Several knitting questions

[Cisco]

For the record, the closest thing I've ever done to knitting is sewing a couple buttons back on pants that I got too fat or too skinny for. Take that into consideration and talk to me like the knitter embryo that I am.

I'm really intrigued by knitting and a lot of projects I've seen online, and I want to know what I might be getting myself into if I decide to persue this hobby (I'm taking a one-afternoon class with a friend this weekend, so I'll go at least that far :).)

What would you guess the time investment, money investment, and skill level is for the following items:

-a solid color beanie
-a patterned beanie
-a pair of thick winter socks
-a solid afghan (size huge; I'm 6'4 and like my blankets a lot bigger than me)
-a patterned afghan (ditto)
-a patterned sweater
-amigurumi
-baby beanies/socks/bibs

I'm pretty patient so the time investment is of interest but not of too much concern. I'm more concerned about the money investment (it never would've occurred to me but I've seen blogs and such that suggest large items like sweaters and afghans can get quite expensive, but they don't say how much; are we talking 50 dollars or 500 dollars?), and the learning curve.

[Green Cymbeline]

Cisco, you should join Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/) which is an online community for knitters. You will spend hours and hours looking through patterns and projects that other knitters have made. You will be able to see the skill level, amount and type of yarn used, the time it took, etc. And you can get a lot of good free patterns there.

[Green Cymbeline]

Here are a couple things I knit for my baby nephew which were quick, easy and cheap: Baby booties and hat (http://brookenelson.com/wordpress/?p=63)

Also here is a free knitted scarf pattern I created: Brooke's Column of Leaves Knitted Scarf Pattern (http://brookenelson.com/leafscarfpattern.html) - it has a matching hat too. Good luck!

[Cisco]

Here are a couple things I knit for my baby nephew which were quick, easy and cheap: Baby booties and hat (http://brookenelson.com/wordpress/?p=63)

Also here is a free knitted scarf pattern I created: Brooke's Column of Leaves Knitted Scarf Pattern (http://brookenelson.com/leafscarfpattern.html) - it has a matching hat too. Good luck!
Great stuff and I encourage anyone else who reads this thread to post things they've done!

[amarinth]

It depends. Which is not the answer you were looking for.

To answer your questions out of order, starting with money - yarn can be expensive. Very expensive. Generally speaking, the nicer the yarn (certain types of fibers, certain ways of spinning and dying, yarns that are "popular"), the more you're going to pay for it. There are also some very cheap yarns. I personally think they all have their purposes (for example, for the afghans and the amigurumi, I'd probably use cheaper yarns. And the sweater I've gotten the most compliments on was made from 100% acrylic.) You can also find yarn on sale and yarn being practically given away, if you are looking for it. You'll spend as much or as little as you want.

As far as skill - the afghans are probably the easiest, followed by the baby bibs. They're flat and squarish/rectanglish and don't really have to be a specific size. The sweaters, beanies, and toys are probably next, but if a beginner said that that's what they wanted to make, and were willing to put in the time, I'd have no problem starting them on one of those. Socks are more advanced beginner/intermediate. But if someone's already done a beanie, that will be no big deal either.

For time, bigger things tend to take longer. Unless they don't. And one nice thing about knitting is that you do see progress - there's more there today than there was yesterday, and that can be very encouraging.

[stargazer]

Huh, I don't entirely agree with amarinth about afghans. :) (But I do agree about the yarn. The lovely, lovely, expensive yarn. And needles can be pricey, too!) I think that afghans, being so big (and frequently having so many different stitches/cables/whatnot in them), are more advanced. Plus, I think there is value in a new knitter having a finished project sooner rather than later - the Dave Ramsey approach, if you will. It helps keep the excitement up!

I usually recommend that a knitter start with a scarf. It might not be the most exciting thing, but it's simple and you can see your work and your progress and you can finish it relatively quickly. Hats (unpatterned, either adult or baby) are a good second (or first) project, and they go even faster than scarves unless you're using tiny yarn and needles.

One of the great things about knitting is that you can make stuff knowing just the knit stitch. You can make even more knowing just he knit and purl stitches. And you can learn one or two other things with every project you do, and just learn as you go - you don't have to know it all at once to be able to make things!

And once you start knitting, you will spend hours and hours on ravelry, and you will find much more than the things in your list above with which to occupy your time and hands. :D

[Eureka]

I've knit a ton of baby bibs--I'd rank them way easier than afghans, purely because they are small and therefore finishable. (I have no interest in afghans.)

Fifty dollars is cheap for an afghan, I'd say. Five hundred is not impossible, but seems likely to create a masterpiece which then sits on display where no one can touch it. I'd aim for a hundred dollars as reasonable for the cost of an afghan.

Sock yarn usually costs me about twenty dollars for a pair of socks, but I don't knit thick wool socks, and thick wool can be a lot cheaper than fancily dyed skinny wool blends.

Patterned vs. Solid may or may not affect the price. It depends on what the pattern is. One can buy yarn which is already multicolor for prices not all that different from solid color yarn. Or, if one needs 20 skeins of yarn for an afghan (number pulled from my hat), one can buy 10 blue, five red, three white and one yellow for more or less the same price as 20 blue.

But the patterned beanie might well require several times the number of skeins of yarn of a solid beanie. Because you may only need a little bit of some of the colors. So you might be able to make several beanies from the yarn.

And don't forget the cost of the needles! My new big box 40% coupon needles were like 2 bucks, but they aren't nearly as nice to knit with as my fancy new needles from a local yarn store (which cost eighteen dollars) (Addi Lace Turbos, for those for whom that means something).

Sweater? I'd probably budget one to two hundred dollars, but must admit I've not actually knit any sweaters larger than child size--and for the children, I used cheap acrylic. or cheap cotton. That's a goal for next winter. After I knit up my sock yarn purchased for lace shawls.

Time commitment? Varies. Bibs I turn out in a few hours of very casual knitting.

Afghan? too much time commitment for my blood.

Sweater? likewise.

Adult size beanie? only adult sized hat I've knit I did so in a day or so. The more complicated the pattern, it might take longer. Also if you use skinnier yarn.

Thick wool socks should actually not take forever, compared to skinny socks, because you use bulkier yarn. I tend to knit intricate socks which take me a month or so a piece. But when I've used heavier yarn, I knit a sock up in a few days.

Of course, most of my time commitments are "elapsed time" rather than "knitting time"--it's just easier for my to keep track of when I started and stopped rather than how long I spent knitting. It should be noted that I am not a monogamous knitter. So I've got four hedgehog mittens on my desk, a shawl at my feet, and somewhere not far away, a sock toe begging to be frogged (ripped out) and restarted.

Well, and plotting for lace shawls has shown me I don't really want to think about how many stitches are involved in socks . . . 3915 down, only 15324 to go. Oh, and nupps. I'm ignoring the nupps. (Swallowtail, in case someone knowledgeable is wondering).

[twickster]

Afghans don't have to involve a lot of fancy stitches -- I made a nice lap throw in basket stitch, which is super simple but provides a little visual interest. If he's ambitious, he can do a stitch sampler afghan.
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g161/twickster/crafty%20crap/2008afgahn01.jpg)
For a beginner, I'd recommend a scarf, but after that I'd say go to an afghan, and do it in a not-to-pricey acrylic so you can throw it in the washer.

Cisco -- acrylic yarn is generally way cheaper than wool. The plus is that it's washable: the minus is that it tends to pill. Pilling refers to those little "pills" of yarn that form where there's rubbing or wear -- and it's less of a problem with an afghan than it is with a sweater.

[Shirley Ujest]

Ravelry is crack. Lovely, lovely crack. I am oonagh there, btw.


Knitty (www.knitty.com) is the gateway drug into the knitting world. They helped popularize knitting zines, indie designers and indie spinners.


Knitting Help (http://www.knittinghelp.com) is a great place to get your confidence in the knit and purl stitches. (There are only two stitches in knitting. Knit and purl.)

Another good linky (http://www.sheeptoshawl.com/charity/archives/cat_knittinglessons.html)

Come to Silver Sock tutorial (http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/) is wonderful and needs to be mentioned.

Tech Knitter (http://techknitter.blogspot.com/2007/02/alphabetical-index-for.html) who is excellent.

Knitting can be as expensive as you want or as affordable as you want. Just because a pattern that has an adorable blanket and the yarn is $15 a skein and 10 skeins are needed for the blanket, doesn't mean you have to use it.

Yarn companies pay/work with designers to use their yarns to promote their yarns.

The best part of Ravelry is when you see a sweater that you think you can make, but the yarn is out of your price range, you can see other peoples projects in the cheapest of the cheap yarn to midrange stuff. I've gone from complete HATING the Acrylics to being a YARN SNOB to hey! this acrylic yarn is alot nicer than I thought. ( I still feel more guilty about buying Red Heart Yarn than looking at, say pron.)

Start small. Pot holders and scarves are where 99.5% knitters start ( the other .5 who knit a sweater on their first try and do so magnificiently are freaks of nature.)

Knitter's Manifesto (http://community.livejournal.com/knitting/5593826.html#cutid1) Required Reading by all knitters.

[badbadrubberpiggy]

Ravelry is crack. Lovely, lovely crack. I am oonagh there, btw.

Knitting Help (http://www.knittinghelp.com) is a great place to get your confidence in the knit and purl stitches. (There are only two stitches in knitting. Knit and purl.)



Ravelry is awesome (unfortunately, I'm almost never there b/c it's blocked at work, but it's still awesome). I love looking at completed versions of things I like - sometimes you can even find a person with a similar build to see what an item might look like on you, or any alterations they've made to the pattern. Plus, you get to see how different yarns behave in a given pattern.

I love Knitting Help, too. The instructional videos were awesome when I first started knitting - I'm self-taught, and the pictures in instructional books aren't always the easiest things to decipher, especially if you don't know what you're doing yet.

[jacquilynne]

What would you guess the time investment, money investment, and skill level is for the following items:

-a solid color beanie
-a patterned beanie
-a pair of thick winter socks
-a solid afghan (size huge; I'm 6'4 and like my blankets a lot bigger than me)
-a patterned afghan (ditto)
-a patterned sweater
-amigurumi
-baby beanies/socks/bibs

In general, there's a lot of variability in expense and skill level depending on the materials and pattern you choose to work with.

At the core, knitting is pretty simple. A baby sweater, while smaller, isn't less complicated than an adult sweater with a similar stitch pattern, for example. So a heavily cabled hat is going to be more complicated and difficult (and use more yarn) than a simple hat. But it's also going to be more complicated and difficult than a simple sweater, even if it takes less time in the end.

With the materials I typically choose to work with -- natural fibres like wool and cotton, often blended with silk or alpaca or other slightly more exotic fibres -- knitting is a hella expensive hobby. I'd guesstimate that those projects would cost me in this neighbourhood for yarn

-a solid color beanie -- $10-25
-a patterned beanie -- if you mean color patterned, then $20-50, but out of the same yarn, you could get multiple finished items
-a pair of thick winter socks -- $10-25
-a solid afghan (size huge; I'm 6'4 and like my blankets a lot bigger than me) -- $250-$500 -- but I would be exceedingly unlikely to actually knit a large afghan out of my usual choice of yarns, I'd choose something that was a poly-blend for durability, washability and price, in which case it would be more $100-$250 range. At the cheapest end of things, you could knit a whole afghan in the $50 range, but you might not want to use it.
-a patterned afghan (ditto) -- Same as above, since you'd use most of every ball of yarn, thus not needing the overrun of doing patterns on smaller garments.
-a patterned sweater -- $100-250
-amigurumi -- depending on the mix of colors, about $2-5 worth of yarn will knit most patterns, but you may need to buy a lot more yarn than you need for one, when I do my vegetable baby rattles, the yarn I buy is $12 a skein, and I need several colours, but I could knit dozens of rattles out of those skeins.
-baby beanies/socks/bibs -- for the whole set? $10-25. But I knit baby socks out of scrap yarn, basically, since they take almost nothing at all.

In terms of time, it still depends a lot on your choice of material and pattern. An afghan knit in a chunky yarn on large needles in a simple pattern will take much less yarn than an afghan knit in a complicated pattern with laceweight yarn on small needles. To the tune of one might be 10% the time of the other -- the variability is simply huge.

In the end, knitting is incredibly flexible. You can choose awesome, awesome projects that are simple to do and relatively inexpensive, or get really involved in high end yarns and complicated stitch patterns, it's up to you.

The knitted item I get the most compliments on is a scarf that I made out of a handpainted eyelash yarn. The yarn, which was beautiful and expensive (about $40 for the skein) is also so fluffy that no stitch pattern would be noticeable in it, and shows enough colour variation that you wouldn't use it in a colour work pattern anyway. So, it's a dead simple garter stitch rectangle -- it's literally cast on, knit 6 feet, cast off, there's not even a purl stitch in the thing -- but people think it's wonderful because of the yarn. So by buying awesomely interesting yarn, I was able to get a great result from low skill knitting. I did most of it in the dark at rock concerts.

[jsgoddess]

Do people knit amigurumi? My sister does crochet and does amigurumi (http://www.juliecarter.net/blog/2009/07/not-my-projects-but-my-lion/) (link is to blog post showing some of her projects), but I knit and have never seen a pattern.

I love loom knitting. I'm in the middle of making several afghans using various types of yarn, especially chenilles.

The other answers were spot on about the costs of knitting. It can use all of your money or just a little of it.

[ivylass]

Knitpicks.com is a good site too.

I have picked up some knitting pattern books at the book store. I find knitting a swatch about the size of a potholder is a good way to try out a new technique and see if you like the pattern.

Anything that doesn't rely heavily on gauge (blankets, pillows, scarves, washcloths, etc) are easier than clothing items. I have made one item of clothing, a shell that turned out very nicely, and I have a pattern ready for my next project. Right now I'm making pillows for our boutique at the October Tea Party fundraiser for our local cancer foundation.

One thing that saved me a lot of grief was accepting mistakes. If it's a structual problem, yes, you will have to frog it. But if it's a cable that's gone the wrong way for one row and is not too noticeable, then let it go. Chances are, if you don't point it out to anyone, they won't know that it's not the way it's supposed to be. I realized when I was mostly done with one side of my current project (a pillow) that I'd used one size 7 needle and one size 10 needle. I'm not going to rip it out, so I shall knit up the other side also using odd-matched needles, sew everything together, stuff it with batting, and carry on.

[Eureka]

Yes, people knit amigurami. I think I read (someplace on ravelry) that crocheting it is easier, but I'm not the only person for whom knitting is almost instinctive but crochet makes no sense. (OK, I've not tried real hard on the learning crochet thing).

I've also not really knit amigurami, for that matter.

Mittens and gloves galore, several pairs of socks, and countless baby bibs, and assorted other stuff yes, amigurami, not yet.

[Cisco]

Aweome post, jacquilynne! (and everyone else, too), and oops:
-a patterned beanie -- if you mean color patterned, then $20-50
Yes, I meant colored! I forgot there could be other types of patterns (textured, I'm guessing, right?)

[Saltire]

Don't knit. Cool people crochet.

By the way, there is an SDMB Yarnies group on Ravelry, started by stargazer.

[Cisco]

Don't knit. Cool people crochet.

I don't really understand the difference, though I got the impression that crocheting was way easier and not as cool . . .



:D

[Risha]

I didn't truly understand why people complained about the expense of yarn until I went to a proper yarn store for the first time. There I discovered the $50-60 a skein artisan yarns. :eek:

Let's see, at ten skeins for that sweater, it would only cost me...

[miss elizabeth]

This is all great information. I want to add, though, that as a beginner you might be tempted to go to WalMart and buy the cheapest Pound of Acrylic yarn and the least expensive needles you see, because you don't want to make a big investment in a hobby you might not pick up.

DON'T DO THIS!

That's not to say you need to spend a fortune on great yarn and the nicest needles, but using real natural fibers (especially a good, soft 100% wool) and sturdy, well made needles will make learning to knit so much easier. Acrylic yarns (and other manmade fibers) have their uses, but wool is forgiving, and after washing many of your mistakes will even out. If you are taking a class at a yarn store try something like Cascade 220 or another basic type wool. If you have time to order online, Knit Picks (someone else listed their site) has a lot of wonderful yarn for very low prices, and nice needles too.

[amarinth]

If you are taking a class at a yarn store try something like Cascade 220 or another basic type wool. If you have time to order online, Knit Picks (someone else listed their site) has a lot of wonderful yarn for very low prices, and nice needles too.Or if you can, find someone who has been knitting for a while and has oddball skeins of wool and extra needles lying around. (you'll probably have to give the needles back.)

[jacquilynne]

I don't really understand the difference, though I got the impression that crocheting was way easier and not as cool . . .



:D

Well, that's a war in and of itself.

Speaking as someone who does both, I wouldn't say one is easier than the other. It's easier and more impactful to screw up your knitting, but you can, with a little skill, fix mistakes even if they happened a few rows back without necessarily tearing everything out. Mistakes in crochet are easier to avoid and less likely to cause major heartache, but if you do notice one late, you're going to either leave it where it is or rip all the way back to it.

I find it easier to maintain gauge in knitting than in crocheting.

I can't crochet in the dark, because I can't see where my needle needs to go in.

Crochet is much faster to create a finished item.

I find knitting to be more flexible in its uses, because it creates thinner, more varied fabrics, more flexible fabrics than crocheting. It's also what people expect to see in terms of sweaters and such. But, for example, for afghans, I'd choose crochet every day and twice on Sunday, and it is also great for hats and amigurami.

A lot more people knit, and there's a lot more support for it in terms of patterns, magazines, how-tos, etc, but crocheters aren't exactly left entirely in the dust.

Crochet is also tremendously useful for finishing knitting items, so it's a skill worth learning even if you don't intend to actually crochet much.

[ivylass]

I know how to do (I think) a chain stitch in crochet. I use it to make a cord that I loop for my potholders.

[jsgoddess]

Crochet allows you to do intricate patterns and designs that leaves knitting in the dust.

On the other hand, knitting is really flexible and shows off the yarns more.

[madrabbitwoman]

I do mostly loom knitting http://www.spinblessing.com/search.php?Query=Knitting%20Looms&start=0. I can produce a beanie in leass than 2 hours and I have even had a go at socks (no way I would have done that with traditional knitting).
I am in the process of teaching some kids how to knit the traditional way and have become an expert on sourcing cheap wool, needles and patterns: Op shops (goodwill?) usually have all three, garage sales can be good too, word of mouth (it is amazing how many little old ladies who no longer knit have given me wool) If you are really skint you can unravel an old jumper/blanker/scarf whatever and recycle.

[Helena]

There are some really cool crochet sweater patterns out there now.

[Flutterby]

Do people knit amigurumi? My sister does crochet and does amigurumi (http://www.juliecarter.net/blog/2009/07/not-my-projects-but-my-lion/) (link is to blog post showing some of her projects), but I knit and have never seen a pattern.

Mochimochi Land (http://mochimochiland.com/) is a good resource for knit amigurumi.

[Lynn Bodoni]

If you have the slightest suspicion that you're sensitive to wool, do not use it. Ever. No matter how much people praise it, it is easier to suffer their scorn than to suffer with itchy, itchy, itchy hands that can't do anything without itching.

Did I mention the itch? Let me make sure, then. Wool makes me itch. Trying to work with wool, even the very nicest wool, will make my hands and other body parts break out and itch.

[wunderkammer]

If he's ambitious, he can do a stitch sampler afghan.
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g161/twickster/crafty%20crap/2008afgahn01.jpg)

Agreed.

If you turn out to be a technique-oriented knitter (e.g. you get more excited about learning to do cables or colorwork or a new textured stitch than by the prospect of making a whole garment with said techniques), a sampler afghan is a great project, with lots of novelty for motivation.

The first knitting book I ever read was The Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book by Barbara Walker (http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Knit-Afghan-Book-Barbara-Walker/dp/0942018133/ref=pd_sim_b_3), and it was lots of fun. I didn't actually make the afghan, but it was very satisfying to try out new stitch patterns in small, non-boring portions and to become confident manipulating my stitches in complicated ways.

Oh, and to continue on the knitted amigurumi tangent--take a look at the ridiculous things that you can aspire to. (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135&order=&section_id=&page=2)

[Cisco]

Oh, and to continue on the knitted amigurumi tangent--take a look at the ridiculous things that you can aspire to. (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135&order=&section_id=&page=2)
Those are cool, but they got nothing on one of the links posted upthread. Amigurumi transistors, piles of garbage, brains, toilet paper . . . :confused::D. And that's a small small sample.

[rocking chair]

you can knit a plastic bag out of plastic bags. i had some fun with that a bit ago. it went really fast.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/knitting/bag.shtml

[jsgoddess]

Lynn, is it possible you have a lanolin allergy? I do, and I have to be very careful about wool.

[Hello Again]

For things that go in circles crochet is a bit easier. Crochet works "stitch on stitch" knitting works "row on row/round on round" and working in a circle is a basic elementary skill. Most people's first crochet project that isn't a scarf, is a hat. With knitting, working in circles is not terribly difficult, but it's not a first-day skill.

BTW, most people "allergic to wool" are actually allergic to lanolin oils in it. Technically "wool" comes from sheep but people sometimes use the term inaccurately to cover all non-silk animal fibers. There are yarns, like Alpaca, that seem woolish but are hypoallergenic for the majority of people who are actually sensitive to the lanolin.

Great source: www.knitpicks.com

[aruvqan]

I am having a friend make me a shawl/poncho thingy to snuggle in around the house, and I want some seriously soft fluffy yarn, not over expensive and preferably natural or natural with small blend of synthetic.... any suggestions? I have some microfibre throws that are seriously soft and fluffy so that is the feel i sort of am going for =)

[jsgoddess]

I am having a friend make me a shawl/poncho thingy to snuggle in around the house, and I want some seriously soft fluffy yarn, not over expensive and preferably natural or natural with small blend of synthetic.... any suggestions? I have some microfibre throws that are seriously soft and fluffy so that is the feel i sort of am going for =)

Natural fibers are more expensive than synthetic fibers, often by an incredible amount. So, what do you mean by "not overly expensive"?

[Lynn Bodoni]

Lynn, is it possible you have a lanolin allergy? I do, and I have to be very careful about wool. I don't think so. I've used lotion with lanolin in it with no reaction. I've worn fiber from other animals, and had a reaction. So, I will stick to cotton and acrylic yarn, thanks.

By the way, I hate Hobby Lobby, but I love their house yarn called "I love this yarn", which is acrylic, made in Turkey, inexpensive, and is actually pretty good for acrylic yarn.

[Hello Again]

I am having a friend make me a shawl/poncho thingy to snuggle in around the house, and I want some seriously soft fluffy yarn, not over expensive and preferably natural or natural with small blend of synthetic.... any suggestions? I have some microfibre throws that are seriously soft and fluffy so that is the feel i sort of am going for =)

http://www.knitpicks.com/Crayon_YD5420121.html

Greatly resembles Lion "Homespun" but made of 100% cotton. Note that their standard 50g skein is smaller than you're used to buying at the craft store, by 50% if not more.

[amarinth]

http://www.knitpicks.com/Crayon_YD5420121.html

Greatly resembles Lion "Homespun" but made of 100% cotton. Note that their standard 50g skein is smaller than you're used to buying at the craft store, by 50% if not more.And just to compare Homespun (http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/homespun.htm). (The sweater mentioned in my first post in this thread - that was Homespun.)

[Lynn Bodoni]

http://www.knitpicks.com/Crayon_YD5420121.html

Greatly resembles Lion "Homespun" but made of 100% cotton. Note that their standard 50g skein is smaller than you're used to buying at the craft store, by 50% if not more. I DO NOT NEED more yarn. I do not need more yarn. I do not need more yarn. I should use up what I've got first.

I'm not convincing myself, and you are a Bad Person to lead me into temptation like this.

[aruvqan]

Natural fibers are more expensive than synthetic fibers, often by an incredible amount. So, what do you mean by "not overly expensive"?

I could see paying something like $5US for a 50gm ball, but I have seen $20 and $30 50 gm balls .... I can buy myself a freaking alpaca for that much, and drop spin my own damn yarn [oddly enough I am quite good at drop spinning, I just suck when it comes to knitting and crocheting] and I think a poncho will take 10 balls of yarn from what I remember her mentioning.

[aruvqan]

http://www.knitpicks.com/Crayon_YD5420121.html

Greatly resembles Lion "Homespun" but made of 100% cotton. Note that their standard 50g skein is smaller than you're used to buying at the craft store, by 50% if not more.

oooo the imperial purple is phenomenal ..

[jsgoddess]

I think this yarn (http://www.elann.com/productdisp.asp?NAME=Needful+Yarns+Santa+Ana+Full+Bag+Sale&Season=&Company=&Cat=Bargains&ProductType=5&OrderBy=+Order+By+Bargain+Desc&Count=1) looks nice and soft, and for a great price (12 dollars for 10 balls, nylon/wool).

And then this one (http://www.elann.com/productdisp.asp?NAME=elann.com+Peruvian+Cuzco+Full+Bag+Blowout+Sale&Season=&Company=&Cat=Bargains&ProductType=5&OrderBy=+Order+By+Bargain+Desc&Count=5) is alpaca. I love alpaca. I love alpacas! They're adorable. 32 dollars for 10 balls.

[jsgoddess]

And I bought a ball of this lovely soft pink cotton bulky (http://cgi.ebay.com/Pastel-Pink-Bulky-550-Homespun-Soft-Center-Pull-Ball_W0QQitemZ390047778853QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad0a8c825&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14) from an ebay seller. It's gorgeous.

[Shirley Ujest]

I love Knitting Help, too. The instructional videos were awesome when I first started knitting - I'm self-taught, and the pictures in instructional books aren't always the easiest things to decipher, especially if you don't know what you're doing yet.

Every one of the hand drawn instructions for knitting LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME TO ME and I have begun to suspect that the knitting companies do this on purpose because THEY HATE YOU!

That is just my opinion.

[Shirley Ujest]

I DO NOT NEED more yarn. I do not need more yarn. I do not need more yarn. I should use up what I've got first.

I'm not convincing myself, and you are a Bad Person to lead me into temptation like this.






You need more yarn.

[Shirley Ujest]

Oh, and to continue on the knitted amigurumi tangent--take a look at the ridiculous things that you can aspire to. (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5162135&order=&section_id=&page=2)

I have long wanted to knit the loch ness monster (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28421116&ref=sr_gallery_5&&ga_search_query=loch+ness+monster&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title)....but on a REALLY HUGE ASS LARGER THAN LIFE SCALE.

WHY? Because I am not normal.

Will this burning desire ever take place? Fat chance.

[Idlewild]

If you knit with lace weight you can get a gigantic cone of yarn for a small amount of money and it goes on forever and ever and ever. Or it seems that way. I may be prejudiced, I still haven't finished a project on anything smaller than fives, though I'm halfway through a thing on threes.

I am sensitive to animal fibers. Fortunately there's plenty of yarn out there that comes from plants in various ways, in addition to the marvelous synthetics. I like cotton/synthetic blends for some things, too. But the fancy ones are definitely not an more of a budget option than 100% natural fiber. The most expensive project I knit was in a cotton/acrylic blend.

[Eureka]

Laceweight scares me. Fingering weight is ok, and I've knit a sock on zeros. (Yes, just one. The mate was cast on, but needs frogging, because it's an illusion knit striped sock, and I like the dominate color of the first one better as the toe rather than the dominant color of the second one. I'll get there someday, maybe by the time the snow flies. But since I want Swallowtail done by early September, guess where my knitting time goes right now).

[Lynn Bodoni]

You need more yarn. You are a Bad Person too. I do not need more yarn. I have more yarn in my stash than I can expect to knit in my lifetime. I have so much yarn, in fact, that my daughter goes through it on occasion and appropriates some of it, and I wouldn't know about this unless she told me.

No. I do not need more yarn.

I need more time. And less arthritis.

[Shirley Ujest]

YOu could donate your stash so you could go and buy more stash.


(No one is ever cranky in the yarn aisle.)

[jsgoddess]

YOu could donate your stash so you could go and buy more stash.


(No one is ever cranky in the yarn aisle.)

You've never been in the yarn aisle with me, furious because I can't afford every color and style of bamboo. :D

[Arien]

Well, and plotting for lace shawls has shown me I don't really want to think about how many stitches are involved in socks . . . 3915 down, only 15324 to go. Oh, and nupps. I'm ignoring the nupps. (Swallowtail, in case someone knowledgeable is wondering).
I made the Swallowtail and I unraveled the lily of the valley border 3 times before finally deciding to ignore the nupps. Once I made that decision it went very quickly. The nupps are pretty but they weren't worth the headache for me.
Here are some not so great photos: border minus nupps (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/fizzingsparks/IMGP0292640x480.jpg), view of the shawl blocking (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/fizzingsparks/IMGP0291640x480.jpg). I did it in the recommended Misty Alpaca, same color even. I probably could have blocked it bigger.

I would definitely want to knit a bigger shawl in the future. Laceweight yarn is great because it lasts forever and you don't need a lot of it to complete a big project, so you can buy something decent. My next goal is to make a sweater, I hesitate because I don't want to spend a ton on yarn and then have a crappy sweater. I might do the Central Park Hoodie (http://cphkal.blogspot.com/), it looks nice and warm and not too difficult or boring. I also really like the Tangled Yoke Cardigan (http://www.interweaveknits.com/galleries/bonus/fall2007/jang.asp), look at that cable!

[Risha]

I save a lot of money by not being willing to buy my yarn online. Since I can't touch it, I can't be seduced by the links further up the page. Wool, acrylic blend, plant fiber - all are good as long as they are consistently not irritating after an extended knitting session, and I can't tell that from a picture. I'm so tactile that I'm constantly touching clothing as I'm shopping for that, too, but I can still order it online since it's not moving through my hands for hours on end.

Now if I can just stop stopping projects halfway through...

[tiltypig]

As everyone else has mentioned, you can spend very little or lots and lots on yarn, depending on your shopping habits. If you go to a discount site like knitpicks.com, the closeout section of yarn.com, littleknits.com, elann.com, or dizzysheep.com you can use lovely natural fibers on a very affordable budget. I tend to shop at these cheap-o sites and bargain hunt, so my cost estimates are somewhat lower than some of the others given on this thread:

time/money/skill: (the times are very approximate and based on knitting a few hours a day; I never keep track, and thick yarn is faster to knit than thin yarn)
-a solid color beanie: 2-3 evenings, $5-10, very easy
-a patterned beanie: 1 week, $7-15, moderate
-a pair of thick winter socks: 1 week, $20, moderate
-a solid afghan (size huge; I'm 6'4 and like my blankets a lot bigger than me): a couple of months, $150, easy
-a patterned afghan (ditto): a few months, $150, moderate
-a patterned sweater: a month or two, $60, moderate to hard (I budget maybe $30 for sweaters, but I am much smaller than 6'4"). If you do a project that involves doing steeks aka cutting your knitting, this will be more on the "hard" end of the skill scale--if you do a project with horizontal stripes, it will be much easier
-amigurumi: 1 week, maybe $10 for enough yarn to last you for several projects (since small amounts of a few different colors are usually needed); easy to hard depending on the pattern
-baby beanies/socks/bibs: 1-2 evenings, $5-10 which might give you enough yarn for a couple of projects; easy

[adhemar]

If you have the slightest suspicion that you're sensitive to wool, do not use it. Ever. No matter how much people praise it, it is easier to suffer their scorn than to suffer with itchy, itchy, itchy hands that can't do anything without itching.

Did I mention the itch? Let me make sure, then. Wool makes me itch. Trying to work with wool, even the very nicest wool, will make my hands and other body parts break out and itch.

Some people are truly allergic to wool, sounds like you are Lynn. Most people are not, they are reacting to the harshness caused by the processing done to chemically remove the trash from a fleece. It makes even the softest wool (merino) prickly. And when each of those little prickles stab you your body reacts with a little welt that then itches.

Lynn, you maybe could try some handspun yarn to see if it still causes you to itch. I often tell people who say they are allergic to take a little piece of my wool or yarn and tuck it in thier sleeve, bra, waistband, sock and see if causes problems. Most of them it doesn't, some it does. If you are allergic that is sad because wool is really really nice when it isn't chemically processed.

Cisco, once you learn to knit and/or crochet you can learn to spin your own yarn so you can get exactly what you want. ;)

[adhemar]

oh and be careful with the "new" fibers like bamboo some of them are very flammable and therefore unsuitable for some uses.

[Cisco]

So you pretty much have to learn how to cast-on in person or on video, huh?

I crocheted with a friend yesterday (the knitting class was cancelled) and brought a book my wife has on knitting and some knitting needles with me. I tried for 5 or 10 minutes and then gave up in frustration and passed it to my friend. She did pretty much the exact same thing.

I got home and told my wife what happened and asked her if she learned how to knit from this book. Now my wife is a master at following directions so I took it on assumption that she was going to say yes. She said, "hell no. I did exactly what you two did."

The book literally says things like "go over and under the left needle with the right needle . . . " and the drawings all look like someone holding a ball of spaghetti.

[amarinth]

So you pretty much have to learn how to cast-on in person or on video, huh?I learned from a book. This one, to be exact (http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-COMPLETE-GUIDE-NEEDLEWORK/dp/B00162IFN0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249280625&sr=8-2). And I'd highly recommend it.
I've also heard excellent things about Vogue Knitting (http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-COMPLETE-GUIDE-NEEDLEWORK/dp/B00162IFN0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249280625&sr=8-2).

But learning from a person might be easier.

[Cisco]

I learned from a book. This one, to be exact (http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-COMPLETE-GUIDE-NEEDLEWORK/dp/B00162IFN0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249280625&sr=8-2). And I'd highly recommend it.
I've also heard excellent things about Vogue Knitting (http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-COMPLETE-GUIDE-NEEDLEWORK/dp/B00162IFN0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249280625&sr=8-2).

But learning from a person might be easier.
Awesome, that looks like a really cool book. I'll check it out.

By the way, your two links are the same.

[amarinth]

Awesome, that looks like a really cool book. I'll check it out.

By the way, your two links are the same. :smack:
http://www.amazon.com/Vogue-Knitting-Ultimate-Book/dp/193154316X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249281508&sr=8-1

[Lynn Bodoni]

So you pretty much have to learn how to cast-on in person or on video, huh? I learned from a book. However, I find it very easy to learn things from books, usually it's much easier for me to learn that way than by sitting in class. Obviously, YMMV. Once you get the hang of casting on, you will probably always remember. It only looks complicated at first, I promise it will become easy.

[Eureka]

I made the Swallowtail and I unraveled the lily of the valley border 3 times before finally deciding to ignore the nupps. Once I made that decision it went very quickly. The nupps are pretty but they weren't worth the headache for me.


Technically, when I said I was ignoring the nupps, I meant that I was pretending they don't exist for the purpose of calculating how many stitches were left, rather than intending to leave them out. The plan now, which may not have been the plan the day I wrote that post (I'm too lazy to check the date stamp) is to use beads in place of the nupps. I've got the beads, I just need to knit one more pattern repeat of the Budding Lace. Which makes me both nervous, excited and bored (I'm not usually a monogamous knitter but I've been knitting only Swallowtail since last Wednesday. Plus, my latest row contained 183 stitches--13 repeats of the pattern on each side, plus a few stitches on the edge and center. I'm ready to move on).


RE: the knitting a bigger shawl issue: I've already got plans. I'm knitting Shipwreck (from Knitty) (sorry, I'm too lazy to link today) starting in September. Got the yarn (three skeins sock yarn), the beads, and some of the needles. Need to buy more needles before September. And finish Swallowtail, so I don't have two shawls on the needles at the same time.

[jacquilynne]

It was easier for me to picture knitting properly when someone showed me. But I also have a little pamphlet that was meant for children that explains long tail cast on pretty clearly. If you'd like it, PM me your address.

[Elysium]

For learning cast on I learned from Single Cast On from the video at knittinghelp.com:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on

and I then learned Long Tail from the TechKnitter, here:
http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-best-to-cast-on-long-tail-method.html

I taught myself the basics of casting on, casting off, knit and purl stitches from knittinghelp. I definitely needed to see those videos to get the basics. I often reference her glossary when I am unsure what a pattern is asking me to do, and it's been invaluable!

Techknitter's diagrams and descriptions are the best for learning from pictures.

[badbadrubberpiggy]

Every one of the hand drawn instructions for knitting LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME TO ME and I have begun to suspect that the knitting companies do this on purpose because THEY HATE YOU!

That is just my opinion.

And I completely agree!

For the longest time I thought I was stupid because I couldn't figure out stitches beyond knitting & purling - and it turns out I was knitting through the back loop the whole time, which explained guage issues I was having, anyway! :D

[badbadrubberpiggy]

And some random stuff:
If want to try some lace, but charts seem intimidating:
Branching Out (http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html). It has the instructions written out and also includes the chart, so you can either one. Now that I understand charts, I do find they far easier to follow than long, written instructions, but it can be confusing if you've never done it before. Also, once you learn how to read charts, the world of cables opens up - they're way easier than they look.

For socks:
Silver's Sock Tutorial (http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/SockClass_Start.htm)
Again, it explains everything, and includes pictures that are actually clear & make sense, as well as great instructions for grafting, which a lot of people hate doing.