Knit-class-together

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

One of the best things about knitting is talking about knitting. There's so much to talk about! New projects, works in progress, finished objects -- there are so many steps along the way, occasional mishaps, and puzzling patterns. So come chat about whatever knitting you're working on!


A note about images and links: Sometimes it's hard to properly discuss what you're knitting without visual aids, so you may want to post a picture of your knitting (to ask for advice, to show off a really neat piece, whatever) or include a link to a pattern or picture, neither of which is usually done on the HOL Forum. However, for this class, in this thread, you may post an image of your work -- only one per post, which is a setting of the entire HOL Forum -- or links to pictures or patterns. Keep your images smaller than about 600 pixels wide, and make sure your links and photos are HOL-appropriate. (If you're unsure about it, check with me first via email, forum PM, or HOL message.) If you don't follow these guidelines, points can and will be taken, but I trust you knitters to be cool about it.

[Nico Coer]

I usually use a knit on method for casting on, and have only used the loop on method when my grandmother was trying to show me her bootie pattern and... I'm not terribly fond of it. I'm using it in the first assignment, and I'm having issues with the ends looking droopy because the stitiches are looser in some places than in others. I don't know, I think maybe it's too easy for me to screw up the tension with this cast on. *sigh* I Think I even like crocheting a chain stitch and then knitting out the back end of that better.

On the plus side, I think I'll get it done in time for a baby shower a friend of my sister is having. (Also, a nice break from a massive project I've been working on...)

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

Yeah, the loop cast on is not my favorite, either; controlling the tension is so incredibly hard. However, it's also got its uses; for instance, it's my favorite cast on for 1x1 rib, particularly if I want it to be stretchy and practically invisible. I've used it for my Wilf hat, and it's kind of perfect. Generally speaking, though, I use either the knitted cast on or the long tail cast on, depending on my mood.

Right now I'm working on a small bag to carry my water and keys and things with me when I go out walking. I'm using this Pigeon Mini Messenger Bag pattern as my starting point, but with a couple of changes. One is that the bag itself will be longer so that the bottle will fit in it. I've also added a stitch to the body to make working in the round easier. See, linen stitch is a two stitch, two row pattern, with each row being the opposite stitch order than the previous. When you're working in the round with an even number of stitches, that means the last stitch of row 1 will be the same type of stitch as the first stitch of row two; however, adding a stitch means the last stitch of row 1 is the same as the first stitch of row 1, and row 2 already begins on the opposite stitch as row 1, so it's just a continual progression of the two stitches without any immediate repetition. I don't know that I explained that well, but just trust me that it works. *g*

The only problem is that I'm trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule, and I'm finding myself more tired than I'm used to, so the relaxing, repetitive nature of the knitting is making me much drowsier than I'd like.

Also -- and feel free to point and laugh at your teacher -- I hadn't knit anything since sometime in April (I hit a wall in a pattern I'm trying to make, and it was discouraging enough to make me put my needles down for a long while; also, I had no other projects lined up), so the first couple rows I knit felt vaguely awkward. Luckily it wore off pretty quickly, but still!

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Well.

<@Tarma> big exciting news is that i changed color on my scarf
<@Cos|Away> Oh?
<@Tarma> i'm doing that thing of unravel yarn, and split and um twirl each color back on itself
<@Tarma> i still have to use crochet hook to tuck in but am trying it anyway
<@Tarma> what you told me about? but I don't find the link to show HOW but it's working anyway *cross fingers*
<@Tarma> yeah, it is sort of OVERstatement - change colours on scarf is big exciting news *G*
<@Tarma> i can handle that kind of big exciting news
<@Cos|Away> I think there's something on (edited out because it is a link - please ask Cosmo or me what it is?) about it. Splicing, maybe? A variation on the Russian join.
<@Cos|Away> It is exciting!
<@Tarma> yesss russian join
<@Cos|Away> (You should post about it in the knitting forum because of reasons. )
<@Tarma> that is what you called it, so maybe what I'm doing is sort of a next door neighbor
<@Tarma> oh
<@Tarma> i can put in this?

Anyway, I'm knitting while I watch some movies. I seldom watch movies but lately am on a Cary Grant / James Stewart / Myrna Loy/William Powell kick -- and knit while I watch.

I'm using up my Dark Horse yarn (the company literally went down with the ship, from what I learned from my supplier, all the yarns were in shipment and the ship sank :\ ) in a scarf a la Doctor Who (#4, with that long outrageous scarf! \o/ ) So, garter stitch, solid colour blocks, slipping the first stitch at the edge of each row and changing colours whenever I feel like it. It's about 12" long now. Cast on with long tail - 60 so is about 1 foot wide. #8 size needles (metal at this moment, might switch to circular needles later on if it gets unwieldly). I will use up all my yarn or stop at 12 feet, whichever comes first. If I have yarn left, I might see about knitting me some fingerless gloves like what Gandalf wears in The Hobbit. (They look like the material is doubled, or folded back, at the edge, by the fingers?)

The Russian join is a way of changing color without having a lot of loose ends to tuck in. If you want more of an explanation, perhaps ask Cosmo for an explanation. You could ask me, but I'd probably just end up asking her and passing what she says along to you.

[Nico Coer]

I'm having trouble with something I'm making that isn't directly for the class. It has color changes, which I've done before, but I"m having a lot more difficulty with this one than the others I've done. For some reason I'm getting a pulling and buldging around the color changes. Does anyone have any tips? here's some pictures:

http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads ... edium2.JPG

http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads ... edium2.JPG

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

QUOTE (Nico Coer @ Sep 28 2013, 01:31 PM) I'm having trouble with something I'm making that isn't directly for the class. It has color changes, which I've done before, but I"m having a lot more difficulty with this one than the others I've done. For some reason I'm getting a pulling and buldging around the color changes. Does anyone have any tips? here's some pictures:

Nico, that isn't just colour changes, it is intarsia! Awesome!

My first reaction is that there is too much tension on the yarn where you are joining it in. (By the way, I'm posting because Cosmo is busy recreating the Sett. She intends to post an answer for you, but all her brain power is getting our home back at the moment!) Then I thought that, no, that isn't quite it either.

I looked in some knitting books, found one 1 that has a possible solution --
QUOTE When changing colors in a vertical line, the yarn must be twisted on every row. When changing colors in a diagonal line, the yarns must only be twisted on every other row. If the diagonal slants to the right, twist the yarn only on the knit row. If the diagonal slants to the left, twist the yarn only on the purl rows.[/quote]
1 Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Knitting Book ISBN 1-931543-16-X

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

You know, intarsia's not something I'm great at. It seems very fiddly in my hands, and it feels like all my fingers turn into thumbs or something. I can only think of two projects I've made that used intarsia, so I'm not, like, a fantastic fountain of knowledge about it. I think what your trouble boils down to is tension, but I'm hard pressed to say whether it's too much or too little tension, and I've half a mind to say it's a little of both! (What? I'm insecure about intarsia and indecisive - a winning combination!)

I don't know if you've read much about the technique, but I really like this Purl Bee post about it; it helps me feel like I "get it" more than I do on my own. Also, I think looking at some tutorial videos would be helpful; I particularly like this one by k1p1 TV, which has the added bonus of a British accent! That video directly addresses the tension, so that might be really useful for you.

Hopefully something here is helpful, if only to get you looking in different places for help.

Also, are you intending to twist your stitches like that, so the legs of the v-shape cross each other rather than sit side by side? (Here's a good illustration featuring standard and twisted stockinette.) I don't know that it's causing your color change problems, but I can't imagine it's helping (twisted stitches are a much tighter gauge), and I think most intarsia patterns are designed with standard stockinette in mind rather than twisted. Something to consider, anyway.

[Lucy Tyler]

Hey guys! The link to the class forum from the class site isn't working, but I managed to find my way here Anyone else doing the knitting class this year, or got a knitting project going currently?

I've finished the first assignment, and I've been working on the next two at the same time. I'm planning on doing the scarf too, I just need to get the right wool for it. I'm going to make a Hufflepuff scarf, of course I've been wanting one for ages so I'm excited to be able to make one.

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

Hey, Lucy! Nice to see you here! Sorry about the forum link; I kind of forgot I had to update the link when the forum got updated, um... a while ago. Oops! But it should be fixed now, so thanks for mentioning it!

Good for you for starting your assignments already! I'm actually taking some HOL classes this term (for the first time in more than a year), and I've already been working on assignments. It's very exciting. Also, yay, Hufflepuff scarf! I look forward to seeing it -- which version you make, what type of yellow you choose, that sort of thing. I have ~feelings~ about what constitutes an appropriate Hufflepuff yellow (not that it affects any grades or anything, so no worries!), and I like seeing what other people's interpretations of it are.

[Lucy Tyler]

I was actually thinking quite a lot about what shades to use. I'm planning on making a thick-band scarf, but there's no pictures of the Hufflepuff version of that from any of the movies that I can find. I kind of wanted to get started, and I have a massive ball of sort of buttery-yellow wool that is similar to the thin-band scar colours in the later movies (there's a shot of Cedric in a scarf), but I really do feel that the proper Hufflepuff colours are black and bright yellow; not too golden, because that gets towards Griffindor gold, but a bright canary yellow (or to me, the colour of the wattle at the moment )
I was tempted towards a lighter colour again when I went to buy wool, because there was no wool that had both bright yellow and black in the same wool type, but there was plenty of lighter yellow. I've now tracked down where I'll get my wool from (and it's even on sale!) so I'm all set now

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

Lucy, you have sent me on a search! I wanted to see if I could find a picture of a Columbus-era movie Hufflepuff scarf, and you know what? It's really hard to find! But I found one! Here it is: three of the four house scarves in one shot!. And judging by that picture, anyway, Hufflepuff yellow is basically Gryffindor gold, which... no, let's not do that, it's no fun.

I'd love to see your yarn when you get it (yay, sales!) -- or at least the brand and colorway so I can look it up.

[Lucy Tyler]

Oh nice, well done! It does seem quite close to the Gryffindor colours there, but it's quite hard to tell with that lighting. I'm hoping to buy the wool sometime tomorrow or the day after, so I'll defintely do my best to put a picture up

[Lucy Tyler]

So I finally got around to getting my yarn! It's the bright canary yellow and the black in this one: https://www.spotlightstores.com/fabrics ... BP80250661

It's probably going to be a little longer before I get started on it, though, since I need to get a new circular needle for this project, the two I have are both too long. I have been doing a different knitting project though (aside from the assignments for the class)- I've knitted a quidditch headband- a seeker one, which makes no sense since I play chaser, which has a white headband, but yellow is all I had on me at the time. I think my boyfriend is claiming it because he does play seeker sometimes.

One question- have you gotten my assignments that I've sent in yet? I sent the email, and there's no mention of it in the 'received assignments' thread, but there's nothing in it since 2013 so I'm not sure if it's actually getting used.

[Prof. Cosmo B. Mott]

Ooh, that's a nice yellow! I like it!

Are your circular needles the same needle size? Or does a pair have a really long (40" or longer) length? Because if either one of those is the case, there are techniques you can use to knit a smaller circumference on a larger needle -- knitting with two circs (circulars) and magic loop, respectively. If you don't want to wait to find the right needle length, you can give those a try -- just let me know what sort of help you want.

You know, I completely forgot that thread even existed. That's terrible of me. That said, I did update it, and it's something I should try to keep up with. Thanks for the nudge!