Hi Simbad Have added link in for you to check out they have the Crafts for Christmas there too so might give you either more inspiration or an empty bank balance My man's coming with me this time so will have to play it crafty :WINK1: ICHF - International Craft + Hobby Fair Home Page
I went to the NEC earlier in the year - was a good day out - we used our Tesco vouchers. yarns and fabric and beads. and also it included other crafts, my friend weaves so we stuck more to yarns. A few bargains to be had too.
I did see something like that in John Lewis Sale in January - but not sure it was exactly the same. I looked at reviews and wasn't sure what I would do with it. I didn't appreciate that you could do panels, just tubes. It looks like fun.
Thankyou greencuisinequeen :D, off to have a look. Take a very large bag and send him off for a coffee :WINK1:
Purple linda crafts had something a bit like that a few weeks ago, if you are still looking for a round knitting machine
I do most of my knitting in the winter when the days are short and the evenings dark. I started my own Stitch & Bitch group locally and there are about 12 of us who meet on a weekly basis at a local venue. We enjoy it very much and are thinking of maybe attending a workshop for felting or beading or some such thing in 2012. In the meantime, I have made myself two waistcoats this winter, one using my own pattern - I've only just figured out how to do this and I'm very pleased with the result. I've also done a couple of beanies, fingerless gloves and I've done my first sock, which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I have recently bought enough yarn to keep me going for the rest of the winter, and into next summer as well. As soon as I finish my second sock, I shall be starting on my next project which I haven't quite decided on yet, but it's likely to be a tunic or pullover. I have the yarn but not the pattern I want. I'm not sure I'm clever enough to do my own tunic pattern yet, but I'll think about it I do feel a bit lost without a bit of knitting to hand, but it all gets relegated to the back burner once Spring arrives and I start sowing seeds!
I cant ever get the tension right, as for following a pattern,forget it .I keep trying.Did make a blanket once knitting squares that were small,that worked ok . My old badly knitted jumpers I finally found a project to do with them rather than just tossing them. I boiled them,then cut them into bird shapes, owls to be precise, stuffed them with rice so you could microwave them and gave them away as hand warmers for Christmas.The end result looked like I felted them.
kernowdreamer, My OH does knitting and so taught my three daughters. No1 has given up knitting as she like you could not get on with it, she now does crochet and finds this easier to handle than knitting. No2 winds up boyfriend as he wants to go out and she wants to knit No3 just sits and follows what mum has done at the moment until she finds her path. My son has taken after me and gone into hands on approach. Wool is for insulating the loft not for knitting.
I haven't been knitting for years, but this is what I can advise you. If you want to follow someone’s knitting experience or attain a particular 'tension' effect, first thing is: get a piece of that ready knitting you like and feel it with your fingers. Pretend you're holding it on your needles and try to feel whether it's slack or tight, is it thick or rather 'fluffy', is it elastic, etc. You don't need to strain and memorise all these sensations, but when you start knitting, they will naturally come to your support. The starting lines are important, try and feel and see them too, and bear in mind to tighten them a bit more if you don't want the ends of your shape to go floppy. Then hold the knitting half the length through and its full length (as if it were hanging on your needles) and feel at what point it becomes heavy. This will also serve as an indication how much thread had gone in. If it begins to feel heavy fairly early, then chances are that it's been knitted tight. Or vice versa. Yarn. Preselect the threads you will use in a single fabric and soak them at the temperature they are likely to be washed afterwards. How do they behave? Have this in mind when choosing how much you tighten or loosen them in your knitting. If any thread goes too short or its colour starts running, you may wish to discard it. Needles. If you tend to overtighten your knitting, use a bigger size needles to keep it slack. Or the other way round. Hope this helps.
Your girls sound pretty much like mine,except for the fact I never taught them. The younger one can crochet, she learnt via YouTube of all things and has even sold some of her stuff. You know men make the best knitters.:WINK1: I had a friend many years ago who knitted the most complicated aran jumpers, beautiful work,he was a rugby player and full time farmer and knitting was his hobby.
Angelina,thanks so much. Your instructions make perfect sense,I never really thought about all those points you made. I will definitely follow step by step what you said,also I think I would be better off trying a man made fiber rather than wool , wool is far from cheep here. In this small town there is a really nice wool shop , last time I was there I noticed Alpaca wool,that must be so soft knitted up ,picking up a ball of it it felt weightless,bet that's heaven to wear.
