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A friend has the Knitpicks yarn swift and winder. The winder feels fine, it's an ordinary plastic winder. The swift... it feels like it's made out of popsicle sticks. It has a really flimsy feel to me. She's never had a complaint about it though and she's a real yarn hog.
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Jul 12, 2012 07:46
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neongrey posted:A friend has the Knitpicks yarn swift and winder. The winder feels fine, it's an ordinary plastic winder. The swift... it feels like it's made out of popsicle sticks. It has a really flimsy feel to me. She's never had a complaint about it though and she's a real yarn hog. Came here to post exactly this. A friend of mine has them too, and said the same thing about the swift. She mostly works with sock weight yarns, so I have no idea how it would hold up to anything else. She does have a ton of yarn though, and she gets giddy about winding it so I guess as long as you don't treat it like crap it'll be fine.
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Jul 12, 2012 08:17
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I've had this swift on my wish list for a while; a friend bought a swift from this seller and is really happy with it.
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Jul 12, 2012 12:29
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Amelia Song posted:I've had this swift on my wish list for a while; a friend bought a swift from this seller and is really happy with it. I have that swift and I love it too. It doubles as a really fantastic faux niddy noddy when I'm winding off spinning and I love that I can fold it up and store it when I'm done.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:48
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Peppercat posted:Does anyone have one of the KnitPicks yarn swifts and ball winders? Since there aren't really any reviews on their website, I was wondering about the quality of both and if anyone has any comments on them. I have the ball winder and it's like everyone said.. a ball winder. The swift is the wooden one? I like that one better than the "metal and plastic" version that a lot of people have. It feels sturdier and doesn't squeak as much as the metal. I have both types right now, as my mom and husband didn't coordinate Christmas gift buying last year 
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Jul 12, 2012 18:32
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Wandering Knitter posted:Here's a question: Does anyone here own an automatic ball winder? My crochet teacher has been drooling over the idea for ages, but hasn't worked up the nerve to drop $100ish (50-60ish with coupon) on one. My LYS has one; it works pretty well. You really need a swift to use it with any efficiency, though. It's possible to do everything by hand, but you have to ratchet the speed way down. You have to do the same for handspun singles, and I feel that for handspun, at least, a manual one is a bit better. More control and you can ease up on tension better. On the other hand, it's really nice to keep both hands free when you're trying to wind something. I'm not sure how much I'd use one at home. But I'm also easy walking distance of my LYS and they're really chill about letting me borrow theirs to wind whatever I need to. If you're further from a shop and have a lot of skeins it might be worth it.
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Jul 12, 2012 20:27
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My experiences with knitting as a kid/teenager led me to believe that knitting is evil. And now I'm making a hat that requires the band to be knit. So like a good little slave, I went and bought a pair of circular needles. The plastic loop thing is too big around. I can't work with the needles effectively without some major finagling, which I very much lack the skills for. Is there anything I can do about this, or would I be better off crocheting a faux-ribbed hat band?
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Jul 13, 2012 04:34
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- Return your needles and get shorter circs - Return your needles and get DPNs - Look up magic loop and try that - Crochet because you like it better anyway
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Jul 13, 2012 06:52
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i like nice words
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Anne Whateley posted:- Look up magic loop and try that Thats what I did (I'm a crocheter and beginner/intermediate knitter too) while learning to knit tiny things in the round. It should help you get through.
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Jul 14, 2012 12:10
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I got a better pair of circs from the yarn shop (the first air were from walmart) and a quick knitting lesson from the owner. I've now got three of the eight rows of knitting finished and am not feeling quite so anti-knitting. Maybe I can get to like this two needle thing.
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Jul 14, 2012 20:33
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FelicityGS posted:I have that swift and I love it too. It doubles as a really fantastic faux niddy noddy when I'm winding off spinning and I love that I can fold it up and store it when I'm done. So with most swifts I know you clamp them onto a table edge or counter in order to keep them steady. How does that work with this type of swift?
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Jul 14, 2012 22:39
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I generally use mine on carpet, which helps a bit. I ended up putting some of those rubber foot stoppers for chairs on the bottom of the four base parts, and so it's incredibly steady and doesn't wiggle at all.
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Jul 14, 2012 23:45
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My LYS has a swift of that style, you can just plonk it down on a flat surface and it's fine really.
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Jul 14, 2012 23:47
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Sweet, I will probably grab a swift like that then! I'm super excited to not have to wind balls by hand!
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Jul 15, 2012 03:00
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Hey, I'm heading to Europe in Sept and I know we have some UK knitting goons here, so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any Must-See(/Must-Buy) yarn stores in Bradford/Leeds, London, Paris, Lyon or Amsterdam. I am so excited to touch strange, foreign wools!
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Jul 17, 2012 21:25
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Is anyone participating the Stephen West's mystery shawl 2012 Rockafeller?
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Jul 17, 2012 22:20
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neongrey posted:My LYS has a swift of that style, you can just plonk it down on a flat surface and it's fine really. My old knitting teacher has one too, and she actually attached it to the wall of her craft room. 
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Jul 17, 2012 22:23
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Yarn! posted:Is anyone participating the Stephen West's mystery shawl 2012 Rockafeller? Here's mine so far [first clue spoilers]: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/grimmissis/mystery-shawl-2012-rockefeller
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Jul 19, 2012 07:13
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Scooty Puff Jr. posted:Hey, I'm heading to Europe in Sept and I know we have some UK knitting goons here, so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any Must-See(/Must-Buy) yarn stores in Bradford/Leeds, London, Paris, Lyon or Amsterdam. I was recommended I knit which is in Waterloo in London. There is also John Lewis on Oxford Street which has a nice selection and Liberty which is just off of Regents Street. Also Loop is my heaven. I went a bit crazy in their last birthday and bought some of the most amazing lace weight merino wool in the most vivid blue. If you do go anywhere I really recommend Loop. They are closed on a Monday though. I have a friend who lives in Leeds so I will ask her if there are any must see yarn shops in Leeds. Also for myself, I'm finishing off a shawl this week. What generally is the best cast off for shawls? Also, what do people find the best way of blocking synthetic fibres? I've used a blend of acrylic and wool, (75 and 25% respectively).
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Jul 20, 2012 20:35
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Woah! Loop looks like it has an amazing selection! (On their website, at least) Hopefully I will make it there. I need to work on convincing my fiance that yarn stores are a very important part of sightseeing...
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Jul 20, 2012 23:20
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Somehow my planned Mr. Celery ended up being a Hula Celery instead. I guess it's on vacation: I mean, I also have a couple of Real Grownup projects in hand, with some lovely local yarns and some Malabrigo, but...I get distracted with making little critters. I have some ridiculously tacky little novelty-yarn monsters in progress too.
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Jul 20, 2012 23:47
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The very nice owner of my local yarn shop showed me how to cast on with the alpaca yarn I got for washing the store windows. Now that I can actually wrap my head around this stuff, it's a lot better than I thought it was, though I still find knitting to be interminably slow. I'm making a sampler scarf for my boyfriend to test out patterns and see what I like making and to get used to actually counting stitches. I'll get pictures eventually. My camera is currently in St Petersburg, so photos are a bit of a hassle.
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Jul 22, 2012 07:14
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So I'm trying to make this: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTsheldon.html and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to connect two pieces using the applied i-cord. It seems so cumbersome and keeps getting all twisted weird and I just don't get the directions, even though THOUSANDS of people on Ravelry figured it out. I'd toss him in the trash if he didn't already have eyes that are looking at me (I'm ruined for life by the stupid Velveteen Rabbit).
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Jul 25, 2012 03:48
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I feel your pain, HeatherChandler. I'm planning to start knitting Mythos, and am totally not getting how the front and back halves are created from the sleeve. I see the cast on, but it doesn't say how or where or anything. I'm thoroughly confused. Can anyone help?
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Jul 26, 2012 18:46
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HeatherChandler posted:So I'm trying to make this: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTsheldon.html and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to connect two pieces using the applied i-cord. It seems so cumbersome and keeps getting all twisted weird and I just don't get the directions, even though THOUSANDS of people on Ravelry figured it out. I'd toss him in the trash if he didn't already have eyes that are looking at me (I'm ruined for life by the stupid Velveteen Rabbit). Okay, I get what they want you to do, and it is a bit cumbersome. I've attached pieces similar to this before, but I'm not sure I can explain it any better. It's basically knitting a piece and sewing it to another piece at the same time. Wonky, but once I got the hang of it I preferred it to sewing things together. Mostly because I hate sewing knit pieces together. Basically, you want to hold the working needle in one hand, and the shell pieces in the other, with the holding needle. Knit three from the holding needle, then slip one. Pick up one stitch from each half of the shell with the holding needle, and knit them together. Pass the slipped stitch over. When you get to the head opening, only pick up stitches from the top part of the shell. I guess if it's less frustrating you could just sew the shell pieces together and attach the i-cord later, or add a crochet edge instead. I'm sure your turtle will be happy with whatever shell you give him. teknicolor posted:I feel your pain, HeatherChandler. I'm planning to start knitting Mythos, and am totally not getting how the front and back halves are created from the sleeve. I see the cast on, but it doesn't say how or where or anything. I'm thoroughly confused. Can anyone help? That is a really odd pattern, but I think I get it. It's knit flat, and you're making something vaguely T-shaped. The parts that you cast on after knitting the sleeve are going to be sewn together to make the side seam once it's done. Since they're going to be sewn together, I guess you can pick whatever cast on method you like for this part. Something like cable cast-on or knitting-on would work really well. I hope that helps you guys! 
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Jul 26, 2012 20:00
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Mizufusion posted:Okay, I get what they want you to do, and it is a bit cumbersome. I've attached pieces similar to this before, but I'm not sure I can explain it any better. It's basically knitting a piece and sewing it to another piece at the same time. Wonky, but once I got the hang of it I preferred it to sewing things together. Mostly because I hate sewing knit pieces together. Aaaahaha when I read this I realized what I did wrong. For quite some time when I pick up and knit I've been picking up, knitting, and knitting (if that makes sense). I've been trying to put the stitches on the right hand needle too. What a mess. Thank you, that helped a LOT.
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Jul 26, 2012 20:57
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Mizufusion posted:That is a really odd pattern, but I think I get it. It's knit flat, and you're making something vaguely T-shaped. The parts that you cast on after knitting the sleeve are going to be sewn together to make the side seam once it's done. Since they're going to be sewn together, I guess you can pick whatever cast on method you like for this part. Something like cable cast-on or knitting-on would work really well. I understand the way the fabric is supposed to end up (the T shape), but I'm confused as to how I knit the sleeve, then cast on (or knit on) more stitches. It is to be knit as one piece! This is the line I'm not sure of: quote:CO 50[54, 58, 62, 66, 70, 74] sts at beginning of next 2 rows. 160[172, 186, 198, 210, 222, 236] sts. So, I knit the sleeve and end up with "60[64, 70, 74, 66, 68, 70] sts". Then I continue by knitting on (casting on) appropriate sts (in my case I end with 64 then CO 54 TWICE for a total of 172). But I guess I'm not sure how to do that exactly. CO 50, knit sleeve sts to end of row, then turn and CO another 50? Won't that make half of my cast on stitches backwards?
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Jul 27, 2012 02:16
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Do we have any Seattle knitters in here? I'm going to be in Seattle this Friday and Saturday and I was hoping someone might recommend some yarn shops for me.  I'm seeing about five of them in a line around Wallingford and those areas.
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Aug 1, 2012 15:50
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teknicolor posted:I understand the way the fabric is supposed to end up (the T shape), but I'm confused as to how I knit the sleeve, then cast on (or knit on) more stitches. It is to be knit as one piece! This is the line I'm not sure of: I dont think you turn it, you CO more stitches using a method like backwards loop that you can do right at the end of the row.
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Aug 1, 2012 17:18
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grim` posted:Here's mine so far [first clue spoilers]: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/grimmissis/mystery-shawl-2012-rockefeller I saw that on Rav and didn't realize it was a Goon. I love your color choice!
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Aug 1, 2012 20:39
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Amelia Song posted:I dont think you turn it, you CO more stitches using a method like backwards loop that you can do right at the end of the row. This should look pretty much the same on both sides (adding stitches at both ends on consecutive rows) but if you have problems with keeping backwards loop knit even you could do one backwards loop and from there do cable cast on.
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Aug 3, 2012 04:59
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Pucklynn posted:Do we have any Seattle knitters in here? I really like Stitches on Capitol Hill. It's a nice little place to drop by!
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Aug 3, 2012 05:36
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I'm hoping someone can help me with a pattern. I want a knee high sock pattern, plain to show the colour variation in the wool (i'm using this:http://www.skacelknitting.com/s.nl/it.A/id.9054/.f?sc=2&category=36868) and frankly I keep knitting to gauge and it keeps coming up too small. I am fairly certain this is a 4 ply but I am clearly doing something wrong :/
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Aug 4, 2012 11:37
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Spiteful posted:I'm hoping someone can help me with a pattern. I want a knee high sock pattern, plain to show the colour variation in the wool (i'm using this:http://www.skacelknitting.com/s.nl/it.A/id.9054/.f?sc=2&category=36868) and frankly I keep knitting to gauge and it keeps coming up too small. I am fairly certain this is a 4 ply but I am clearly doing something wrong :/ Do you mean your swatches are too small or your swatches are right and your socks are too small? If it's the latter, I have the problem when swatching flat for something I'm making in the round of it being the right size but my purl tension is looser than my knit tension, so when I go to knit in the round and I'm not purling the WS it ends up much smaller. I swatch for anything I'm knitting in the round by just knitting the next row with the yarn carried loosely across the back.
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Aug 4, 2012 20:12
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HeatherChandler posted:Do you mean your swatches are too small or your swatches are right and your socks are too small? Yeah, its that my swatches are right and my socks keep coming out too small. I thought the gauge mentioned it was knitted flat but maybe I should try swatching in the round..
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Aug 5, 2012 08:50
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Slightly strange question. I'm knitting this elephant with a terrible head cold. It won't need blocking, but if I soak it in some water with a bit of washing powder, will that help to kill some of the bugs? It isn't a gift, but I'm kind of grossing myself out. I don't have any wool soak, but I guess I can get some if I need to. I'll post pics of the finished product as a thank you  .
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Aug 6, 2012 02:29
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If you've got dawn and hot water, yes, wash it. Wash it before you do the stuffing, that way you don't have to worry about the stuffing getting messed up. Headcolds and carting my knitting everywhere is why I wash everything. You can use dish soap (I use Dawn) or woolsoak, either or.
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Aug 6, 2012 02:43
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FelicityGS posted:You can use dish soap (I use Dawn) or woolsoak, either or. Excellent, thanks .
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Aug 6, 2012 02:52
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Oh my god, I am an idiot. I accidentally unbookmarked this thread like 200 posts ago and didn't realize it. Stupid smartphone! I just thought everyone was taking a break from knitting. Anyway, I've been mega busy with work and stuff, but last week I was on a work related trip and I started this on the plane:  So madly in love with it. This it the pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/funchal-moebius I'm knitting it with Knitpicks Chroma.
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Aug 7, 2012 17:13
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Bob Shadycharacter posted:Anyway, I've been mega busy with work and stuff, but last week I was on a work related trip and I started this on the plane: I can totally understand the madly in love with it, that patterning along with the Chroma variation is gorgeous. I should really quit being stingy and spring for some pretty yarn to do something ambitious with, or finish that half a sock that's been sitting on needles for six months that might be a good idea too.  E: No new posts, so I guess I'll just add this T-rex in here. No idea where they're from. 
Unhappy Meal fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Aug 8, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 22:46
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