Genny's Blog

#1

This is my first blog, I thought I would give it a try. I love :heart: :heart: talking to people.

I was going to try to come up with 100 things about me, but couldn’t think of that many. :roflhard:

I am a ‘stay at home’ mom of 4. Two of which have left home in the last 6 months. So I still have 2 teenagers (one boy, one girl) still at home.

At one point I was a hairdresser, but after I started having the kids it didn’t pay to work and put them in daycare. My hubby was having to pay for my gas to get me to work. :-x (By the way we have been married for 25 years).

I have only been knitting for about a week, but I am getting the hang of the basic stitches. My biggest on-going problem is keeping the yarn too tight, and changing my mind on what I want to knit. :teehee: I have set a goal for myself - to make two book end covers for my daugher at college before we go up there this weekend. Maybe that will help me actually finish something. :pray:

I would like to ask: as far as buying materials as a new knitter what would you suggest? (needle sizes, yarns, accessories, etc.)

#2

:waving: welcome

I too have a problem in keeping the yarn too tight which is why I have a very sore wrist at the moment … just have to remember to ‘relax’ … I also find that I have to go up in needle size if I try to get gauge.

If you think you are going to stick at the knitting, then for needles I would get some interchangables (Denises or KnitPicks Options)… I think they are cheaper in the long run and you usually always have the correct needle size for any project.

Good luck

#3

Weclome to blogland! :waving:

As far as knitting supplies, I would get an interchangeable knitting needle set. Something maybe like Denises or Boyes. If you don’t want to start out with either of these, I would get sizes US 7, US 8, and US 9 knitting needles. Then work your way towards getting other knitting needles.

Yarn wise, you could probably get some acrylic to start out. Maybe something like Caron Simply Soft or Lion Brand Wool-Ease.

Accessory-wise, I would get a couple yarn needles(tapestry needles). They can be found at a lot of craft stores. I would also get point protectors, row counters, and stitch holders.

That’s all that I can think of at the moment. :teehee:

#4

Thanks to you both, I will check into the items you suggested. I didn’t even know there were interchangable needles until I looked at the link you gave me :oops: .

#5

I read somewhere (I forget where, but someone on the boards linked to it) that a common problem with people who knit too tightly is that they either consciously or not tug on the working yarn after finishing the stitch. You don’t have to tug on the yarn to make it tight, because making the next stitch automatically does that. I’ve loosened up my knitting some just by NOT making that extra tug. It takes lots of extra thought, though.

Though I am knitting purposely tightly on my fingerless gloves…they’re on size 4 double pointed needles, and I’d rather knit tight then have loose stitches between my joins! !

#6

:waving: Welcome to blogland!

I knit tightly as well when I first started. You’ll gradually ease into your own particular tension. Just remember that trying to make each stitch look perfect tends to have the opposite effect, particularly if your knitting is really tight. If you watch Amy’s videos, you can see how loose her stitches are; that’s a good thing!

Cawthraven (and anyone else interested!), here’s a tip so you won’t have to knit so tightly to avoid creating ladders: use stitch markers to designate your ‘needles’ when using dpns, and as you finish the stitches on one dpn, drop the now empty one, knit a few (2 works) on the next dpn, and then pick up the empty needle to knit the rest of the stitches on that dpn. Keep doing that until you have to divide stitches for the thumb gusset; then, resume doing it once your knitting in the round again. (This also works for socks or any other small diameter object like a sleeve.) You’ll never have ladders again! :happydance: :happydance:

#7

I am working on not knitting so tight. I do know I have a death grip on the yarn in my hand when I knit, and I do tug on the yarn. :wall:

So it seems I have a few different things that is causing my knitting to be too tight, at least I know what to work on to fix it.

Having tight stitches wouldn’t be too bad but it makes binding off very hard.

Thanks for your suggestions on what to buy, now I get to go shoping. :cheering:

#8

Starting off by casting on to two needles held together and then sliding one out when all the stitches are on helps with knitting looser. A tight cast on messes everything up for me.

#9

The tight cast-on gets me, too. It’s the reason why some of my socks don’t quite match… :rofl:

#10

If your bind-off is too tight, try binding off with a larger needle.

#11

Recognize that everyone has different needs and tastes in needle types and surfaces, and also that your needs and tastes will change over time and depending upon what type of fiber you are using (and of course, technology and manufacturers will keep giving us new things to try).

I would suggest that you go to several local yarn shops and ask if you can “test drive” their needles in the shop. Try to do this at what you will expect to be a slower time in shop business. Explain that you are new to knitting. Take with you small balls of different fibers of the type you are likely to be using soon (100% wool, wool-synthetic blend, acrylic, cotton) to try the needles on. Ask the person at the yarn shop to explain how the needles differ from each other (material of which they’re made, style of needle, pointiness or bluntness of tip, taper of tip, joins in the case of circular needles, and why these things are important in this particular needle). Go to more than one shop if you can because occasionally a shop or salesperson may have an agenda to recommend a particular line of needles.

Knowing that you are a new knitter who is learning the craft, the yarn shop will not expect you to make a decision to purchase a particular pair of needles that day. It is important to them that they build a good relationship with you, however, because that will in all likelihood generate future sales. It would, however, be a nice gesture of thanks to make a small purchase of something like a row counter, markers, tape measure, etc., all things which you will need several of in the near future.

#12

Thanks for all the advice, I would have never thought of using two needles to loosen up the stitches, and I have noticed that being too tight on casting on or off makes the whole thing look kinda strange.

I am about finished with my first project, small as it may be. I will try to put a picture of it on the blog when I am done. When I do feel free to give advice, I am not hurt by criticism, and a good laugh never hurt anybody. :roflhard:

I did have a rather rough weekend that put me behind on being finished. Fri. night my son started having problems breathing and said it felt like someone was sitting on his chest. Within an hour he had a fever of 102. So I took him to the ER and after being there for 3 hours they gave him 2 tylenol and sent us home. :grrr: They said they thought he had a virus but would not be able to tell for a couple of days what it is for sure.

So all weekend I fought high temperatures, sore throat, and chest pain. No sleep Friday or Saturday night. Even with tylenol on Saturday his fever would not drop below 101.

Anyway, last night was better, his fever started to go down and he was able to sleep (at least after 2 am). I will have to decide today if i should take him back to the Dr. or see if he can get over it on his own.

Gen

#13

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your son, and hope he is on the mend.

#14

:cheering: :cheering: :cheering: :woohoo: :woohoo:

I’m finally done with my first “project”. It’s not perfect but at least it is finally done.

I’m going to try to post a picture, which I have not done on this site yet.

They are book ends for a college dorm room. Let me know what you think, or any suggestions any of you have.

Now on with other knitting … xxx xxx

#15

So cute! :cheering: :cheering: :cheering:

#16

OMG, those are adorable!! Nice work!! Are those flowers glued or sewn on? They are a sweet touch!

Yay for the first FO!! :woohoo: :woohoo:

#17

Those are so cute Genny! Congratulations on the first FO! :cheering: :woohoo:

#18

Your daughter will love those!

#19

Thanks for the kind comments. :hug: :hug: :hug:

Angelia, the flowers are sewn on with embrodery thread with a french knot in the center. One of the hardest parts of making these was cutting the flowers out of felt. :wall: It was hard getting them where they were not lop sided.

I hope she likes them, I’ll find out tomorrow. She’s coming home for fall break. :happydance:

As for our son being sick, he seems to be getting better. At least his fever is down and the pain is gone. Now just keeping it that way. :pray:

I am stuck on what to knit next. I had a scarf on the needles but I goofed it up, so I decided to turn it into another practice piece. :teehee: I plan on learning YO, increses, and decreases.

I don’t know that I will be able to knit the three ponchos for my nieces before Christmas, so I might try something smaller and try for their birthdays or next Christmas. :teehee:

#20

My daugher liked the book ends and wanted 2 more. :teehee:

I am a little flustrated with my knitting at the moment. I was making a scarf using “Homespun” yarn. I decided to make it a little larger than a normal scarf, but I made it too wide (over a foot) but decided that was ok. I was doing k 2 rows p 2 rows, it looked good at first then last night my knit and purl were turning out exactly alike, I was up unitl 2:30 trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. :shrug:

So now I have a 3 inch section that is different than the rest of the pattern in the scarf. I guess I will try to incorporate the 3 inches into the scarf at other places to make it look like it is supposed to be that way. :roflhard: