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Permalink Reply by ghedrain on October 23, 2008 at 2:28pm: My mother wants to learn to knit. I am willing to teach her but I've never taught anyone other than myself. I've been knitting for so many years that I'm afraid that I will overlook something that comes natural to me when I'm trying to teach her. Does anyone have suggestions for a good starting needle size and yarn weight. Mother's eyesight is not as good as it used to be so I was thinking light colors would be best. My hope is to teach her well enough that she enjoys practicing and continues to knit until she can do it without really having to look at what she is doing. Kelly talks about teaching new knitters all the time, I'd like to see a new knitters kit designed by Kelly. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Knit Picks Admin on October 23, 2008 at 2:35pm: I learned how to knit 3 years ago, so I still remember what worked for me and what was really difficult. For my first project, I made a garter stitch scarf on size 13 straight needles and a smooth bulky weight yarn (Wool of the Andes Bulky, Swish Bulky, or Cadena would all work). The big needles helped me finish the project quickly, see progress, and not get frustrated. Looking back, I think that I would have preferred using circular needles for my first project, because I tended to drop my needles when I finished a row. Depending on your mother's style of learning, I'd also recommend a how to knit book or showing her the video tutorials on our website so that she can reference them in case she forgets things when you aren't around to help.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by ghedrain on October 23, 2008 at 4:00pm: Thanks for the tips. She went ahead and bought herself some size 8 circular needles because they looked like what I was using. I am about to put in an order and I talked to her about a first project. I think we'll get some Wool of the Andes and knit some squares in garter stitch, then felt them. I want to make her feel better about her project and felting seems like a good way to erase mistakes but still have something to show. I am even willing to sew her squares together in a purse shape some that it's something useable.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on October 26, 2008 at 10:10am: Would Telemark make a good yarn for felting? I'm trying to do this for a set of coasters, and I'm not sure it is felting as it should. This isn't my first felted project, but my first using Telemark.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Knit Picks Admin on November 11, 2008 at 1:59pm: Yes, Telemark felts. Actually, if you look at the yarns in our catalog, we have a red asterisks next to all of the yarns that we recommend for felting.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Secretgirl on November 4, 2008 at 10:47pm: Why doesn't knitpicks ships overseases. I love knitpicks yarns and accasories.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Knit Picks Admin on November 11, 2008 at 1:24pm: Unfortunately, Knit Picks can't ship overseas at this time. However, there are Knit Picks partners around the world who sell our products. Here is a link to our partners: http://www.knitpicks.com/help/index.php/archive/knit-picks-internat...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by kathy on November 6, 2008 at 6:44am: Hi - I'm brand new to knitting but have fallen for it head over heels. But, I'm having a problem - I'm attempting to make a baby afghan and I'm using a lace and fans pattern according to the instructions I cast on 176 stiches, the first two rows are purled, then every other row - the odd rows are the actual pattern. The last five stitches are always purled.
My problem is that every time I'm coming up short on the patten row - meaning that I'm only able to execute half of the pattern instructions before reaching the last five stitches - it;'s causing my patten to be skewed, especially the last panel the lace/fan design is all over the place. the rest of the afghan is perfect - it's only the last 20 stitches or so that are off - i've torn it out and restarted it numerous times. I've counted repeatedly to see if I've gained or lost stitches, but I'm still comign up with 176 - my original count.
the pattern follows: P5 K2, YO K3, P2 P2tog, P2, K1, YO K3 - then the k's increase and p's decrease till you restart the patten. each section seems to have a sequence of 17 stitches.

I've actually tried to add stitches to the original cast on to try and accommodate where I'm coming up short and that distorted the entire pattern.

Any ideas for this first timer?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Knit Picks Admin on November 11, 2008 at 1:18pm: Hmm, I don't think that you wrote the pattern down correctly in this message. So your pattern has a feather and fan stitch pattern with a certain number of stitches (x) that repeat (y) number of times across the blanket. Also, you may or may not have a number of edge stitches at the border (z). To figure out the number of stitches you cast on, it should be (x*y) +z. If you cast on that many stitches, your pattern will work out.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on November 11, 2008 at 5:54pm: One of my favorites is a similar feather and fan. First double check that you wrote the pattern correctly. It doesn't look right to me. Then, one of my tricks (didn't think it up myself) is to place a marker at the end of each pattern repeat. It helps keep the pattern in perspective, and if something is off you will notice it immediately. My pattern has a repeat of 18 stitches, so you may want to be sure of the pattern first.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cyndi Martin on November 15, 2008 at 10:21pm: I kept frogging my Feather & Fan (was knitting a scarf long-ways and it was a lot of stitches) until I placed a stitch marker at every repeat. I had one every 18 stitches and didn't have one single problem after that. I recommend this if you lose count.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by PurlGirl on November 7, 2008 at 5:06am: I have a question about blog posts. If I check the box that says only I can view this blog post, but I can see it on my computer when I click on the BLOGS button on the top of the screen (whrere you can view everybodies blogs,) does that mean that everybody else can see it and my button isn't working? Just curious. I would never write anything that would be offensive, but it might seem pretty silly to someone else sometime!!!
Allison; ▶ Reply to This