Posts tagged knitting in the round

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Posted 8 months ago

Patting Myself on the Back

Somewhere around 9.5 months ago, I decided that I was not going to buy my daughter a scarf when I could perfectly well make one.  And then faced the reality of that when I timidly tiptoed into In a Yarn Basket explaining to her that I didn’t know how to change colors yet, so she needed to pick just one color.  And even moreso when we walked out with two balls of yarn after all, because one was not enough for a decent-length scarf.

I knew how to do a long-tail cast-on (though I didn’t know what it was called), how to knit in garter stitch, and…  okay, that’s it.  I had no idea how I was going to join that second ball of yarn, and no idea how to bind off when I got to the end.  I figured it out, but then for a while I felt unequal to trying anything else.

Except you can only do so much with straight garter stitch—pretty much just squares and rectangles, really.  And that’s kind of a bit boring.  No, wait…  It’s really freaking boring.  So I slowly, very slowly, started picking up other techniques one at a time.  I still examined each pattern closely to make sure that I wasn’t going to get too stuck on any particular thing, though.  I was very much aware of being just a beginner, and I was afraid of getting halfway through a project only to discover that I couldn’t finish due to inexperience and ignorance.

Friday, I was just fed up with everything, and I was in a rather childishly sulky mood and wanted to do something for myself.  I had been kind of wanting a pair of fingerless mitts for driving, and it’s starting to get colder out, so I figured that would make a nice small project.  I took a spin through the free patterns at Ravelry, found one that I liked the look of, downloaded it to my iPad and cast on.

I didn’t even look at the pattern first.  I just liked the way the finished product looked and happened to have the right yarn for it in my stash already.  I wasn’t worried about it, though.  I had confidence that I knew enough to complete this project.  And I was right.  Seed stitch?  Knitting in the round on DPNs?  Make-one increases?  Putting stitches on waste yarn and picking them up later?  Sewing on buttons?  Dude, I’m all over that.  No problem.  I found myself accidentally increasing a few stitches before I was supposed to, but was watching for that and knew how to fix it, and it hasn’t actually been much of a problem anyway.  I’m just starting the increases for the thumb gusset on the first mitt, and I’m pretty pleased with it so far.

I have trouble, sometimes, with self-image.  But every once in a while, something happens to make me step back and see something I’ve done objectively, and understand that hey, that was pretty cool.  This is one of those things.

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Posted 8 months ago

Socks all done! 

Toastie Socks (now with more completedness)

The second one went much faster than the first, contrary to conventional sock-knitting wisdom.  I managed to mess up the ribbing—that takes talent!—but fortunately realized it pretty quickly and was able to salvage (and maybe repair?) the situation.  Still working on the whole heel-flap thing, too.  Overall, though, not bad for a first attempt.  If I do say so myself.

This is (almost) the perfect pattern for learning to knit socks, too.  It’s really basic, no funny stuff, and it’s done in worsted weight yarn on size 8 needles, which makes it easier than trying to manage much thinner fingering/sock-weight yarn on itty bitty needles.  There are a couple of quirks to watch out for, like the way it says to finish the heel-turn on a knit row and that turns out to be impossible based on the instructions for the turn, so you have to turn the work one more time and knit back across; or the way that at this same point “needle 2” suddenly and without warning or comment becomes “needle 1”.  Once you’ve worked through that, though, I really do think this is a good place to start.

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Posted 9 months ago
I made a sock! Toastie Socks (part 1 of 2) I feel sorta proud of myself right now.  I still have to make the match for it, but, you know. I screwed up the heel in a couple of different ways, but managed not to make any cataclysmic mistakes.  (…Okay, on the second try.  After I’d figured out that the pattern changed how it referred to the various needles involved halfway through, which made everything make so much more sense.) Also, it’s too long in the foot for Tim, for whom it was intended.  I made it to fit my foot, knowing we wear about the same size (I have humongous feet), but somehow when he tried it on the heel was up near his ankle.  Fortunately, this is only meant to be a comfy around-the-house sock and he doesn’t seem to mind the defect. I’m working up to making socks for Grandma for Christmas.  (Ssssh, don’t tell.)  For my first pair, it was less intimidating to start with a nice thick worsted weight and size 8 needles.  The next step is fingering weight (so, proper sock yarn) on size 1.5, if I recall correctly.  Gulp. Zoom

I made a sock!

Toastie Socks (part 1 of 2)

I feel sorta proud of myself right now.  I still have to make the match for it, but, you know.

I screwed up the heel in a couple of different ways, but managed not to make any cataclysmic mistakes.  (…Okay, on the second try.  After I’d figured out that the pattern changed how it referred to the various needles involved halfway through, which made everything make so much more sense.)

Also, it’s too long in the foot for Tim, for whom it was intended.  I made it to fit my foot, knowing we wear about the same size (I have humongous feet), but somehow when he tried it on the heel was up near his ankle.  Fortunately, this is only meant to be a comfy around-the-house sock and he doesn’t seem to mind the defect.

I’m working up to making socks for Grandma for Christmas.  (Ssssh, don’t tell.)  For my first pair, it was less intimidating to start with a nice thick worsted weight and size 8 needles.  The next step is fingering weight (so, proper sock yarn) on size 1.5, if I recall correctly.  Gulp.

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Posted 1 year ago
Ball Prototype Elated by my previously-detailed coaster success, I decided to try a ball.  Two of my cousins are expecting new babies this fall, and I thought this would be a good thing to knit as a gift.  This one, however, was never meant as anything but a prototype, to see if I could do it and to throw in the washer and see how it did and so forth. Which is good, because that photo looks a hell of a lot better than the real thing thanks to strategic positioning and camera angle.  It’s lumpy and lopsided, and the underside shows how much trouble I had keeping the yarn tight as I got into the late decreases.  To cap it all off, near the end I apparently got my stitches reversed again and wound up with the wrong side on the outside. Well.  It was a learning experience.  It’s too small anyway, so I’ll have to do another one in any case.  I think I have the math worked out for how to add increases, and I’ll probably try to lay hands on some larger DPNs and thicker yarn. Zoom

Ball Prototype

Elated by my previously-detailed coaster success, I decided to try a ball.  Two of my cousins are expecting new babies this fall, and I thought this would be a good thing to knit as a gift.  This one, however, was never meant as anything but a prototype, to see if I could do it and to throw in the washer and see how it did and so forth.

Which is good, because that photo looks a hell of a lot better than the real thing thanks to strategic positioning and camera angle.  It’s lumpy and lopsided, and the underside shows how much trouble I had keeping the yarn tight as I got into the late decreases.  To cap it all off, near the end I apparently got my stitches reversed again and wound up with the wrong side on the outside.

Well.  It was a learning experience.  It’s too small anyway, so I’ll have to do another one in any case.  I think I have the math worked out for how to add increases, and I’ll probably try to lay hands on some larger DPNs and thicker yarn.

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Posted 1 year ago

Round Coaster

My first “real” knitting-in-the-round project:  A coaster.  Yeah, I know.  Really exciting.  I’m not quite sure what happened here; several rows seem to have gotten reversed, so that the right side wound up on the wrong side and vice versa.  And then they magically fixed themselves…  right before going back again.

So it’s a reversible coaster.  Whatever.  It still looks fine, and it’s still quite servicable.

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Posted 1 year ago
(Not so) pro tip: When measuring wrist diameter for a wristband or bracelet, don’t forget to ensure that the said measurement is large enough to allow slipping it on over the hand. This might fit an infant; definitely won’t fit Natalie. Other than that, though, the whole DPN experiment went pretty well… Zoom

(Not so) pro tip: When measuring wrist diameter for a wristband or bracelet, don’t forget to ensure that the said measurement is large enough to allow slipping it on over the hand. This might fit an infant; definitely won’t fit Natalie.

Other than that, though, the whole DPN experiment went pretty well…

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Posted 1 year ago
For the most part, each project I’ve done has been aimed at practicing some new-to-me skill or technique, but I don’t think any have been as dramatic or as intimidating as making the jump to working in the round. I’m beginning to maybe sorta kinda get a feel for it… Zoom

For the most part, each project I’ve done has been aimed at practicing some new-to-me skill or technique, but I don’t think any have been as dramatic or as intimidating as making the jump to working in the round. I’m beginning to maybe sorta kinda get a feel for it…