[RUSTYME]

Last night i tried to do a bit of rib .
Oops ! Didn't work lol .
Not really sure where it went wrong , but i think it was me not feeding the yarn from the correct place , ie front or back .
I ended up with a criss cross pattern of stitches on the needle .
Undid it all again , and cast on afresh .
Didn't get to it again until tonight and now have 1 1/2" knitted again .
Still doing stocking stitch which is getting to look quite neat now , well for me it is .
I will have to sort out how i hold the right hand needle , and how i place the yarn around the needle , but one step at a time lol .
Although i am learning , i find it very calming and enjoyable , even when i cock it up and end up at the start again .

[Ina]

I find knitting very therapeutic, too...

Now where's that pair of socks that need finishing? 

Btw, I always have problems with the finishing of garments. Whereas it's enjoyable and calming to knit, the making up and sewing together and stitching up the bits hanging off the back is just annoying. Which is why I tend to make jumpers in true Guernsey style these days - all knitted in one, no seams, nothing to sew together at the end! Or raglan knitted from the top, which comes to the same.

[ellied]

Well I think mine has to come out again, to be honest the chances of me getting to row 6 again are pretty slim let alone with all the right stitches, and row 21 by Tuesday is just not going to happen, but I can't seem to get even the basics each time, brain and hands both rubbish let alone their chances of working together..

Think I have a headache coming on or another plan for Tuesday morning anyway   I've a lovely ball of sock wool that cost me nearly a tenner and these orange plastic loops were another 3 quid, I'd never pay 13 pound for a scarf anyway, best get back to pulling up weeds and let the experts get on with their skills   I'm just not getting it at all - 6 rows of 6-15 stitches,  you wouldn't think it rocket science but apparently it's beyond my level anyway!

[Bionic]

Oh ellied, it would be such a shame to give up. Go on Tuesday and explain that you are having problems.  Everyone learns at a different pace. If the group is any good they will be patient with you and you can start again.
Perhaps you are being too ambitious with a shawl to start with. It might sound easy but increasing stitches is not that simple. You may be better to start with a set amount of stitches and just do a few rows of that, no increases and no decreases. Use an old cheap ball of wool to have a practice on.
Good luck

[RUSTYME]

Ellie , that's why i did the 30 stitches of just knit  at first . Long enough to get into it , remember what i am doing each stitch , but short enough no to get too much .
That way i get to understand what i am doing and can try to adjust faults , TRY !
I then changed to purl , it all went wrong , it looked like a ploughed field , however , i kept going trying to cure the problem , tension i think . I then did a row of each and it looked ok .
I then tried to do rib , ha ha , forget that for a bit . So went back to stocking stitch and try to sort out the tension thing and how i hold the rh needle etc .
I would get into such a pickle if i attempted to follow any form of pattern atm .
Keep at it , keep it simple , the penny will drop .  Just reading what you are doing befudles my head . Good luck , keep going .
Yes the fiddly bits will do my head in too Ina , i am not good at fiddly !
Square blocky garments would do me fine  , going back in time most garments were like that anyway .
Having worked on a knitting machine for 3 years tought me to increase and decrease and see what i was doing  and understand the technique , although it was 30 years ago .
So i won't mind shaping panels really , will just have to get my hands to do what my brain tells them . The head injury buggered that process up , had to re learn how to do everything .
Trying to knit needs new movements that i have to work out how to do .
That's why i do the repetitive action thing until i find the route in my brain  that will control my hands . 
I must have done 2 rows of knit , or purl , as right and wrong sides have changed , lol .
That is going to be a very big problem for me , remembering what sthtch i just did in the last row , or even just the  last stitch . How many rows i have done will also be a problem , my memory is like a plate of spaghetti , all over the place .
But , i will work out a way .
I will do some more stocking stitch , then have a go at rib again , then increase and decrease . I will then be ready to make an item !

[Bionic]

Russ,
very few of us can remember exactly what we have done. Have you heard of a thing called a row tally? It slips onto the end of the needle and you advance it each time you complete a row. Failing that you could write down at the end of each row. It doesn't matter with what you are doing now but it might help when you come to make your jumper. 

[waddy]

Hi Russ!
With stocking stitch if you are just about to start a row with the flatter looking side facing you that row should be knit. If the side facing you has rows of horizontal loops that should be purl.


Good luck and keep at it!


 
Helen

[Ina]

An easy project for starters would be a headband; I don't wear hats, either (too much heat on top), but wear a headband when it gets really cold, to keep the ears warm. (Steam comes off at the top!) There's two easy ways to make them: just knit a band 2-3 inches wide in garter stitch until it's long enough to sew together around your head (that's the easiest method). The next step up is good practice for working in the round: cast on enough for around the head and work 2-3 inches in rib, either on 4 needles or on a circular needle. Voila! Stylish headgear...

[RUSTYME]

Rib ? 4 fkn needles ? I don't know what to do with 2 ! lol .
Could have a go at the knit a belt way , but would never wear it .
I think my first 'item' will be a pocket .
They come in handy , and i never have enough , and i can knit squares ok .

[Dogwalker]

I find pencil and paper the easiest way to keep track of how many rows etc.
If you want a row counter to fit on the needles I can send you one, I found a spare the other day but it's remembering to turn it each time.

Stick with it, you're doing really well and obviously enjoying learning.

Ellie, it sounds like you need someone to sit with you and show you and get you over the first hurdle. 
Don't give up it'll suddenly click and you'll wonder why it seemed so hard.

[RUSTYME]

Lol , yes , remembering to turn the counter would be the bugger , or thinking " did i turn it ?" .
Once i get the hang of things working out what stitch or row i just did , may get easier , i shant hold my breath though .

[Lesley Silvester]

I gave up with row counters for that reason. I use paper and pen now and try to remember to jot each one down.


Russ, I knit with five needles sometimes but it's not something that a beginner should try. I've knitted for more years than I care to remember (close on 40) and I've only just got to grips with knitting in the round with several needles. It's easier on a circular needle but you do need to get to grips with the two first. Sounds like you are doing really well.


Ellie, sorry you are having problems. I checked where you live but you are too far from me or I would have gladly sat with you and watched you knitting to give you some pointers. There must be someone who can do that.

[ellied]

Update - I took Bionic's advice and after sitting at home getting to row 6 for the 18th time and ripping it all out again, I decided to go to the group and find out what I am doing wrong.  By process of elimination it seems a couple of things are happening.  The main one seems to be the yarnover between a knit and purl section on the same row, I am sometimes having to lay the yarn over the needle and no more, while another time I have to wrap it round 1.5 times, once for yarnover and once to change from knit to purl.  I was doing something different to both, apparently..  The pattern has 2 knit stitches at both ends of all rows and 2 in the middle between 2 markers, the rest alternate knit and purl rows and some have yarnovers at each end and some also near the middle section. 

It makes holes, intentional ones that is, with a firmer edge.  Oh and I thought I was knitting from one shallow end through deep back to shallow, turns out I am knitting from the lowest point that drapes on the back, up the middle to the nape, and the stretching is long and shallow not huge and thin..  AND the woman that loaned me the pattern brought in her finished one so I could see it, so just as well I showed up!

I have sat there until my back, arms and hands are twisted solid in a hunch position , and I have 20 completed rows, with a few errors, some of which were corrected by someone else, some possibly corrected or dropped and ignored by myself, and probably a few still present but I don't care, I'm not ripping it again right now.

Same lady has found a possibly easier shawl pattern and is going to copy that for me, one that does start at the thin end at the front and you knit along the length rather than the width of it.  But I'm going to bash on with this for the time being.

Row 21 is too scary to contemplate alone, it involves SSK and K2tog and I'm sure I've done both unintentionally but not by design in among other things.  So I'm leaving well alone and heading back to the woodturning workshop on Friday to get a bit of balance in my crafting efforts and the loads on my muscles!

Thanks for the encouragement.   

[Dogwalker]

Well done for going back and persevering.  It does sound quite tricky for a first project.
Hopefully now you understand better what your knitting you'll be able to get to grips with the actual doing.

Woodturning definitely uses different muscles but I don't think it's any less frustrating to learn/
I've had a long break from doing any and when I eventually do get back to it I'll have to start learning from scratch again.

Well done.

[SallyintNorth]

Well done Ellie!

Did they show you how to make a 'lifeline'?  Now that you have one section complete and are about to start the next, I'd run a lifeline through the stitches on the pins now, so you have somewhere secure to rip back to if the next section goes wrong