More knitting nonsense . . .

I just had to share. I got the body of the sweater done on circular
needles. I managed the fair isle at the bottom, but gave up at the top
and just knitted it plain (well, it's not plain but has a small
indention every 10 stitches).

Now I had to learn using 4 dp needles for the sleeves. 44 stitches to
start on size 1 (12 or 2.25) needles.

My lordy! You guys would be having a field day if you could see me. I
kept losing my cast-on stitches as I tried to begin the ribbing. Well,
after 10 tries, I finally calmed that down. The needles go every which
way. You could poke your eye out with those things! I sure wouldn't
want to knit this while being distracted!

I figure by the time I get 4,784 rows done, I'll have a handle on how to
tame those needles. In the meantime, It's a great laugh.

I couldn't get that "first" stitch tight enough, so I gave up and just
knitted it without the 4th needle (transferred it) and THEN started with
the 4th needle. I don't know how I'll ever work with more than one yarn
color. But I'm determined. :-)

Thought you'd all enjoy the laugh. Not gonna let no multiple needles
get the better of me.
Dianne
--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

Now I had to learn using 4 dp needles for the sleeves. 44 stitches to
start on size 1 (12 or 2.25) needles

Dianne - No laughs from me. Been there, done that.

It's a whole lot easier if you get a circular needle in a small enough size to
start and keep increasing with a separate longer circular needle as needed.
Frances
Take Jacques out before replying.

Dianne , if you already had the body , whay did you start the sleeves
at the ribbing ??? you can cast on the sleeve at their armpits.....
and knit downwards.
kept losing my cast-on stitches as I tried to begin the ribbing. Well,
after 10 tries, I finally calmed that down. The needles go every which
way. You could poke your eye out with those things!
Think about those needles as if they are one lomg circular needle with
breaks ,,,,while working with 2 the other 3 [if you work with 5 ] or 2
[if you work with 4] hang so that last one leans slihgtly on the
needle you work with and the next in line after the 2nd you work with
`hangs` under the the 2nd in work.
tame those needles. In the meantime, It's a great laugh.
the `first ` stich should Not be tight it should be `regular` tight ,
make a mark of another color loop , put on your needle before `first `
stich , and every several rows knit a stich or 2 more , by this
avoidinf having a [ slight] mark where you changed needles , this will
solve itself after some knitting ,,, but it helps when you just are
starting.
I couldn't get that "first" stitch tight enough, so I gave up and just
knitted it without the 4th needle (transferred it) and THEN started with
the 4th needle. I don't know how I'll ever work with more than one yarn
color. But I'm determined. :-)
Best of luck in your new projects ...
mirjam
Thought you'd all enjoy the laugh. Not gonna let no multiple needles
get the better of me.
Dianne
--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

Dianne -- some recommendations...
1. Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Without Tears" -- great help for circular
knitting. I've finished 2 (or 3) sweaters using her techniques & I'm nearly
finished with the body tube for another.
2. "Knitting Socks on Two Circular Needles" (or something like that) --
great explanations and designs for knitting socks on two circular needles
instead of multiple double-pointed needles -- EASIER. Basically, you put 1/2
of your stitches on one circ.need. (group A) and the other 1/2 on the 2nd
circ.need. (group B). You knit the stitches on A using only needle A -- B
just hangs there resting -- then you knit stitches on B using needle B. The
only thing that "moves" between needles A & B is the yarn(s) you're carrying
on the inside of your tube.

Good Luck,
I've fallen in love with knitting. I found a few intarsia patterns for a
celtic rooster and a celtic cat that I'd love to put on sweaters knitted in
the round. I've also thought about using borders from a counted cross stitch
border book as a sweater knitted in the round. I figure I can knit the
"ground fabric" using white cotton and then knit the designs using DMC big
grin!...
S

"Dianne Lewandowski" wrote in message
...
I just had to share. I got the body of the sweater done on circular
needles. I managed the fair isle at the bottom, but gave up at the top
and just knitted it plain (well, it's not plain but has a small
indention every 10 stitches).

Now I had to learn using 4 dp needles for the sleeves. 44 stitches to
start on size 1 (12 or 2.25) needles.

My lordy! You guys would be having a field day if you could see me. I
kept losing my cast-on stitches as I tried to begin the ribbing. Well,
after 10 tries, I finally calmed that down. The needles go every which
way. You could poke your eye out with those things! I sure wouldn't
want to knit this while being distracted!

I figure by the time I get 4,784 rows done, I'll have a handle on how to
tame those needles. In the meantime, It's a great laugh.

I couldn't get that "first" stitch tight enough, so I gave up and just
knitted it without the 4th needle (transferred it) and THEN started with
the 4th needle. I don't know how I'll ever work with more than one yarn
color. But I'm determined. :-)

Thought you'd all enjoy the laugh. Not gonna let no multiple needles
get the better of me.
Dianne
--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

Dianne , if you already had the body , whay did you start the sleeves
at the ribbing ??? you can cast on the sleeve at their armpits.....
and knit downwards.

There are no armholes. On this pattern, I will sew (on the machine) two
rows for the armholes and then (gasp) cut the knitting.

I'm scared to death. But I figure this has been a great learning
experience. Leave it to the Norwegians to come up with something to
confound the American knitter. :-)

Dianne
--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

Lucretia Borgia wrote:
An easier way to cast on until you get used to dp needles is to cast
all the stitches on to one needle, then for the second row, divide it
into however many stitches on each needle. It doesn't show that you
did it that way once you have a couple of rows done.


Thanks, Sheena. Actually, I can cast on, now, with impunity. That's the
way I started out (all on one needle, then transfer). But as I kept
losing stitches when trying to knit, I had to keep starting over. So, I
finally mastered the casting on. There's something to be said for
determination: you learn!
--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

That's the way I always did it. I was never comfortable with stitching and
cutting.
Lucille

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
Aha You are Steeking it !!!
well next time when you come to armpit height , you can knit the front
and back seprately as 2 flat parts , than sew the shoulder , than cast
on slleves at that opening !!!
mirjam

Well, I'm confused. What is steeking?
Dianne

Lucille wrote:

That's the way I always did it. I was never comfortable with stitching and
cutting.
Lucille

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...

Aha You are Steeking it !!!
well next time when you come to armpit height , you can knit the front
and back seprately as 2 flat parts , than sew the shoulder , than cast
on slleves at that opening !!!
mirjam





--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

Steeking is what you are doing. Sewing a seam on either side of a stitch
and then cutting down the middle. When I came across that in directions I
used to do what Mirjam said. I would knit in the round until the armhole
and then split the piece in two, put one half of the stitches on a holder
and work each piece separately, using the same round needle to maintain the
gauge, but working back and forth in stockinette stitch.

That way you don't have to put a scissor to your carefully done work. For
me the cutting was much more formidable a task than the knitting.

Lucille

Well, I'm confused. What is steeking?
Dianne

Lucille wrote:

That's the way I always did it. I was never comfortable with stitching
and cutting.
Lucille

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...

Aha You are Steeking it !!!
well next time when you come to armpit height , you can knit the front
and back seprately as 2 flat parts , than sew the shoulder , than cast
on slleves at that opening !!!
mirjam





--
"The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers
http://journal.heritageshoppe.com

On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 16:56:49 -0500, "Lucille"
spewed forth :

Steeking is what you are doing. Sewing a seam on either side of a stitch
and then cutting down the middle. When I came across that in directions I
used to do what Mirjam said. I would knit in the round until the armhole
and then split the piece in two, put one half of the stitches on a holder
and work each piece separately, using the same round needle to maintain the
gauge, but working back and forth in stockinette stitch.

That way you don't have to put a scissor to your carefully done work. For
me the cutting was much more formidable a task than the knitting.

That works for Just Plain Sweaters, but most knitters find it
difficult to purl back in two colors. My first steeking experience
wasn't horrid - I did everything one step at a time, double-tacked the
openings to be steeked, used sharp scissors and made sure I was about
to cut on the correct line before I made the first stroke.

I've also used a crocheted steek anchor found in one of Meg Swansen's
books, which I think I like better.