I just had to knit a couple of rows to check which way I knit. I apparently knit the English way which makes sense since it was my gran who taught me.
2 Likes
Bringing this thread back up, as I have just found a delightful yarn shop.
Vreni’s Paradiesegge
Eisenbahnstrasse 6
8840 Einsiedeln
This small store is a treasure trove, choc-a-bloc - quite literally - with all yarns of all kinds, including a few sale bins with balls/skeins for CHF 3, 4, 5.
I picked up a fun Lana Grossa chunky merino and silk for CHF 5 per ball. A steal.
The lady I spoke to was a treasure herself, very helpful - which as a rank beginner I truly appreciate.
Bricks and mortar store only. But if you live out this way or are planning an Ausflug to the charming town of Einsiedeln, Vreni’s is well worth a visit.
3 Likes
Veering from ‘where to’ to ‘how to’… but since it seems like you all are expert knitters, I’m going to be cheeky and ask for advice:
I’m making my first attempt at knitting in the round. A simple hat. I’m at the point where I’m decreasing stitches, and I can see that soon the work will be too small to stretch around the needles/cable. (40cm cable, the smallest I can find.) I’ve already switched to short needle tips. What does one do at this point? Is there some magic technique?
Many thanks from a completely clueless beginner…
Switch to 4 or five short needles instead. Bear with me, I’ll see if i can find some pictures.
1 Like
I usually knit in the round on DPNs but there are a couple of ways to get around this issue with circular needles and reduced stitches.
There’s the magic loop method
Or you could switch to a shorter circular needle (they’re usually sold as sock needles, I have some 20 or 25cm ones ) or switch to DPNs
1 Like
From Stricken - Die ultimative Sammlung von Strickanleitungen, Strickmustern, Stricktechniken und Strickideen | Craftery
But in German only
1 Like
Thanks Bluntside and BelgianMum!
Now off to watch videos.
And tomorrow to buy double pointed needles.
(Collecting knitting accoutrement is quite the rabbit hole, isn’t it? I was given a pair of straight needles and a ball of yarn. What a fun, cheap and cheerful hobby. And then I realized I needed this, and that, and and and…)
Very much appreciate the adivce!
You can often find knitting accessories in charity shops. Well worth having a bit of a rummage.
1 Like
Might I suggest buying a set of wooden double-pointed needles (if you haven’t already bought metal ones), I find that metal ones are rather slippery and keep falling out of my knitting!
1 Like
I’m the opposite, I hate the wooden ones and much prefer the more slippery metal ones.
I would suggest just buying one size to try them out before investing a lot in them, some people can’t get on with dpns at all.
1 Like
A lot of my knitting tools are from the 60s and 70s, had them since I was a child and still have my original knitting pin box that has a ruler as a lid, think I bought it with pocket money around 1970.
My sister swears by bamboo knitting needles, but I have a couple of pairs and don’t really like them as much as metal, I also don’t like circular needles, bought a couple when they first came out in yarn shops in Britain back in the 70s. I never seemed to be able to get the tension right using them.
I agree with bluntside, you can sometimes find some great knitting things in charity shops and Brockiehaus places amongst the bric a brac.
1 Like
Thanks everyone for your advice, links, and for sharing your stories. As a beginner, it’s really helpful!
My hat is no more. I screwed up, made it worse by trying to fix it, the best option then seemed to be to unravel and start again.
On the bright side, the tip upthread about winding unravelled yarn around a soda bottlle filled with hot water to ‘re-fluff’ seems to work on merino - so thanks for that!
If you wind unravelled yarn round a hot water bottle it helps take out the kinks.
1 Like