Help a new dad?

#1

Evening all.

I learned to knit when I was a kid and right now I remember how to use two straight needles to make a square.

That’s about it.

I’m expecting a son in August and I’m thinking how neat it would be to make little baby hats and booties and mittens for him that all match!

I had luck finding sets for my daughter, pink is so easy to find but I want black white and red, primary rainbows for my son. Bright colors you know, to stimulate the mind. So I started looking at patterns online and then I just did not understand a bit of it!

So I just want to learn how to make baby stuff for my son. I just moved to a new big city and really have no one to teach me so I came here hoping that someone could show me the way.

I have a room mate but I’m shy to ask her, I doubt that she’d even know how to knit. But I don’t want to get teased, I want to show her this awesome little black and white striped ear flap hat with red strings and a big red pom pom at the top and then say I MADE THIS!!! Now look at the cute little booties!

:roflhard:

Well thanks for reading and I’ll be around surfing the site.

#2

:cheering: :cheering: Congrats and Welcome :cheering: :cheering:

You’ve come to the right place. Any questions you may have just ask away someone will have an answer.

:muah: :hug:

Nadja xxx

#3

Welcome to the forum! You’ve come to the right place! :cheering:

Since it’s been awhile since you’ve knit it would probably be good to practice a bit before diving in. We are here to help when you’re ready though!

There are tabs at the top of the forum (Basic and Advanced Techniques) various knitting videos that can help a lot. Here’s a few more links that are also very helpful.
Lion Brand - Learn to knit …I found it helpful to print out the instructions to have next to me
Knitting at Noon Videos- not as many has here in KH, but good ones nevertheless

Tons of patterns here:
Knitting Pattern Central

Hats and booties can be knit in the round or flat. I prefer seamless myself, but many do it seamed, too. Red/black/white and primary colors sound fabulous for a little boy!

#4

Ok about 4 months ago I took in these kittens and they were dying in the back alley way and they were always so cold so I made these little sweaters for them.
So I’m still really good at knitting :cheering:

They were sooo cute I made them up myself. They were like capes. They had a triangle on the back and I joined them together with a rectangle H that I made up for the front. I wish I still had the pictures. Basically a cat harness with a full back that was shaped like a V cape.

So I would be ok doing a flat set of hat and mittens and booties if I had a pattern. I should hope… I have this really gorgeous black soft wool from my mom’s knitting box that ended up in my sewing box.

Does anyone have a pattern for that?
Who wouldn’t mind that I haven’t seen a knitting pattern since the jester hat I made for myself when I was 13!

#5

I think a best bet would be

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/baby_booties_mittens.php

There are a ton of easy knit baby stuff

Here is my personal fav hat :slight_smile:

http://www.helloyarn.com/topdownbonnet.htm

I have knit a few of these with matching socks.

Good luck and be sure to share pictures :slight_smile:

#6

Awww thanks thats so cute… I don’t speak greek.

Anyone have an english/knitter dictionary? I really don’t understand any of this at all.

Like emmm how do I make it now? :teehee:

Ohh ever sure there will be pictures if we promise not to laugh :oops:

#7

Here is a list of knitting abbreviations and what they stand for.

Example:

K = Knit
P = Purl

Good luck. You’ve stumbled on the best site! Everyone here is super willing to help.

#8

Wow yeah totally seems like I have.

I really like that little bonnet…but then I looked at the tutorial for that 8 stitch and I don’t think I’m quite ready to use that yet.

I’m really good at standard knitting and purling. Like really good :mrgreen:

So if i had a flat pattern that said “knit XX rows, add a stitch and purl XX rows…” I’d be FINE :teehee:

Let’s see how this goes and thanks a lot again for all the help!

I can knit a scarf like a machine! Standard XX rows and just keep going for hours I tells ya!

#9

My first baby hat was 1/4 of a scarf, folded in half, with the sides seamed and a pompom on the corners, it was really cute.

http://home.pacbell.net/kapleo/blog/domesticspherepatterns.html

Its about halfway down the site.

These are really well written and easy to follow.

#10

Here’s a few simple 2 needle patterns. Don’t forget you can just do plain knitting in place of detailed pattern a lot of times.

2 needle baby hat
2 needle baby booties

#11

Welcome Rycharde :cheering:
BTW: we have a bunch of GUY knitters here . .so you are not alone~! :oops:

Welcome to kh… what a bout just a simple garter stitch hat and seam it up the sides and loop up the crown with a strand of yarn.
that was all of my hats I have been making for the last 4 months! :cheering:
since it’s a baby hat it shoudn’t take long at all~!!
Itty bitty head :roflhard:

#12

Guys don’t knit!

Oh wait, ummm, never mind.

#13

Oh, they don’t? :rofl:

#14

Heyyyy that two needle thing looks easy! I can do that for sure and with the help of the abv reference up there I was able to read it just fine.

However emm I don’t know any of these stitch names and such so when talking to me, please remember I’ve never discussed knitting with anyone before in my life.:pout:

Imagine if I started talking about online games :teehee:

Anywho I noticed the boys! :teehee:

But they still won’t save me from the roomie when she bugs me! So I have to knock her socks off with an amazing project so she will be more amazed that I’m awesome then she will teasing me for doing yet another girly hobby!

#15

Knitting isn’t girly! More women just HAPPEN to do it than men. Doesn’t make us any less manly than these “real” men.

#16

The most recent Knit Simple magazine has a few pages on onesies and booties. I looked at them and they looked pretty simple & quick, and they’re really cute!

(PS My sister lives in Hamilton :thumbsup: )

#17

Wait, I’m kinda steerin’ this thread in the wrong direction. I would try Knitting Pattern Central.

#18

Dude, don’t worry about your roomy. I often knit while sitting in truck stops. Trust me, if I can knit in a room full of truckers without getting any crap your roomy is a walk in the park :rofl:

#19

Ohh I’m getting a good laugh here. Thanks guys.

Have ya met my roommate? :teehee:
Bring on the truckers!
I’d take on a friendly trucker dude over a high strung city dwelling lesbian any day!

Nah she’s cool. I asked her if she knew how to knit and she came back with “no, but if you want we can learn how together” :happydance:

So I said ok, and showed her some hats I want made for my son and she is going to buy us new needles tomorrow because mine are sad sad sad. Mismatching sizes and bent, or theres the plastic ones, yea they’ll work real well.

I found more wool, I have some awesome colors. This bright blue I found is like dark, but neon. I love it.

On the bright side if I didn’t look for my wool and my needles I never would have found the mold on my wall which could have been very dangerous if we left it for much longer, calling the landlord to deal with it ASAP!

So I guess you can say knitting saved my life

:teehee:

#20

See, I told ya. :rofl:

Anyway, as to the actual topic. I would strongly advise you to make it a priority to learn how to read patterns. When I decided to start knitting I did some research and learned the basics of reading patterns before I ever bought my first bit of yarn or needles. It really has made things a lot easier.

I’d also suggest that you buy some circular needles and learn how to knit in the round as it makes some things, like hats, so much easier to do. I haven’t picked up a pair of straight needles since I started using the circulars.

It’s great that you have mastered the basic knit and purl stitches. That’s a great start, but there’s so much more to know and master to really get into knitting. I’m still learning myself, but once you can interpret the patterns it really is a lot easier than it looks if you’re just staring at a pattern you don’t understand.

Good luck!