[Ina]

Now this is a project for the future! Just found it on the BBC website for NE Scotland:

Aberdeen bride knits her own wool wedding dress

(Sorry, won't let me post link.)

I'll be in town on Sunday - have to have a look at that! 

Well, Russ - I know you won't knit a wedding dress - but maybe a suit for all those occasions? 

[RUSTYME]

I have a straw hat , to keep the sun off my head , but can't wear it walking to the land as it is like wearing a mobile shower on my head , i end up soaked in sweat , all hats do that to me , and it is very uncomfortable , so i don't wear them Sally , lol .
A knitted suit ?
I could weave the material on a loom , after a bit of re learning , well a lot really , but knitted ? It would be ok until it rained ! Be like those knitted swimming trunks i had as a kid , ok till you go in the water , then they hang around your ankles ! , ok as a kid  of 5 , but  not a pretty site now .
I think i may just do jumpers and blankets Ina , not that i wear many jumpers either really . I have a few fleeces that get worn to death , but as i throw out all the plastic clothing , the real wool jumpers would get worn then .
A whole new , or old , problem arrises then , moths ! They don't touch acrylic , well haven't done here  , but go through wool like sunday lunch .
Nothing is ever easy is it ?
Still , half a dozen sheep plus offspring , (which will be kept for food until i want one , so they will be a year or more old before the chop . I don't like lamb much , prefer the meat older) , will give me enough wool for any jumpers i need each year  .  That is the theory anyway , practice will no doubt be different , but i cross bridges as i get to them .

[RUSTYME]

Rained off outside today , tipping down atm .
So grabbed my knitting !
OMG , purl stitch .
I have just done my first purl row , phew !
That slowed me up somewhat , lol . It was back to front compared to the knit row , bugger .
But saying that , it only took me 10 minutes , and that included losing the new stitch a few times . Managed to keep the one on the left needle though , so it just meant re creating a new stitch .
I think that the 'knit' stitch is easier to do , atm , but the 'purl' will no doubt get easier once i have done a few rows .
I'll do 10 purl , or as many as needed  until it feels as easy as the knit stitch , then do 1 row knit and one row purl .
I know i am not knitting an item atm , but i never would have believed i could actually create a knitted 'thing' in such a short time . I thought it was going to take weeks to achìeve anything .
Mind you , i am probably doing everything wrong , but it looks like knitting to me , and it stays together , with no holes  , so far !

[RUSTYME]

Spoke too soon .
Done a few purl rows now and i think i have a tension problem .
The knitting is very loose and the stitches look BIG .
It looks completely different to the knit rows . I will go through the pics for each action of creating a stitch as i do them , in case i am doing things wrong .
It has gone from looking like knitting , to looking like a string vest !

[Bionic]

Russ, if the holes look big and you think your tension is ok'ish then try a size smaller knitting needle.
When you actually get to make something for real you are always supposed to make a tension square first (I never do though). A pattern will tell you how many stitches and rows there should be for say a 6 inch square. If you come up with something different to that then you either need more or less stitches and smaller or larger needles. Every one knits to a different tension but some may be more different than others 

[Roxy]

Yes, Bionic is right, smaller needles.  Charity shops round here have all different needles, some enormous, and some so thin, I think they are to knit the shawl that you can thread through a wedding ring....although it would be a skinny shawl to fit in my wedding ring, its tiny!! 
 
Keep at it Russ, sounds like you are doing fine at the knitting

[RUSTYME]

I did about 10 rows of purl , the knitting looked completely different to the knit rows , but then i did a knit and then a purl  row and it is looking like knitting again . So will keep going with one of each and see how it goes .
I am using number 8 needles atm . Will stick with them for now as changing needles every row would do my head in atm lol .
The all 'knit' rows section looks like the thickness of  knitting i would want in a jumper , right thickness and stretchyness too . So having just stumbled on that , i will keep going and once i can actually knit , i will then try changing needle size etc and checking tension and measurement .
It has to be slowly slowly , catchy monkey with me , to much info at one go and my head will pop . 

[ellied]

Well I managed to row 6 again and it looks better than the first time, but there are a few mistakes so I'm not sure whether to continue or start again

So far I think I did the first two purl stitches winding the wool the wrong way, the next row I did them the other way and it worked out better so Ihope that's right because there are more purls in there but I honestly don't know which was wrong but if it's not 2 wrong, it's about 6 so 2 is best guess..

I also think I missed a yarnover at one point but I'm not sure, can't remember doing it but that doesn't mean I didn't.

I shifted a marker through where I thought it had moved itself, so hope I'm right but I did end the row with the 2 stitches left to do where it said knit 2.  And I worked out it says knit to marker or purl to marker because later stages repeat this row at points where the number of stitches is variable up and then back down.  But if it had said there should be 3 or 4 or 5 the first couple of times, it would have helped!

Still, getting to row 6 again is enough achievement for today, I daren't try again at this time of day, no chance of any mental focus now!

[RUSTYME]

Well done Ellie . No way could i follow a pattern atm , i am just knitting .
Get the hang of one stitch , then another , then go for other things one at a time . My brain wouldn't cope with it all at once , it would just go into meltdown . Got to feed the dogs , then will be back to k1 p1 and see how things are .
 

[Ina]

Be like those knitted swimming trunks i had as a kid , ok till you go in the water , then they hang around your ankles ! , ok as a kid  of 5 , but  not a pretty site now .

Oh gosh, I remember them... They were so embarrassing! 

[Bionic]

I also think I missed a yarnover at one point but I'm not sure, can't remember doing it but that doesn't mean I didn't.

ellied, as you get more experienced you will know what a yarnover looks like when you have done it so would be able to go back and check. At this stage it depends on whether you want everything to be exact or whether you are happy to get on with it even if a few bits are wrong. I think it depends on the sort of person you are. I know that if something goes wrong in mine I carry on but it 'worries' me to the extent that i eventually have to take it out again in the end. That means that I usually end up knitting quite a few rows, knowing there is something wrong, only to take it all back out again so I have wasted more time and effort than I would have if I had taken it out in the first place.
The choice is yours.

[RUSTYME]

I am now using inches to say how much i have done , 3" of knit one row and then purl one row , i lost count somewhere .
I think the purl row is still iffy , but mixed alternately with a knit row , it looks fine .
I will just keep going  as is for now , enjoying it , and it is getting easier to do and gradually looking tidier as well (maybe that is just me hoping though !) . 

[Dogwalker]

Hello Russ, sounds like you're getting on really well, it's difficult teaching yourself from pictures instead of someone showing you, so well done.

I think I used size 9 needles for the jumper I made with that wool, can't remember exactly but sounds about right.  Go by the feel of the finished knitting. 

This 'thing'  your making sounds like a neck warmer to me - about 5'' wide and a couple of foot long should tuck into the neck of a jacket to keep the wind out quite nicely.
When you want to start something else you could do a simple rectangles jumper,  If it's for working and not being seen by others much function is more important than fashion.  That's all most sweatshirts and fleeces are really.

[Lesley Silvester]

Well done, Russ. If you are doing one row knit and one row purl, it's called stocking stitch. Every row knit is garter stitch. I'm one of those who can knit and watch TV, knit and read, I even used to knit while I walked the dogs in my craft-worker days, but I would still say that purl is harder than knit.


RE the knitted swim wear. My dad, as a young man, went  swimming in the local baths wearing a pair of knitted swimming trunks. He dived in from the side of the pool and, as he hit the water, felt his trunks slide down his legs. He surfaced and looked round for them. There they were heading straight for the vent that sucked out water to be filtered and returned to the other end of the pool - the vent with the broken wire mesh covering. He reached the vent - swimming under water - just as the trunks disappeared into the tunnel then breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief when they got caught on  a broken bit of wire - one advantage of hand-knits is their ability to get caught on wires - grabbed them and managed to put them back on before he had to resurface. He then swam sedately to the side and carefully - very carefully - climbed out and went to get changed. He never wore them again.

[Ina]

 

Oh wonderful, Goatwoman... Thanks for giving me a good laugh!