More knitting talk - new projects that are not scarves!

[castalia]

I have been knitting a LOT lately. It's a nice way to pass the time when I'm subbing, and very relaxing. I spent much of the day on Monday knitting with shanola22's mother while my car was being fixed, and have met fellow knitter firiel44 through another friend, so now I have others to sit and learn with.

Not surprisingly, the first new thing-not-a-scarf project I chose was a tea cozy. Specifially, the Lily Sugar'n Cream Tea Cozy for a small teapot, as posted at Michaels.com.

Lesson learned right off the bat: use the right yarn. I had a cheap ball of Hobby Lobby brand yarn I wanted to use (one of the Icelandic Jewels yarns), b/c I really loved the colors, but it was all wrong for this project. It's not horrible, and it does fit one of my mother's teapots, but it doesn't show off the cables very well and doesn't close properly at the top. Plus the knitting got really tight towards the end and I was fighting with the tension the entire time. I also made a newbie mistake and didn't count the number of alternating rows I knitted to get the three inches you need before the decreases start. Thus, even though I measured it, one piece ended up being a little longer than the other, and when seamed together it was a bit wonky.

The much better second try:



Yarn used: Lily Sugar'n Cream in the country sage ombre, little less than one 2 ounce ball.
Needles: US size 7
New skills learned: Purl stitch. Crochet for the little loop at the top. Also, cables! I googled to find out how to Tw2R, which was a bit confusing at first but easy once I got the hang of it. It wasn't too difficult, but very time consuming, as it was hard juggling that extra needle. I didn't have any cable needles, so I just used a duplicate size 7 straight needle.

I thought this was a fun little project and a way to learn new things without overwhelming myself. Once I used the right yarn it went very smoothly and this time I made sure to keep notes about how many rows I was doing in the alternating pattern. I doubt this will be an ultra-warm tea cozy, unless I go back and line it or something, but it's cute and will serve its purpose for such a small two-cup teapot.

Right now I'm working on some dishcloths to give to my mother and grandmother, mostly to give them something useful and also to practice knitting in patterns. Now that I'm used to working with cotton, I really like using it, and the Sugar'n Cream and Peaches'n Cream brands are nice and cheap with some pretty colors. I'm all about cheap thanks to the student loan.

Pattern: Free pattern from Lion Brand website
Yarn: Lily Sugar'n Cream, country sage ombre
Needles: US size 7



Very basic but I was pleased with the end result. Such a useful way to practice new stitches and patterns.

Next/current projects: My so-called scarf and the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. Both of these have been lessons in Choosing the Right Yarn. Oy.

Comments

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

So you think the So-Called Scarf really was just a yarn problem? I tried it as a dishcloth a learned that a) it is much to tight to do a garter stitch border that looks like anything decent, and b) doing only the purl row makes it just as iron-clad, but with no curling and no annoying slip-over stitches, which are too much like the hated binding off.

Pretty cozy! I'll have to try that so I can have one that actually fits my pot. OTOH, I think I'm going to modify the other pattern into a hat pattern (on purpose this time). ;-)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I think it's totally a yarn problem. All the ones others have posted have been in the recommended yarn, and that looks just as thick (http://community.livejournal.com/knitting/8967029.html#cutid1) and bulky as my second try with the bulkier Hobby Lobby stuff. I think it'll knit up nicely in that, but anything thinner than bulky weight is going to look like a rug.

I've frogged the blue stuff and am using it for the multidirectional scarf instead, and OMG, you wouldn't believe the difference it makes. What was scratchy and rug-like before is now soft and pretty and the colorway is so well suited to this pattern. I can't wait to post a finished picture of it.

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see the multidirectional. Is it pretty easy? It looks like a lot of instructions, but maybe I'm just lazy. I'm too embroiled in this green basketweave scarf to think about casting on anything else. Except those times when I really want to...

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

It's really very easy once you get going. For me, it was learning how to do the short rows - the pattern just assumes the knitter already knows what that is, so I had to go looking for a tutorial about it. But once I got the hang of that, it's all the same short rows repeated for each triangle until it's as long as you want. I think I'm about halfway done, but I'm thrilled at how the colorwork is coming.

How's your basketweave scarf coming? You must be well on your way to finishing by now.

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

Heh. The basketweave would be coming along nicely if I would quit puttering around other places and sit down and knit. I've had to go to Knoxville two nights this week for work, so while I'm there I've been loafing around Borders and similar places. Not so good for my row-per-day quota. (I set one to make sure it's done by Thanksgiving. At least 1.5 days behind now.)

I've played with short rows to see if turning the heel of a sock was as easy as people said (it was) and the Calorimetry is the same thing minus the wrapping (though I'll wrap anyway if I make another) so I think I have that figured out. Maybe after New Year's I can try it.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Cool, I look forward to seeing what yarn you choose for it. I keep wanting to start all kinds of new projects before finishing one, so I really need to refrain from doing that and just finish this first.

I was bad today and bought a bunch of stuff from our A.C. Moore, too. All their yarn is down to 50% off, and although most of the good stuff is gone by now, I did get some nice things for cheap.

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

I do too! I'm not completely tired of this basketweave, even though being on a deadline takes some of the fun out of it, but I really want to try making an Indestructible Dishcloth with the So-Called Scarf pattern. And I want to start on my nieces' shawls, and mom's wrap... aargh!

And now you tempt me with yarn sales. I really should stay home this weekend and use up what I have, since next weekend is a wedding and possibly hanging out with Lawyerboy. Also need to make the flat presentable so I don't come home after Thanksgiving to a disaster, which will only be exacerbated by then putting up a tree. Who said it could be November already?

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Too many projects! I couldn't help it today and used some of the yarn I bought yesterday to start the Danica scarf. I'm gonna try it with the Paton's SWS, as I saw someone else do it with that yarn and it turned out great, the self-striping really correlating to the entrelac blocks. And at 50%, it's worth a try :)

I do like the idea of an Indestructible Dishcloth. I'm tempted to try it with some of the Sugar'n Cream I have.

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

We have no willpower. I cast on for the cozy hat (intended to be a hat this time), but the circs I need are tied up with the basketweave, so I can't seriously start it until that's done. I could switch the scarf to straights, but I like these Knitpicks needles so much.

I keep using the *ahem* learning experience of my attempt at a so-called dishcloth to swatch different ways of doing that. I'll save frogging it until you've seen how the different variations look. Oh, and this Knitty article (http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter02/FEATdiyknitter.html) says you can block the curl out of stockinette if you're stubborn enough. Good to know for a scarf, though probably useless for a scrubby.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

OMG, I so regret starting the Danica. I have spent all day and have frogged so many times it's not even funny. I've spent hours on google, and everyone I find who's knitted it says the instructions are oh-so-clear-and-easy, but only now have I discovered how to do the first three triangles without screwing it up. It's all short rows again, but this time without wraps, and there's nothing in the pattern that tells you not to do the wraps. I kept ending up with this strange extra stitch that seemed so out of place, and it was all b/c of the damned wraps. I switched to some cotton so I wouldn't ruin my new Paton's SWS, and it seems to be going better, but next I have to figure out how to pick up stitches. I'm ready to chuck the whole thing in the bin. ARGH.

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

Huh? I'd think you should wrap to give those stitches more stability since they're hanging out all alone there. If I do a Calorimetry again, I'm going to sort out wrapping those to make the "buttonholes" stronger.

Though, looking again at the pics with the Danica pattern, I think I won't try that one. I am firmly of the opinion that scarves shouldn't have a "wrong" side. You should be able to throw it on and go without fretting over it like you're about to do a modeling shoot. < /opinionated> I think I'll try a garterlac dishcloth (http://criminyjickets.blogspot.com/2006/07/garterlac-dishcloth.html) and see how that goes, then maybe move on to scarves.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I know! Everything I keep seeing says just to trust the pattern, but to be fair, the pattern didn't specify not to do wraps - it assumes you've already done entrelac and would know there are no wraps. But it took me ages to find a tutorial on entrelac that didn't say to wrap when you turn. I've got it now, but next is picking up, and I really hope I do it right. I'm going to keep practicing on the cotton until I do it right, b/c my pretty soy wool is going to suffer otherwise.

I've seen a lot of people adding a backing to the Danica so the wrong side won't show. B/c yeah, it's kinda ugly. I'll bet some soft felt or something would do nicely and take away from that distracting wrong side.

A dishcloth for this technique is a good idea! I should have done that first, but I got cocky and wanted to jump right in. Whoops. :)

[firiel44.livejournal.com]

When we have these things figured out, we should write a book for beginners of things They don't tell you. Between us, we've probably already spent about a week's worth of time Googling for answers on really simple stuff that books and tutorials don't mention, but noobs don't have a clue about.

This Plymouth Encore is nice to work with when you're just knitting, but if you have to back up and re-do, it starts to get splitty. Next time I need a wool blend I think I'll try Patons or Lion to see if they are any better. If not, it's the same stuff with the same problem but it costs less.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Surely a book like this exists somewhere? I don't have any books yet, so I'm not actually sure what they might or might not explain, but I do wonder if Knitting For Dummies or something like that might have better explanations of common mistakes or overlooked instructions. If not, someone certainly should write one.

Sadly, the Patons does indeed split a bit in places, or just get loose and not as pretty to knit with. I don't think it will spoil the overall effect of the yarn, but it makes it harder to handle than I'm used to.

[oxbastetxo.livejournal.com]

Adorable cozy!! Hee! My two fetishes...tea and yarn. :-D

You should do NaCraftProMo!!! :-D

I wanted to break 20,000 stitches today, but just too tired. Oh well. :-)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Heh, me too. It seemed appropriate for me to combine my love of tea and my newfound hobby.

I keep meaning to keep track for that! I'm not sure I could count my stitches at this point, though - I'm not all that good at counting rows yet.

[semielliptical]

I think the tea cozy is cute!

I'm almost done with my 3rd multi-directional diagonal scarf. I like knitting it because it's easy but not completely boring.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Cool! What yarn did you use for yours?

[semielliptical]

I used a wool blend yarn I had bought from a local spinner. The yarn is multicolored, but not striped, so it doesn't look as interesting as the ones I've seen made from striped or variegated yarns. (Scarf photo!)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

That's pretty! It might not stripe, but it totally works for the pattern. Mine's just variegated, so it's not stripes per se, but so far I'm liking the color changes.