Just Learned Knitting!

21 years ago

I am so proud of myself - I just taught myself to knit. :-)

I've crocheted since I was a little girl...um, at least 20 years or so, and I think I'm fairly good at it. But I guess I had a mental block against knitting. I've tried several times to get it, but it never sank in.

I just finished my first knit project - a scarf of white yarn with pink eyelash mixed in every few rows. It's far from perfect, but it's even, and I only found one hole from a dropped stitch! I put fringe on the ends, and gave it to my 9 yo daughter.

I recently made a scarf of just the pink eyelash, but I crocheted it. (FYI it worked great crocheting it lengthwise instead of across - more forgiving.) My knit one used what was left after the matching hair scrunchies and headband.

I'd do more scarves, but we really don't wear them. What should I do for my next knit project? Something one step up from scarves? A poncho? An afghan seems so big for a beginner. I can crochet one in a month or so, but knitting would take me a year. :-) Also I'd like to experiment with different stitches. Advice? Thanks!

One more question. I have a crochet book that shows something like 40 different stitches. Since I know what I'm doing (haha) I can figure out my own simple patterns just using those guides. Can you do that with knitting too, or should the average person just plan on always using a pattern?

Thanks,

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Comments (3)

acanuck
21 years ago
I'm thinking that an afghan might be the way to go. You can knit it in several strips using different stitches in a sampler style and then join them together for the completed piece.
There are knitting books on the market which just focus on the patterns of different stitches and how to do them.
Sylvia
21 years ago
Hey PK, good for you! A new skill. You will find it as easy to adapt your own knitting patterns after awhile as you can the crochet patterns.

Some things that may be just a step up from a scarf: a poncho (bigger, a little shaping, possibly a seam), a neck cowl (knitting in the round), a moebius scarf (kitchener stitch, probably a new provisional cast on), a hat (knitting in the round or flat, if flat a seam, decreases or increases depending whether you go top down or bottom up). French Market Bag has increases, decreases, knitting in the round and felting, and it's fun to use when you're done. (do a google for French Market Bag pattern and you'll get there.)

I also would recommend a trip to the library, they usually have a nice collection of knitting stitch pattern books that you can browse before deciding which you would like to own.

knitty.com is a nice online resource. And I really love Interweave Knits magazine.

Happy knitting!
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sarasal
21 years ago
Congrats on teaching yourself! I learned to knit when I was 13 from my aunt. She had us(me and my cousin) start with mittens. You learn ribbing, increasing, decreasing and putting things on a holder to work with something else, then go back to stitches on the holder. We did two-needle mittens which also require sewing up a seam. Later I did mittens on double pointed needles. Was your scarf in garter stitch(knit every row)? With the mittens you would also have to do the purl stitch. Good practice and because they are small you get a finished project quickly. One thing you want to do is check your gauge before you begin(sometimes mitten patterns don't have gauge). I have never checked my gauge(lazy). Sometimes not a problem, but mostly it is a problem not to check. Sweaters, hats, anything with a fit issue could come out wrong if done in the wrong gauge. I'm doing a project now where I checked the gauge, I thought, only to find after doing the back of a sweater, I was off still. So, I pulled out and started over with different needles. We'll see how it comes out. I'm taking a knitting class next month where hopefully she can teach me how to do the gauge check properly among other things.
I need to learn how to crochet. I can only do a chain. Hope you enjoy knitting. Sally