using up yarn: knitting[fail]
17 Mar 2009 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimoreneEver since I stumbled on a link to this duster knitting pattern (a duster is a long cardigan sweater; the designer is calling it a "cardigan coat", but that sounds silly to me), Flicca, I've been coveting something like it. I have a lightweight cashmere-blend baby cabled cardigan with buttons in front, but it doesn't have the cosy, blanket-like heft for lounging that you can see this one does, and it's just thigh-length.
Now, although I've been crocheting up a storm all winter, I still can't remember how to knit. Or actually, that might come back to me, but I can't remember how to cast on. I'm pretty sure that Wax has shown me how to cast on and how to knit at least five times in the last five years, but every time I start to knit something for practice and quickly abandon it (I don't actually want another scarf! I have important things to crochet!), and then forget the lesson because I only was knitting for a few hours.
What Wax wears for loungewear is the first thing she ever knitted, a lumpy misshapen sweater monster that's big enough to fit three Waxs inside it even though I accidentally shrank it slightly in the wash (it got shorter, but not less wide) a coupla years ago.
The reason it's a misshapen sweater-monster is that it is the first thing she ever knitted, and of course she has never worn it out of the house, but it's still been a very useful garment. I mean, it's cosy and comfortable and has been loungewear for more than ten years. I've been thinking that I should just start knitting something and, after all, this proves that it can still be useful even if it turns out lumpy.
Of course I'll have to get her to show me how to cast on again first.
Now, although I've been crocheting up a storm all winter, I still can't remember how to knit. Or actually, that might come back to me, but I can't remember how to cast on. I'm pretty sure that Wax has shown me how to cast on and how to knit at least five times in the last five years, but every time I start to knit something for practice and quickly abandon it (I don't actually want another scarf! I have important things to crochet!), and then forget the lesson because I only was knitting for a few hours.
What Wax wears for loungewear is the first thing she ever knitted, a lumpy misshapen sweater monster that's big enough to fit three Waxs inside it even though I accidentally shrank it slightly in the wash (it got shorter, but not less wide) a coupla years ago.
The reason it's a misshapen sweater-monster is that it is the first thing she ever knitted, and of course she has never worn it out of the house, but it's still been a very useful garment. I mean, it's cosy and comfortable and has been loungewear for more than ten years. I've been thinking that I should just start knitting something and, after all, this proves that it can still be useful even if it turns out lumpy.
Of course I'll have to get her to show me how to cast on again first.
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suggestions, if you're impatient to start
Date: 17 Mar 2009 12:52 pm (UTC)But since you crochet, here's the simplest thing if you have cast-on issues: crochet a chain longer than the number of stitches you'll want; turn it over so you see the bumpy side and not the smooth v-shapes side; ignore the first few stitches and start scooping up the bumps witha needle; each bump will be a stitch. Once you have your X loops on the needle, start knitting. When you're done and have cast off at the other end, you'll come back and carefully unzip the crochet chain, liberating live stitches you'll scoop up with a needle again - a crocheted cast-on is provisional. Then you'll be able to cast OFF instead of ON, which is easier for some people! :))
(there are videos for this of course, too!)
(no subject)
Date: 17 Mar 2009 01:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 19 Mar 2009 05:02 am (UTC)