Knitting

https://www.ravelry.com/people/KnottyLorri/new_library?volume_id=483676270

My former inlaws bought me this yarn on their anniversary trip to Hawaii a few years ago. If I recall correctly it’s bamboo and cotton. Finally decided to use it for myself!

I bought this kit from Aliexpress. I’m not very picky about my needles, but I do have have the Chiaogoo red ones. I wanted a set to travel with and these seem good so far, which is kind of surprising.

Price $38.38 Canadian

3-8mm needles

Just in case anyone’s in the market for some needles.

Just in time to start my mystery knit along, I finished both yip yips. The knit eyes worked out really well. I’ve never laughed so much while knitting something, these were a really fun project

Pattern

Remember those “Martians” from Sesame Street? A friend asked me to make a couple of these for their kid. My first one is on the left and the pattern photo is on the right. I’m going to try to knit some eye balls instead of using ping pongs, we’ll see how that goes

Pattern

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/MxRemyWay/whats-this

I don’t get much knitting done in the summer, so I thought I’d share someone else’s project. Saw him in the stands tonight watching the men’s doubles final and it looks like he’s already cast on something else.

*What makes a cardigan, Mr. Lebowski? *

Knowing almost nothing about knitting before I started this project, I spent many months trying to recreate the original as faithfully as possible. And you can try it yourself as well :)

CAVEAT: I am not a designer, the pattern is only available in one size, and it can be a pretty difficult knit at times.

BUT: it's free, and I can answer questions if you try your hands at making it!

Raverly link (The Dude Copycat Cardigan)

I have no idea how to do this. Sometimes I pick up the yarn and it runs nicely, sometimes I end up with, say, 1 inch of length that just keeps getting shorter the more stitches I make and I must manually pull more from the ball instead of me just getting more yarn from the ball naturally with each stitch. ("1 inch" was just made up for this example, never actually measured it.) I have no idea what is affecting this. But the tension is awful and my practice piece looks like this. Please help me!

Is this actually a widespread thing? I'd never heard of it (sorry if this doesn'tfit the sub)

Just have to vent, because I’m struggling to finish this sweater. The body was knit with US 17s (12mm). Now I’m doing the sleeves on US 19s (16mm) because my gauge was too tight with the 17s. I have discovered I don’t like knitting with these size needles. They’re uncomfortable for me to hold and knitting with them feels like a chore.

Vent over. Hopefully I’ll get this sweater off the needles today or tomorrow, and now I know to avoid any more projects using these needles.

So I want to knit up an all-over lace top, which is originally made with two strands of Lang Yarns Mohair Luxe. I've been searching for non-animal alternatives for quite a while now. My best bet might be Lammy Soft Sensation, but as it's rather cheap I'm afraid it might also look and feel cheap. Does anyone have experience with it? The reviews I can find online are rather scarce.

Also been looking into Alize Cotton Gold and Hobbii Amigo. They're not exactly mohair-y but might provide a little fluff and, more importantly, softness.

What do you think? Are there better options? TIA!

The pattern is free on Ravelry- 198 Yards of Heaven. I used Madeline Tosh Vintage in Fatal Attraction (1 skein). I'll have to post it after it's dry because this picture doesn't do the color justice.

Caveat: when the article mentions the "dominant hand" and "non-dominant hand" they really just mean "right hand" and "left hand". These knitting styles do not adjust to your personal handedness. So I guess you can read it as written if you're right-handed, but if you're left-handed this was not written with you in mind.

One day I might finally cave and buy a real yarn swift & winder, but for now this shall suffice

Seems to be put together with images from The 4-H Knitting Handbook.

While I am asking about what knitting resources you use I might as well plug this thread asking for knitting resources for beginners.

I have a Ravelry account I rarely use. I come here from time to time. I still have a few how to knit books I got as a child. And I have a few specific tutorials (none are video-only, they are all image + text tutorials) bookmarked online that I know I'll need to refer back to sometime in the future:

• https://sheepandstitch.com/what-is-knitting-gauge/
• https://nourishandnestle.com/tension-in-knitting-too-loose-tight-or-inconsistent/
• https://www.yarnspirations.com/blogs/how-to/how-to-knit-cables
• https://sarahmaker.com/stockinette-stitch/
• https://smokeandslate.com/pages/weave-in-ends-stockinette-stitch

Finally, I keep the pattern I am working on written out in Obsidian (@[email protected] says hi), with a little note at the bottom describing the tension I am using and this: "Finished row x, need to start at row x + 1". (If I wrote 'row x' I would have no idea if I just finished it and need to start x + 1, or if I just finished x - 1 and need to start row x. That was a serious issue for me when using just a counter that ticks up. I could just technically write 'Finished row x' but I feel better both writing that and 'need to start row x + 1'.)

Slow but steady progress on my socks

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Sock

Needed a new car knitting project as my Kelowna sweater is too big now to work on comfortably. So I cast on some socks for me.

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Palm Springs colorway

Decided to get sleeve island out of the way. I’m worried I won’t have enough yarn even though I’m on gauge. I am using different yarn than the pattern and it’s definitely not the bulkiest bulky yarn I’ve ever used.

I picked up 12 stitches in the underarm (instead of the pattern’s 6) because I was worried about holes. I may have some small ones to close up at the end but we’ll see how they look after blocking.

Pattern: Kelowna sweater

The socks with my first ever fish lips kiss heel are done! They even got a spin through the washer and dryer because our dog spilled milk on them (yes our dog lol).

My spouse tried them on and they fit perfectly. For my next pair of socks I’m not sure if I’ll use this heel again - I do really like it but now it’s got me wondering what other awesome heels I haven’t done yet.

Just finished this. Took about a month. The pattern is free!

Since it’s unisex I used a Caron cotton cake in DK I think and knit the small size. I followed the guidance on the label for needle size. It started as an experiment and ended as a happy accident.

Also, I modified by adding the panel in the hood and icord string.

This week got away from me, I spent most of today thinking it was Wednesday. I started this sweater on Saturday. Thankfully we were in a city visiting family, as I’d overlooked the fact that this pattern uses 12mm needles for the body (the largest I have is 8mm). I was able to run to the store and pick some up right away.

I tried all 3 sizes for the neckline and none looked like the right fit, so I decided to do a provisional cast on and worry about the collar later.