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Midnight Sun
Jun 25, 2007

HeatherChandler posted:

On another topic, I'm getting married and I'm thinking of buying a plain dress and knitting a capelet/circular shawl or whatnot and would love pattern suggestions to add to my pile. The most advanced I've done is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/echo-flower-shawl I'm comfortable with advanced lace stitches, it's tricky construction that loses me. I would like to bead it. It August 2017 so I know that a shawl isn't really season appropriate, but I figure it's no worse than sleeves plus it's evening/inside. Even younger, fitter me had arms not fit to see daylight. If you've seen anything amazing lately link me!

Leila Hafzi has some lovely patterns for cardigans, capes and shawls for weddings.
http://www.sandnes-garn.com/booklets/vol-1-bryllup-og-selskap-leila-hafzi

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marchantia
Nov 5, 2009

WHAT IS THIS
I'm in process of doing the Evenstar shawl for my wedding next April. I'm on my phone or I'd try to link it, it's pretty popular so it should pop up in the search easily.

Edit: jk i have the technology

This pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/evenstar-shawl

Hoping to wear similarly to: https://imgur.com/CcQ2upW

Mine is in a dusty pink malabrigo lace :3:

marchantia fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Apr 19, 2016

Ms. Happiness
Aug 26, 2009

That's beautiful. I'm doing my first lace attempt doing the Waiting for Rain Shawl http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/waiting-for-rain and making so many mistakes. Oh well.

HeatherChandler
Jun 21, 2007

Is this turnout weak or what? I had at least 70 more people at my funeral.

marchantia posted:

I'm in process of doing the Evenstar shawl for my wedding next April. I'm on my phone or I'd try to link it, it's pretty popular so it should pop up in the search easily.

Edit: jk i have the technology

This pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/evenstar-shawl

Hoping to wear similarly to: https://imgur.com/CcQ2upW

Mine is in a dusty pink malabrigo lace :3:

Oh my that's lovely! I really do wish I was getting married in fall, both of ours favorite season, and could be ensconced in knit. I'm starting grad school though so on summer break it is, and we've put it off too long to wait 3 more years.

Any material tips for summer? I've never worked with pure silk and it's my understanding that it is just as hot as wool. I was thinking a silk cashmere would be luxe for a wedding but cashmere is also awfully warm, would any wool be more or less warm? I'm pretty set on a silk blend, love dat sheen, love dat drape. I feel like cool fabrics are less fancy.

left_unattended
Apr 13, 2009

"The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their happiness in another's keeping."
Dale Carnegie
My experience with silk is that it's much cooler than wool, as is bamboo which has a similar sheen and drape. They're both a lot like cotton though, little to no memory and can be hard on your hands because it has no 'give'. I'm a total sucker for pure silk yarns though, they're utterly delicious.

ETA: I've only used a 50/50 wool/silk blend once, but it was a lot cooler than pure wool if pure silk isn't an option.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
Check out Juniper Moon Findley -- the sheen is gorgeous. You could also check out Handmaiden Sea Silk. I don't wear knits in the summer, but if you really had to, I think you could if you planned with the heat in mind -- if it was very lacy, you weren't going to wear it bunched up, it was only going to be on for the ceremony, etc.

HeatherChandler
Jun 21, 2007

Is this turnout weak or what? I had at least 70 more people at my funeral.

left_unattended posted:

My experience with silk is that it's much cooler than wool, as is bamboo which has a similar sheen and drape. They're both a lot like cotton though, little to no memory and can be hard on your hands because it has no 'give'. I'm a total sucker for pure silk yarns though, they're utterly delicious.

ETA: I've only used a 50/50 wool/silk blend once, but it was a lot cooler than pure wool if pure silk isn't an option.

I think most shawls I've made have been 50-50 silk/wool (or alpaca etc). The merino/silk I think was the coolest. I love silk and I'm OK with slippery yarns, my worry is blocking. I was under the impression that 100% silk had to be steam blocked which I have zero comfort level with.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm more excited to buyexpensive yarn than pretty much any other planning aspect.

left_unattended
Apr 13, 2009

"The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their happiness in another's keeping."
Dale Carnegie
I didn't steam block mine, but there was no lace involved it was a fairly simple textured scarf, so YMMV. Good luck!

effika
Jun 19, 2005
Birds do not want you to know any more than you already do.

HeatherChandler posted:

I think most shawls I've made have been 50-50 silk/wool (or alpaca etc). The merino/silk I think was the coolest. I love silk and I'm OK with slippery yarns, my worry is blocking. I was under the impression that 100% silk had to be steam blocked which I have zero comfort level with.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm more excited to buyexpensive yarn than pretty much any other planning aspect.

No sort of water-based blocking will get 100% silk to stay in shape for long-- it's just that slippery. I've wet-blocked silk a couple of times, and as long as the dye is fixed correctly it's fine. Steam blocking is fine, too, just takes longer.

50/50 merino/silk is one of my favorite things! You get the memory of wool, and the sheen and drape of silk. It's a pleasure to work with. If you can find something with a bit of cashmere thrown in it becomes absolutely amazing (though warmer, too).

Safari Disco Lion
Jul 21, 2011

Boss, if they make us find seven lost crystals, I'm quitting.

Merino/silk is also super duper strong. Merino can be very delicate for some things and I'd never recommend 100% merino for something hard wearing like socks, but add in some silk and it's super shiny and awesome AND about ten times more durable.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
These posts make me tired of big heavy things and I want to try something delicate and lacy with lots of little holes since I want to practice my technique. Does anyone know of a pattern that's well written for beginners of using patterns? I've looked at a few but they aren't really written in an accessible way.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
It works better the other way around. Post a couple patterns you like the looks of, and we'll tell you if the pattern looks good or what X thing means or whatever.

HeatherChandler
Jun 21, 2007

Is this turnout weak or what? I had at least 70 more people at my funeral.

Asiina posted:

These posts make me tired of big heavy things and I want to try something delicate and lacy with lots of little holes since I want to practice my technique. Does anyone know of a pattern that's well written for beginners of using patterns? I've looked at a few but they aren't really written in an accessible way.

How much lace experience do you have? My first lace attempt was https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kevat-shawl and it was pretty foolproof. There aren't a lot of instructions but it's only yarn-overs and one triple decrease that was new to me. It's written and charted. I did one on worsted and one in fingering before trying anything in laceweight. Another good starting place is a feather and fan pattern, it gives the feel for yarn overs and decreases but it's memorizable and repetitive.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer

HeatherChandler posted:

How much lace experience do you have? My first lace attempt was https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kevat-shawl and it was pretty foolproof. There aren't a lot of instructions but it's only yarn-overs and one triple decrease that was new to me. It's written and charted. I did one on worsted and one in fingering before trying anything in laceweight. Another good starting place is a feather and fan pattern, it gives the feel for yarn overs and decreases but it's memorizable and repetitive.

I decided to make this. It was going well enough for a while, but I made some sort of mistake that I could not for the life of me fix, so I've started over. I think it's not about the material as much as I just want something that feels light and airy rather than the more "solid" pieces I've made before.

I also rewrote the instructions after a while, since the chart was harder to follow than just making a repeatable pattern.

Thanks for the suggestion.

HeatherChandler
Jun 21, 2007

Is this turnout weak or what? I had at least 70 more people at my funeral.

Asiina posted:

I decided to make this. It was going well enough for a while, but I made some sort of mistake that I could not for the life of me fix, so I've started over. I think it's not about the material as much as I just want something that feels light and airy rather than the more "solid" pieces I've made before.

I also rewrote the instructions after a while, since the chart was harder to follow than just making a repeatable pattern.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Honestly I can't knit lace from written directions! Once I got used to charts I really dove in. I'm good at lace but not good at things involving construction like socks and sweaters. I think part of it is not being able to visualize the instructions.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
I should probably try to get used to knitting from a chart, since it'll be easier to find mistakes rather than a blind count where if something goes wrong it takes me forever to figure out where since I'm not really looking at the work, I'm just following the instructions.

I used charts for when I made some potholders last Christmas that involved double knitting, since written instructions for that would have been too complicated written down even though the actual piece was incredibly easy. But for this where there's multiple techniques going on at once I need it written out to remind me what to do next.

This one I'm using is an ever expanding chart, but I found that I could make a series of written instructions of 4 rows that just repeat with a section in the middle that I repeat until I get to the end of the row.

HeatherChandler
Jun 21, 2007

Is this turnout weak or what? I had at least 70 more people at my funeral.
One of my biggest problems is I tend to memorize patterns by reading the knitting, especially when there is a large section of the same fabric and stop making any note of where I am. If I put it down for more than a week I pick it up totally lost. I end up with a lot of frustration.

So I got some advice from someone who has knit with 100% lace and they said I can wet block and use a dilute cornstarch solution to help it stay, as is instructed in a Romi Hill pattern I was reading. I think this is the direction I want to go in material-wise. My short list seems to all be from her...

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rosaflora is my absolute favorite, but I'm having a hard time with yarn. She uses a heavier laceweight and I can't find any ivories that aren't too yellow in that weight. My colors are jewel tones and I'm not really keen on the contrast of colors. I'm tempted just to knit in regular laceweight, but I don't want it to end up too small, I'm hardly petite.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/high-desert-2 I really love this but I'm not sure where I would place beads and I don't like the long edge edging. I think the geometry kind of relates to the shapes in the room we are getting married in:


http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nightblossoms I don't know if I love the large leaves around the neck, but I love the overall effect.

CBJamo
Jul 15, 2012

Hello knitting thread. For various lovely reasons last year I couldn't get my family anything for christmas, they didn't mind, but it bugged me quite a bit. So this year I want to kick some rear end and make something for everyone in my family. The idea is to make something related to their primary hobby that they will use regularly and is nicer or will last longer than what they would normally get themselves. I'm doing research now so that if it takes a significant investment of time to learn how to make it I can do so.

My mom is an avid knitter, but I don't know what piece of gear would fit into the above criteria. Is there anything that you know of that is really close to being perfect but that the market doesn't make? Or some tool that would be useful in a small way and that would be used regularly but that doesn't currently exist? AFAIK the knitting tools that she has now are needles (a lot of them), those things you clip onto the needles to count stitches, and bag that has a hole in the top to let yarn out through without the roll from wandering off, and of course a metric shitload of yarn. I'll see if I can get a picture because I think it's insane.

PS. I thought there was another knitting thread that was more about how-to, but I couldn't find it. If that's a better place for this feel free to call me dumb and please point me to that thread.

Midnight Sun
Jun 25, 2007

CBJamo posted:

Hello knitting thread. For various lovely reasons last year I couldn't get my family anything for christmas, they didn't mind, but it bugged me quite a bit. So this year I want to kick some rear end and make something for everyone in my family. The idea is to make something related to their primary hobby that they will use regularly and is nicer or will last longer than what they would normally get themselves. I'm doing research now so that if it takes a significant investment of time to learn how to make it I can do so.

My mom is an avid knitter, but I don't know what piece of gear would fit into the above criteria. Is there anything that you know of that is really close to being perfect but that the market doesn't make? Or some tool that would be useful in a small way and that would be used regularly but that doesn't currently exist? AFAIK the knitting tools that she has now are needles (a lot of them), those things you clip onto the needles to count stitches, and bag that has a hole in the top to let yarn out through without the roll from wandering off, and of course a metric shitload of yarn. I'll see if I can get a picture because I think it's insane.

PS. I thought there was another knitting thread that was more about how-to, but I couldn't find it. If that's a better place for this feel free to call me dumb and please point me to that thread.

I got my mom one of these, and I really want one for myself as well. :)

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
When you say you want to make something, what can you make? Do you sew, are you a woodworker . . . ?

CBJamo
Jul 15, 2012

Anne Whateley posted:

When you say you want to make something, what can you make? Do you sew, are you a woodworker . . . ?

Good question, I'm generally pretty handy and like diy projects, and now have the means to get the necessary equipment. TBH, learning new skills is as much a part of this as making cool gifts for my family. I'm an embedded engineer by trade, so if there are electrical gadgets that would be useful that would be within my current skillset. I don't have much of experience with wood, metal, or cloth, but have worked with composites for at my job, if that would be useful. But if there is some special wood (or whatever) contraption that would be useful, then I'll learn to make it.

Fionnoula
May 27, 2010

Ow, quit.

CBJamo posted:

Good question, I'm generally pretty handy and like diy projects, and now have the means to get the necessary equipment. TBH, learning new skills is as much a part of this as making cool gifts for my family. I'm an embedded engineer by trade, so if there are electrical gadgets that would be useful that would be within my current skillset. I don't have much of experience with wood, metal, or cloth, but have worked with composites for at my job, if that would be useful. But if there is some special wood (or whatever) contraption that would be useful, then I'll learn to make it.

Invent her a yardage counter that isn't a piece of poo poo (hint: they're all pieces of poo poo and horribly inaccurate or else they work but they're so far outside a normal person's price range that it's a joke).
Basically, you buy a skein of yarn, you know how much is on it. But then you use a little bit here and a little bit there and then you're just guessing how much is left or estimating based on how much it weighs now v.. how much it used to weigh when there was a known amount of yardage.
My dream thing I don't own is a yardage counter that actually works. So something I can run the yarn through between my swift and my ballwinder that will tell me how much yarn has passed through it as I wind. I teach knitting to the 3rd and 4th graders at the local elementary school, so I spend a lot of time breaking down skeins into little project kits for the kids - everyone gets a pattern and X number of yards of yarn. I'm volunteering my time and using donated yarn, so I don't have the luxury of each kid getting a whole skein, I give them what they need to actually finish the project. At this point I've given up on finding a good yardage counter and have started using my Amish swift to portion it out, but that gets time consuming.

Or also if she doesn't actually own a swift & ballwinder, start there - although those are both readily available tools you can easily buy, I find that they're frequently not something knitters buy for themselves. Very popular item to sold to confused spouses at the local yarn shop around Christmastime.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
I agree, a yardage counter is what I was going to say! You could also try to 3D print a needle gauge if that's the kind of guy you are, but the whole point of a gauge is precision so who knows. What actually sounds like it'd be most useful to her is a needle roll, a sewn case for organizing and storing all her needles.

Ms. Happiness
Aug 26, 2009

If your mom doesn't have a yarn swift and/or yarn ball winders, those are pretty awesome.

EvilMayo
Dec 25, 2010

"You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush
You could also turn a couple drop spindles if you have a lathe.

MarsDragon
Apr 27, 2010

"You've all learned something very important here: there are things in this world you just can't change!"
First off, I finished the gloves I've been working on since December. Pattern is Beira, to which I added actual fingers. I am so sick of twisted rib right now, you have no idea.



Now they fly off to the friend I was knitting them for. Bye, gloves!

Second off, I'm trying to make a decision and need help from the knitting goon hivemind.

I have 780 yards of rainbow handspun to use up. Here's pics:




The color breaks are fairly sharp, no long color changes here, and it's about fingering weight. I'd like to make a lace shawl out of it, something that will work with the colors. Right now I have two patterns I like, Byggvir on one hand and Renaissance Fan on the other.

Which one do you think would work best? Or is there another nice pattern out there just waiting for me to see it?

Peppercat
Mar 17, 2011

I have Renaissance Fan in my favorites and personally I think it would work with your super gorgeous hand spun. Anything you make with that is going to be beautiful though!

MarsDragon
Apr 27, 2010

"You've all learned something very important here: there are things in this world you just can't change!"
I'm leaning pretty hard towards Renaissance Fan, not the least because I can start with the cool side of the rainbow and keep pink and red away from my face.

Someone else suggested a double-knitted colorwork scarf, but the nice thing about lace shawls is that they're generally pretty expandable and fancy colorwork scarves aren't. I was really tempted by Victorian Raffia, but it looks like the least customizable thing (SOMEDAY, THOUGH). I'll see if I can get the yarn caked on Wednesday.

CBJamo
Jul 15, 2012

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I talked to my mom under some pretense in an attempt to not give away my plan. She does have a swift and a ball winder, and doesn't think she'd get much use from a yardage counter. She mentioned not being very happy with her needle organization. That's a lot more mundane than a yardage counter, but if it'll be useful then that's what I'll make. Question is, how do I solve that problem? I don't have an inventory of her needles (though I could probably get one) or if she wants storeage for at home or for travel. More research is required, but I figured I'd update you. Also, if you have any advice on needle storage, I'd appreciate it.

On the topic of yardage counters, what are the problems with current ones? It sounds like an interesting problem so I might look into it and try to make something better.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
ahem

Anne Whateley posted:

What actually sounds like it'd be most useful to her is a needle roll, a sewn case for organizing and storing all her needles.

The main issue with yardage counters is that they're inaccurate. You pull the yarn through the counter under tension, which causes the yarn to stretch, which can cause a significant difference over the course of a few hundred yards. They can also be expensive.

Fionnoula
May 27, 2010

Ow, quit.

Anne Whateley posted:

ahem


The main issue with yardage counters is that they're inaccurate. You pull the yarn through the counter under tension, which causes the yarn to stretch, which can cause a significant difference over the course of a few hundred yards. They can also be expensive.

Also that the ones that don't break the bank are made of cheap poo poo and you'll pull like 3 yards through without it registering at all because the workings inside (some sort of cog system) stop meshing with each other randomly. Sometimes they count the yards, sometimes they don't.

As for needle storage, that's going to seriously depend on what kind of needles she uses and whether she wants to travel with them or just have them organized at home. I exclusively use interchangeables, needle rolls are pretty useless to me. I use a small zipped binder type thing with plastic pouches for pages that allow me to keep my tips sorted by size and my cables sorted by length. My mom, on the other hand, is addicted to needle rolls, because she prefers to make smaller projects all on straight needles and dpns. At this point I think she needs a needle roll roll, to keep all her different needle rolls organized in.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
I'm double knitting this very large throw pillow and I noticed near the end of a row a mistake I made at the beginning of the previous row that I had to go all the way back to fix. Each row is a little under 200 stitches. It makes me grumble.

Dr. Kloctopussy
Apr 22, 2003

"It's time....to DIE!"

Asiina posted:

I'm double knitting this very large throw pillow and I noticed near the end of a row a mistake I made at the beginning of the previous row that I had to go all the way back to fix. Each row is a little under 200 stitches. It makes me grumble.

Dunno if you could have done it in this particular situation, but learning how to drop stitches to fix mistakes a few rows down has been one of the best time investments i have ever made.

suddenly cats
Nov 16, 2006

Cats do not abide by the laws of nature, alright? You don't know shit about cats.

Dr. Kloctopussy posted:

Dunno if you could have done it in this particular situation, but learning how to drop stitches to fix mistakes a few rows down has been one of the best time investments i have ever made.

This is seriously the most useful trick for knitting. I can't remember how many times it's saved me while I've been working on blankets and other big projects.

EvilMayo
Dec 25, 2010

"You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

Dr. Kloctopussy posted:

Dunno if you could have done it in this particular situation, but learning how to drop stitches to fix mistakes a few rows down has been one of the best time investments i have ever made.

Can you post a tutorial or instructions for this? I understand the concept, I'm trying to think of a way to practice.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
I think it wouldn't have mattered in this case because I wouldn't have had the right amount of yarn between where I messed up and where I could have fixed it, but I'd also like to see how this is done.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
For minor differences, like if you accidentally k2tog and then dropped back to fix it, blocking will make it even enough.

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

Can you post a tutorial or instructions for this? I understand the concept, I'm trying to think of a way to practice.
Just from a quick google, but this seems clear -- does it help? http://www.vogueknitting.com/pattern_help/how-to/learn_to_knit/correcting_common_mistakes

Those principles work down multiple rows. If you see a k that should be a p down 5 rows, take that one stitch off your needle, drop it far down enough to undo the bad k, and then purl it all up again.

I do it all the time, in lace, in whatever. The only thing that still fucks me up and I haven't been able to figure it out in is brioche.

EvilMayo
Dec 25, 2010

"You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

Anne Whateley posted:

For minor differences, like if you accidentally k2tog and then dropped back to fix it, blocking will make it even enough.

Just from a quick google, but this seems clear -- does it help? http://www.vogueknitting.com/pattern_help/how-to/learn_to_knit/correcting_common_mistakes

Those principles work down multiple rows. If you see a k that should be a p down 5 rows, take that one stitch off your needle, drop it far down enough to undo the bad k, and then purl it all up again.

I do it all the time, in lace, in whatever. The only thing that still fucks me up and I haven't been able to figure it out in is brioche.

I'm going to knit a swatch and try this out! Thanks.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
Cool! The only thing I didn't say (oops) is to choose a normal stitch somewhere in the middle. Don't play with the edge stitches or the cast-on edge; they work differently.

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Safari Disco Lion
Jul 21, 2011

Boss, if they make us find seven lost crystals, I'm quitting.

Anne Whateley posted:

For minor differences, like if you accidentally k2tog and then dropped back to fix it, blocking will make it even enough.

Just from a quick google, but this seems clear -- does it help? http://www.vogueknitting.com/pattern_help/how-to/learn_to_knit/correcting_common_mistakes

Those principles work down multiple rows. If you see a k that should be a p down 5 rows, take that one stitch off your needle, drop it far down enough to undo the bad k, and then purl it all up again.

I do it all the time, in lace, in whatever. The only thing that still fucks me up and I haven't been able to figure it out in is brioche.

Brioche can blow sweaty dicks.

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