Today I learnt how to change colours.
It's not as hard as what I thought it would be. Once again I used the book and YouTube to help me understand how to go about changing colours. Changing colours is the same as changing a ball of wool.
Wait until you are at the end of a row before you change colours. With the colour you are finishing with cut the yarn leaving approx 6 inches (10 - 15cm) at the end. With the new colour, again leave about 6 inches of yarn before you start to knit. Put the right needle through the stitch as you would for a normal knit stitch, the instead of using the old colour to create a new stitch use the new colour. For the next stitch make sure you are using the skien of yarn not the end, and carry on knitting as per normal. Once you've completed the row, until you are ready to weave in the ends just tie up the different colours to stop anything from happening to them.
Below is the YouTube video in which I used to help me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY7GYSiCUXs
On one side of your colour change you will just see the different blocks of colour. On the other side you will be able to see where the colours in the stitching interchange.
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
A new shop - A lovely lady
Today I went to a shop called Honor Parry.
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/honor-parry-london#query:knitting%20shops
I had read reviews (see link above) that it was a lovely shop (old fashioned with shelves upon shelves of different types of yarn) owned and ran by a retired lady - Mrs Jones. The opening hours are not for long each day. Monday - Wednesday 10am - 1pm, Thursday 2-4, and they are also some Saturday's but I can't remember what the opening times are. The 344 and 44 buses (going southbound towards Clapham) stop right opposite the store on the left hand side of the road. The shop is on the right hand side of the road if you are coming from Queenstown road railway station.
I asked for some help straight away as i didn't really know what to look for. I told her I was a beginner knitter, and that i had gone into another shop but I felt the needles were too small and the wool, even though it was nice was not chunky enough for me to practice on. She pointed me in the direction of some cheap wool (I think around the £2.99 mark). The wool she pointed me to is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. I asked if she had any of same stuff but in black as I wanted to make some black and white scarves! She came back with a charcoal colour which I said would do.
Mrs Jones also asked me how I cast on. I told her I used the Thumb method (the method shown in the Stitch 'n Bitch book) in which she said "it's not a good way of casting on, and it curls up at the ends. I don't know why the young and trendy use that method!". She then proceeded to show me the 2 needle method.
The way to do it is, to create a slip knot leaving about 6 inches left at the end of the wool and put it onto the needle. Using the right needle, slip it through the hole in the slip knot - front to back, and underneath and create a cross. Using the yarn create a loop by putting the yarn round the needle anti clockwise. Bring the right needle back out of the left loop. Then put the left needle through the loop on the right needle, by bringing from the back towards the front. You should now have 2 loops over the left needle and still one over the right. Slip the right needle out of the loop that is still on there and tighten the yarn. I'm sure my explanation isn't great, so here's a link to a you tube video on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T43J_cYlSU
She then sat me down in the shop and using the needles and yarn I was going to buy and got me to practice. The yarn I've bought is a skein. It's great as you can keep the label on, and as mentioned before (in previous blog) if you dig around in the middle it pulls out nicely for you to knit straight from.
She had to show me twice how to do it, as I managed to get the first part but had quickly forgotten the second part. After I had casted on a couple of stitches, she had a look commented how it was looking and got me to carry on until I had done 19 stitches. I manged to do 20, which she didn't mind. Once I completed my casting on, she then asked me to start knitting using the knit stitch (also known as the garter stitch). I done a couple of rows and she showed me a tip on how to make it look neater.
Tip - Once you complete a row, look at your needle (The yarn at the end must be facing you), and to make the whole row neater and more even using the spare needle pull gently at the yarn in middle of the loops just below the needle.
I then knitted a couple more rows and didn't feel the need to stay in the shop for much longer. I could have stayed there until she shut as I'm sure Mrs Jones would have given me more tips. She was pleased with what I had done and complemented me on my work so far. I didn't know what to say so I ended up saying it's inherited, in which she said I think there maybe something in that!
There were a constant stream of customers (even a couple of male customers) coming through the shop and she makes sure she helps everyone. A couple of the customers that came in had been there before and she remembers them which is really nice! I can't wait until I'm next in the store to see her.
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/honor-parry-london#query:knitting%20shops
I had read reviews (see link above) that it was a lovely shop (old fashioned with shelves upon shelves of different types of yarn) owned and ran by a retired lady - Mrs Jones. The opening hours are not for long each day. Monday - Wednesday 10am - 1pm, Thursday 2-4, and they are also some Saturday's but I can't remember what the opening times are. The 344 and 44 buses (going southbound towards Clapham) stop right opposite the store on the left hand side of the road. The shop is on the right hand side of the road if you are coming from Queenstown road railway station.
I asked for some help straight away as i didn't really know what to look for. I told her I was a beginner knitter, and that i had gone into another shop but I felt the needles were too small and the wool, even though it was nice was not chunky enough for me to practice on. She pointed me in the direction of some cheap wool (I think around the £2.99 mark). The wool she pointed me to is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. I asked if she had any of same stuff but in black as I wanted to make some black and white scarves! She came back with a charcoal colour which I said would do.
Mrs Jones also asked me how I cast on. I told her I used the Thumb method (the method shown in the Stitch 'n Bitch book) in which she said "it's not a good way of casting on, and it curls up at the ends. I don't know why the young and trendy use that method!". She then proceeded to show me the 2 needle method.
The way to do it is, to create a slip knot leaving about 6 inches left at the end of the wool and put it onto the needle. Using the right needle, slip it through the hole in the slip knot - front to back, and underneath and create a cross. Using the yarn create a loop by putting the yarn round the needle anti clockwise. Bring the right needle back out of the left loop. Then put the left needle through the loop on the right needle, by bringing from the back towards the front. You should now have 2 loops over the left needle and still one over the right. Slip the right needle out of the loop that is still on there and tighten the yarn. I'm sure my explanation isn't great, so here's a link to a you tube video on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T43J_cYlSU
She then sat me down in the shop and using the needles and yarn I was going to buy and got me to practice. The yarn I've bought is a skein. It's great as you can keep the label on, and as mentioned before (in previous blog) if you dig around in the middle it pulls out nicely for you to knit straight from.
She had to show me twice how to do it, as I managed to get the first part but had quickly forgotten the second part. After I had casted on a couple of stitches, she had a look commented how it was looking and got me to carry on until I had done 19 stitches. I manged to do 20, which she didn't mind. Once I completed my casting on, she then asked me to start knitting using the knit stitch (also known as the garter stitch). I done a couple of rows and she showed me a tip on how to make it look neater.
Tip - Once you complete a row, look at your needle (The yarn at the end must be facing you), and to make the whole row neater and more even using the spare needle pull gently at the yarn in middle of the loops just below the needle.
I then knitted a couple more rows and didn't feel the need to stay in the shop for much longer. I could have stayed there until she shut as I'm sure Mrs Jones would have given me more tips. She was pleased with what I had done and complemented me on my work so far. I didn't know what to say so I ended up saying it's inherited, in which she said I think there maybe something in that!
There were a constant stream of customers (even a couple of male customers) coming through the shop and she makes sure she helps everyone. A couple of the customers that came in had been there before and she remembers them which is really nice! I can't wait until I'm next in the store to see her.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
I knit and wool
The shop I visited is called I knit - www.iknit.org.uk
It's a small shop, but has lots of books and a good selection of wool. I asked the guy in the shop, I know I need needles and wool, but where to I start he said to me, first you need wool. I also asked if they had any books for beginners. He pointed and told me where the shelf for beginners books were - which is where I had just been looking. I asked if he recommended any. In which he told me. I looked at all the books, but there were so many that had patterns for babies which didn't suit me, so I went for a book called stitch 'n bitch. It's an American book, and some of the drawings to describe how to do the knit and purl stitch aren't fantastic, but the layout of the book, the funky patterns and the way the put things is definitely for the younger person. Generally the way it describes things are also good and easy to understand.
As most beginners will tell you, the easiest thing to do first is a scarf using the knit stitch. This is because you practice doing what is probably the most important stitch and what the whole hobby is called from it!
Once deciding what you want to make, you need to decide which wool you are going to use. This is more important than deciding the needles and a sort of mistake I've made.
There are 5 types of wool - 4ply/ baby, Sport/ double knit (DK), Aran/ worsted weight, Chunky/ bulky and Extra or Super bulky.
For your first project I strongly recommend (and it did say this in the stitch 'n bitch book which I didn't take the advice from) using a chunky or super bulky wool. It's big and think and you can create scarves quickly and as you are using bigger needles it makes it easy to learn to do the basics, as well as having to cast on fewer stitches.
There are lots of things mentioned on the label of the wool you pick. There are the suggested needle size, what kind of wool it is (wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, silk or angora), length, washing instructions and one you have to take into consideration when picking up more than one from the same manufacturer is the colour and dye number. If buying more than one of the same colour make sure it's from the same lot, other wise you could find you have slightly different shades of the same colour.
Once you've chosen your wool, check out the size needles you will need. The size needles you will need are stated on the label for the wool. I would suggest using either 9mm (US 13) or 10mm (US 15). I don't like really chunky items, so the size 9mm or 10mm still makes it fairly big, but not as bulky. Also as a beginner don't spend too much on wool. You can buy nicer and more expensive wool when you become better.
I bought Aran wool (which wasn't cheap), and have 5mm (US 8) needles but the results are so much slower. I didn't know how many rows to cast on so the first time round created to many. I then decided to start again but to use 40 stitches, which still feels like a lot and I wonder if I'll ever make a scarf.
Last thing on wool. Wool comes in 3 shapes when you buy it from the store - a ball, a skein and a hank. If the wool comes in a ball you'll be ready to start immediately. If the wool comes in a skein, the wool is still ready for you to star knitting, but you will have to go hunting around to find the end. If you get a hank which is a big twist of wool, you will have to take the time to make it into a ball. If you don't have anyone to help you, untwist the hank so you have a big loop and put it over your neck. Untie the end and start wrapping it into a ball. This does take a bit of time, but it's quite satisfying once all the wool is in a ball!
When it comes to deciding which needles to use, if you can get wooden needles, they are always nicer to hold than metal ones. I've been told, that wooden needles are better for your fingers too, as i've discovered you use the tips of your fingers a lot when trying to knit. Wooden needles are slightly more expensive (average £5) than metal (usually aluminium), but not by much unless you are buying a really expensive wood.
I was overwhelmed when I had to decide what I needed, when if I had had some explain the types of wool and what is suitable for a beginner then maybe I wouldn't have been. Don't worry about getting all the other bits that books suggest for your kit just yet. Until you've perfected the knit stitch and purl stitch and some of the other basics (which as a beginner myself I'm no where near) you don't need other stuff for your kit.
I'm now at the point I want to go back to the shop and buy some thicker wool and bigger needles, so I get to do the scarves and perfect my technique quicker.
It's a small shop, but has lots of books and a good selection of wool. I asked the guy in the shop, I know I need needles and wool, but where to I start he said to me, first you need wool. I also asked if they had any books for beginners. He pointed and told me where the shelf for beginners books were - which is where I had just been looking. I asked if he recommended any. In which he told me. I looked at all the books, but there were so many that had patterns for babies which didn't suit me, so I went for a book called stitch 'n bitch. It's an American book, and some of the drawings to describe how to do the knit and purl stitch aren't fantastic, but the layout of the book, the funky patterns and the way the put things is definitely for the younger person. Generally the way it describes things are also good and easy to understand.
As most beginners will tell you, the easiest thing to do first is a scarf using the knit stitch. This is because you practice doing what is probably the most important stitch and what the whole hobby is called from it!
Once deciding what you want to make, you need to decide which wool you are going to use. This is more important than deciding the needles and a sort of mistake I've made.
There are 5 types of wool - 4ply/ baby, Sport/ double knit (DK), Aran/ worsted weight, Chunky/ bulky and Extra or Super bulky.
For your first project I strongly recommend (and it did say this in the stitch 'n bitch book which I didn't take the advice from) using a chunky or super bulky wool. It's big and think and you can create scarves quickly and as you are using bigger needles it makes it easy to learn to do the basics, as well as having to cast on fewer stitches.
There are lots of things mentioned on the label of the wool you pick. There are the suggested needle size, what kind of wool it is (wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, silk or angora), length, washing instructions and one you have to take into consideration when picking up more than one from the same manufacturer is the colour and dye number. If buying more than one of the same colour make sure it's from the same lot, other wise you could find you have slightly different shades of the same colour.
Once you've chosen your wool, check out the size needles you will need. The size needles you will need are stated on the label for the wool. I would suggest using either 9mm (US 13) or 10mm (US 15). I don't like really chunky items, so the size 9mm or 10mm still makes it fairly big, but not as bulky. Also as a beginner don't spend too much on wool. You can buy nicer and more expensive wool when you become better.
I bought Aran wool (which wasn't cheap), and have 5mm (US 8) needles but the results are so much slower. I didn't know how many rows to cast on so the first time round created to many. I then decided to start again but to use 40 stitches, which still feels like a lot and I wonder if I'll ever make a scarf.
Last thing on wool. Wool comes in 3 shapes when you buy it from the store - a ball, a skein and a hank. If the wool comes in a ball you'll be ready to start immediately. If the wool comes in a skein, the wool is still ready for you to star knitting, but you will have to go hunting around to find the end. If you get a hank which is a big twist of wool, you will have to take the time to make it into a ball. If you don't have anyone to help you, untwist the hank so you have a big loop and put it over your neck. Untie the end and start wrapping it into a ball. This does take a bit of time, but it's quite satisfying once all the wool is in a ball!
When it comes to deciding which needles to use, if you can get wooden needles, they are always nicer to hold than metal ones. I've been told, that wooden needles are better for your fingers too, as i've discovered you use the tips of your fingers a lot when trying to knit. Wooden needles are slightly more expensive (average £5) than metal (usually aluminium), but not by much unless you are buying a really expensive wood.
I was overwhelmed when I had to decide what I needed, when if I had had some explain the types of wool and what is suitable for a beginner then maybe I wouldn't have been. Don't worry about getting all the other bits that books suggest for your kit just yet. Until you've perfected the knit stitch and purl stitch and some of the other basics (which as a beginner myself I'm no where near) you don't need other stuff for your kit.
I'm now at the point I want to go back to the shop and buy some thicker wool and bigger needles, so I get to do the scarves and perfect my technique quicker.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Interest in knitting
I've thought about learning how to knit for a while, but have never done anything about it.
I recently lost my job, and my friend who already knows how to knit and had a few days off wanted to go to a craft fair at Alexandra palace at the beginning of October. She took me along with her and while she couldn't find everything she wanted it was great to be surrounded by creativity. It was there that I decided that I should really take the plunge and start learning how to knit.
I thought it would be as simple as getting some needles, some wool and a book and off we go, but even going round the craft fair it was not for someone who just needed the tools and wanted to get on with it. They had beginners classes at the fair, but as I wasn't intending on going back it was not really possible for me to try. I went away thinking I must try and find out more.
I half heartedly looked with my friend promising to take to a local department store to get what I needed. This never happened. When another friend of mine and I went shopping in other department stores it occurred to me then that I should look. One department store I went into 10 years ago,when I was last in there had a good selection of wools and other haberdashery delights, but this time I couldn't find anything.
With a quick search on google for somewhere that would sell what I needed, I found a place which I didn't know existed which I could pop into and was on my way home.
It was there I found out what I actually needed and how to go about learning how to knit.
I recently lost my job, and my friend who already knows how to knit and had a few days off wanted to go to a craft fair at Alexandra palace at the beginning of October. She took me along with her and while she couldn't find everything she wanted it was great to be surrounded by creativity. It was there that I decided that I should really take the plunge and start learning how to knit.
I thought it would be as simple as getting some needles, some wool and a book and off we go, but even going round the craft fair it was not for someone who just needed the tools and wanted to get on with it. They had beginners classes at the fair, but as I wasn't intending on going back it was not really possible for me to try. I went away thinking I must try and find out more.
I half heartedly looked with my friend promising to take to a local department store to get what I needed. This never happened. When another friend of mine and I went shopping in other department stores it occurred to me then that I should look. One department store I went into 10 years ago,when I was last in there had a good selection of wools and other haberdashery delights, but this time I couldn't find anything.
With a quick search on google for somewhere that would sell what I needed, I found a place which I didn't know existed which I could pop into and was on my way home.
It was there I found out what I actually needed and how to go about learning how to knit.
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