Knitting

[MooseIBe]

I've just started knitting again :). I am not terribly GOOD at knitting cos I can't follow patterns but I am tenacious and have produced lots and lots of scarves and two or three blankets. RIght now I am knitting a blanket with that nice fuzzy wool that everyone seems to be using right now, in lots of different colours. It passes the time ;)

Any fans?

[Legs]

:knit:

My Mother & 2 sisters are amazing knitters... me not so much. Okay, I totally suck at it.

[MooseIBe]

I can tell that .. you forgot to knit a bottom into that outfit you're wearing! :shock:

[Stormlight]

:rofl:

[Shelli]

I don't knit but I crochet when the mood strikes me.

[Julie]

I can't knit to save my life....but I'm a very very good at crochet.

I also have a knitting loom (http://www.dreamlooms.com/dreamBoard/dreamBoard.htm) that I love for making sweaters and blankets (and scarves and hats and and and...)

[MooseIBe]

I'd love to be able to crochet but I don't know how to ..

Oy stormlight! How come we haven't seen you round my neck of the woods lately hmmmmmm? *looks very stern*

[lisarea]

I've been crocheting since I was a little baby, but I just taught myself to knit last year, and haven't knit anything very good yet. In any case, I mostly make rectangles these days, anyway. Potholders, scarves, afghans, things like that.

I also have one of those crazy huge Brother knitting machines, but I haven't even had it assembled for a while. It takes up a fair amount of real estate. I should do that, though.

[MooseIBe]

Is crocheting easier than knitting? I don't know anyone who does it who could teach me.

[lisarea]

I think crocheting is easier, but I've been doing it almost all my life. My grandmother taught me when I was a really little kid. But I think knitting is pretty hard. I don't suck at it totally or anything, but I'm really slow and it takes me a while to re-get the hang of it every time.

I've taught a couple of really little kids to crochet, so I'll bet I could teach you.

Come on over. It's the house with the red mailbox.

[ms_ann_thrope]

/me heads off to lisarea's house, because all ms_ann has been able to teach herself to crochet is a cat toy and a scrunchie. an ugly scrunchie.

Julie, that knitting loom looks sweet. Thanks for the link.

Moose, I really wish that I knew how to knit, but I have only dabbled. Have not moved beyond making long rectangles (scarves), but I did once figure out how to make stripes (i.e., alternate yarn colors).

How did those who know how to knit learn? Class? Study-at-home book? Friend/family member showed you how? I've only tried learning from books cos I'm afraid that capable knitting people would point their needles at me and laugh at my ineptness if I attended a class. :shiftier:

[MooseIBe]

I think I was taught when I was a kid .. can't remember who taught me. I am pretty fast but all I can do is scarves and blankets. Sigh.

*heads over to Lisa's, hopes for hot drink when arrives as is cold*

[cappuccino]

I know how to knit and I find it fun and soothing, and yes I'm a man.:man: I learned how to knit from my mother and from the delightful and quirky book Stitch 'N Bitch (http://www.amazon.com/Stitch-N-Bitch-Knitters-Handbook/dp/0761128182/sr=8-1/qid=1161882231/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4082833-2649634?ie=UTF8&s=books). It's a fun read and it lays out all the basic techniques of knitting and purling you'll ever need to know.

Ok, you can start the gay jokes now.

[godfry n. glad]

I'm not a knitter, because I'm pretty much a maladroit. I can't dance, either.

I am an admirer of knitting, though. Ivy was an accomplished knitter. Of some local note, too. She had me designing intarsia patterns for her to knit. She did sweaters, vests, throws, mittens and was a founding member of a sock-knitting group (a coffee klatsch, actually). She did lots of faire isle and cable knits, too. People who knew her brought her unravelling knits, mostly sweaters, to repair.

:knit:

But knitting wasn't enough to satisfy her, so she took up lace-making. She had at least four pillows at one time and made a dazzling set of fancy-dancy bookmarks. But she lost interest in all that once she discovered spinning. She had six spinning wheels at one time and died with four in her possession. I have a goodly portion of a room filled with fleece, spindles, bobbins and yarns. She even got to the point of going to the sheepraiser to obtain her fleece, wash it, comb it, spin it, dye it and knit it into a final product.

She had the knitting machine and did a whole slew of holiday stockings. Otherwise, she didn't really care for it. She was, at heart, a hand knitter.

I watched all this in fascination for years. I still think it a fascinating expression of human ingenuity.

[Legs]

I tried crocheting once, I had a hook, some yarn and a little pamphlet with 'how to' illustrations. It was working!, I was so excited :excited: this yarn chain kept getting longer and longer, like 8 feet but I couldn't figure out how to make it wider. :loser: