Turns out I'm not very good at knitting

[Toddy]

What you could do it to unpick your cast off end, and unravel back four or five inches. Then put half the stitches onto a safety pin (or thread through a bit of string and tie in a loop) and knit back a couple of inches of length on the other half stitches. Put those ones onto another safety pin or loop, and knit the first set you pinned off back up to the same length. So you have two short 'straps'.

Now, put both sets of stitches back onto one needle and knit them together again to the end.
Cast off.
You've now made a slit that you can pull the other end of the scarf through so that it sits snuggly round your neck and will cover the bit where your jacket comes up to your throat.



M

 

[spandit]

That's a good idea (which funnily enough I had considered, although didn't know how to put into operation until your explanation)

 

[Woody girl]

You'll probably want to hit me if I suggest this after all the time and effort you have put in already, but now you have some experience and as you say the last bit was much better than the first bit of knitting. Undo the whole thing and start again with a few less stitches. I don't know how many you had on the needles. But if you work out how many stitches to the inch you could figure out that taking an inch or half inch off the width it would make it longer for the same amount of wool and you would find that the whole thing looks better as your skills have improved. I often undo stuff back to the beginning if I'm not happy with it. The point of knitting to me is to produce the best I can with the few skills I have. I have one pair of lace socks I am trying to knit. Never done lace before so I'm having trouble! So far I'm still on the first sock and I've been at it on and off for six months! Standard pair of socks takes about almost two weeks.... aaargh!

 

[spandit]

I had 30 on there. Might do it again with 25. I suppose I could just take the end and start knitting with it so it unravelled as I went along as don't have a ball winder

 

[Woody girl]

You don't need a ball winder. Undo about a couple of rows then start winding it round your fingers. Undo a bit more take the bit you've wound on your fingers off and fold in half then start to wind it into a ball. Carry on untill you have a large ball. Don't undo more than ayard at a time or you will get into a nasty tangle. It takes time but then you want to while away those dance lessons! It's surprising how quickly it goes once you get in the zone.

 

[mousey]

Your attempt looks reasonable to me - I've not tried knitting, but wouldn't mind to learn so I could make this....

https://web.archive.org/web/2013051...maths.com/docs/MattParker-KleinHatPattern.pdf

A hat which is a 3d 'shadow' of a 4d shape using the numbers of pi for the row thicknesses.

For anyone interested in the lecture where the hat is mentioned [56.30]

sorry of the thread hijack...

 

[spandit]

That would be a cool hat but no idea how one would make it

 

[monkey boy]

Good effort buddy, I've never tried it.
Every year my mother in law knits me winter gear for Xmas, I love it as it's really personal.
I enjoy watching her as she sits there with the TV on knitting away, highly respect the skill.

For your first attempt you have done a good job and you have a functional scarf as a result.



Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Woody girl]

Spandit you ought to try making the fulled wool slippers on another thread. They are very easy and only use garter stitch like your scarf. You need to use thick pure wool. Then shrink them in the washing machine to fit. (Fulling or felting )

 

[SaraR]

Had the urge to learn to knit and 2 balls of wool later, I have a scarf. It's warm enough and the colour will blend in nicely with the outdoors but keeping my tension consistent has been a problem and it's almost twice as wide at one end than the other. The left hand side of the picture is the last bit I completed and it's reasonably square. There's one dropped stitch too...

http://creffield.com/pics/bushcraft/scarf.jpg

Don't give up on it until you've tried blocking it. Blocking will make your knitting look more even and is a great way to correct the shape (and a must for opening up lace).

To block it you soak it in warmish water with a little woolwash or hair conditioner or baby shampoo, drain the water and roll it up in a towel to squeeze out the rest of the water. Then stretch it out to the same size in both ends and pin it to a board or bed or something and leave it to dry.

https://blog.loveknitting.com/how-to-block-knitting-or-crochet/

 

[Janne]

Welcome back, SaraR!

 

[SaraR]

Welcome back, SaraR!

Thanks Janne! Unlike my old phone, my new phone lets me read Bushcraft forum again. The keyboard is still playing up when trying to post anything though. Weird.

 

[spandit]

It's knitted with acrylic, so may not take to blocking. Anyway, I unravelled it and knitted it again, a bit narrower and with much better tension:

http://creffield.com/pics/bushcraft/scarf2.jpg

Works as a garment now and can wear it without feeling ashamed

 

[Woody girl]

That looks much better. Now you are a skilled knitter, so now you need to make a wooly hat to go with it. Can you do a purl stitch? I'll see if I can find an easy pattern for a hat and put it up here for your next project if you'd like.

 

[spandit]

That looks much better. Now you are a skilled knitter, so now you need to make a wooly hat to go with it. Can you do a purl stitch? I'll see if I can find an easy pattern for a hat and put it up here for your next project if you'd like.

I've seen videos on how to do a purl stitch and that's how I learnt in the first place, so should be fairly straightforward. Wouldn't call myself a skilled knitter just yet (although I did knit a teddy scarf on Christmas Eve after my daughter announced she had asked Father Christmas for something for teddy)

 

[Woody girl]

Ribbed hat pattern.
Size 6 needles
100grams wool
Cast on 70 stitches
Row 1(wrong side) *purl 2, knit 2, repeat from*to end of rows
(Right side) *knit 2, purl 2 to end of rows.
Repeat these two rows until work measures 10 inches ,end with a wrong side row.
Shape crown
Row 1 *knit 2 purl two together (decrease 1 stitch), repeat from*to last two stitches, knit two_53 stitches
Row 2 *purl 2,knit 1,repeat from* to last 2 stitches,purl 2
Row 3*knit 2 purl 1, repeat from * to last 2 stitches knit 2.
Row 4 repeat row 2
Row 5 k2 together p1 repeat to last 2 stitches k 2_36 stitches.
Row 6 p2 * k1, p1 repeat from*to end
Row 7 *k2 together, repeat to end _18 stitches.
Row 8 purl to end.
Last row * k2 together repeat from*to end. 9 stitches.
Cut yarn leaving a long end for seaming.
Thread yarn through these stitches gather firmly secure and sewn back seam.
Turn right side out turn up brim and put on head. Wear proudly!. I would suggest arran wool though it will still work with double knit

 

[SaraR]

I've seen videos on how to do a purl stitch and that's how I learnt in the first place, so should be fairly straightforward. Wouldn't call myself a skilled knitter just yet (although I did knit a teddy scarf on Christmas Eve after my daughter announced she had asked Father Christmas for something for teddy)

Well done!
The best thing you can do is to take the time to look at your knitting and figure out how the yarn moves through the stitches. If you know what a stitch should look like you can spot and correct mistakes and rescue dropped stitches much easier. A purl stitch looks the same as the back of a knit stitch (bump towards you), so as long as you end up with that, your good. The rest is just finding an efficient and fast technique

 

[Woody girl]

For anyone wanting to learn to knit there are some knitting magazines on your local news stand magazine rack. Some even have free gifts such as needles and balls of wool and instructions to knit small projects.usually in the back there are explanations of terms used in patterns and instructions on how to cast on and off or do certain stitches.quite handy to have these as they make a good quick reference point.

 

[spandit]

Thanks for that hat pattern, Woody girl.
My technique is a bit odd - I tend to hold the right hand needle with the rear end against me, almost vertical - works OK if I'm sitting down (and who knits standing up?)

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks for that hat pattern, Woody girl.
My technique is a bit odd - I tend to hold the right hand needle with the rear end against me, almost vertical - works OK if I'm sitting down (and who knits standing up?)

If it works that's fine. Actually if you look at old photos of highland women knitting, some knit like that and do it standing too. So whatever feels comfortable. As you progress you may learn new techniques that make life easier. But that's for the future. I wish you luck if you try the hat and I'd love to see a finished item. Just take your time and keep an eye out for mistakes. They are easy to see on this pattern. One tip don't use a dark colour such as black or navy for your first go.