it seemed a bit over my head hehe
I'll try the videos on knittinghelp
Thanks!
edit:
The Glossary on Knitting help was exactly what I was looking for! I have no clue how I missed it. I think half my problem is I'm looking at tutorials and patterns and things and have no clue what the terms mean. Now I think I can get a handle on it!
My GF lives on ravelry I swear.
Personally, I found the various websites I stumbled across to be minimally helpful at getting started. The pictures tended to be some combination of blurry and tiny, the videos were so low-quality I couldn't see what was going on, and text descriptions tended to assume that whoever was reading them already knew all the basics.
The most useful thing for me was getting a couple of actual books. The $10 "learn to knit" starter kit I picked up at Wal-Mart came with two pairs of knitting needles, a couple of yarn needles, a gauge, a few other odds and ends, and a decent little instruction book that demonstrated stuff like casting on, knit stitch versus purl stitch, etc. It had a dozen patterns ranging from a basic scarf to some hideous hippie shawl-thing, and it explained how to interpret and read the whole "CO 37[41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61] sts P5, [p2tog, p6(7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)] four times" language. I also took out a book from the local library, some silly "no really, it's cool for men to knit too" thing called Knitting with Balls, which was pretty similar, but had a somewhat higher production value.
Having books in general is good because the pictures are big and clear and it's easy to see exactly what's going on; having more than one book is great because when I *do* get a bit confused about what I'm supposed to be doing, I can turn to the other set of instructions for slightly different wording or a better camera angle of the stitch.
I'll have to give the local library a once over
Actually seeing someone's hands doing the stuff is _infinitely_ more helpful than series of pictures, for me.
http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Balls-Hands-Guide-Modern/dp/0756622891
plus some good patterns to try
I also love the aforementioned sites. Also the Bernat site has some neat patterns.
I watched the video on casting on and will attempt today
I'm lame and started a blog about this if anyone is interested.
I'm enjoying the knitting so far but am already hitting some snags (haha)
http://thesupermanlyartofknittingasweater.blogspot.com/
fingerscrossed.jpg
Also I basically taught myself to knit from the videos on Knitting Help, though right now the only cast on I can do with any sort of reliability is the long-tail. Right now I'm teaching myself to knit socks and lace, having finished learning cables.
What sort of snags are you encountering?
The problem I'm having is the second row of knit. When I transfer the needle with the yarn on it from my right hand to the left hand the thread is at the back of the needle, so when I cross the yarn over and push it off, it just kind of unravels.
I know I'm doing something wrong (probably something easy) I just don't know what. Most all videos are only of the first row, so I don't know where to go from there
Also, are you continental or english-style knitting?
Also also, I'm here at Ravelry, though I haven't updated projects in a while
Since my ultimate goal (a million years from now lol) is a traditional Aran Sweater, I figured I'd go with English since it would be more traditional
(this made sense to me at the time I swear)
Thanks for the video
If you don't mind some butting in, you're probably going to want to build up to the sweater - try some scarves, some hats, basically a bunch of different projects that will teach you the little things so when you get to the sweater your confidence and skill level are where they need to be
e: And I will say, if you're more comfortable knitting continental just go for it. After crocheting for ages, english style seemed so unnatural to me that I fail at it completely, but I'm relatively quick at continental now. Lots of practice!
I was kind of figuring going pot holder - scarf - socks - sweater or something (with a lot of practice swatches in between). I'm going to try for the sweater by Christmas!
and yeah, between Knitty and Ravelry there are metric tons of project possibilities out there! I forgot to link my Ravelry earlier but mine is here.
I will say that my knitting style is a cross of English and Continental; the advantage with continental is speed and ease, but the English method is a little more methodical and I think it lets you control how tightly you're pulling the yarn. I definitely recommend knitting as loosely as you can until you have a good idea of how tense to hold the yarn. (It will eventually come completely naturally to you!)
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
yeah, the first time I did a full row of casting on (I think I said that right) I could barely move the loops towards the pointy end of the needle they were on there so tight.
http://www.thebestknittersguide.com/2010/05/knit-stitch.html
Most people do exactly this-- you tend to do whatever is most comfortable once your hands are programmed. I hold my yarn in a weird way but it works for me. No two knitters knit alike! Styles of knitting are more about where you hold the yarn and where the needles go to pick up live stitches, and as long as you're getting knits, purls, et al, then you are doing it right.
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
hi 5
I finally FINALLY figured out what I was doing wrong
I wasn't pulling the little loop through the stitch, I was just moving the stitch from one needle to the other.
I'm also a huge fan on knitting on circulars all the time as it's much harder to either drop stitches accidentally or woops lost my other straight needle
I am a big fan of using circular needles as well (even for non-circular projects). I've lost many straight needles and dpn's to the couch monster.
I find that the metal knitting needles are easier for me though as they easily slide together. Less friction to work against.
I usually start someone I'm teaching with bamboo simply because they are less expensive than wood but offer most of the benefits. Clover are the ones I usually use, though I just recently got a set of bamboo DPNs from Crystal Palace that I really like!
I am a DPN convert; for stuff like toys and fingerless gloves, you get a better seam. Plus, if you knit in public with them people tend to keep their distance. They're great for getting a seat on the subway to yourself
Sounds like you're starting to get it, and hopefully getting the hang of the pulling-the-loop-through-part -- and I love that you are this enthused about it.
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
and i can't stand circular needles. DPN for life
I think I finished 5 rows of 30 stitches
In the end, it looks both better and worse than I expected. Better because it actually looks like yarn was knitted. Worse because it looks like yarn that was knitted poorly hehe
any advice on making it more uniform?
honestly it doesn't look too bad. your tension is probably off between stiches and rows, but a lot of that gets sorted out when you get it off the needle and stretch it a bit
hah!
I've been so concerned with keeping this on the needles I never even considered what happens when you take it off
And the more practice you get the more uniform your stitches will be
the leftover thread from the cast on. Can I just cut it off or something?
Does it go somewhere?
I trimmed it a bit cause it kept getting in my way, but I don't want to cut it all off if it will cause my project to unravel from the other end
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union