Knitting thoughts

[jan_andrea]

Why do half of the knitting/crocheting sites and blogs insist on a pink background? It's so hard on the eyes! Sure, knitting is all girly-girl (or whatever), but christ, enough with the friggin' pink!

Also, I'm a total beginner -- I've made four scarves, and just grabbed a pattern for a cowl on Knitty. I think it will work with the TLC Amore yarn (in plum) I bought today at JoAnns. I'm allergic to wool, so half of the yarn-snobbery-type yarns are effectively off-limits to me, so I'm kind of stuck with el cheapo craft store chain yarns. The Amore is 80% acrylic, 20% nylon, and it's *really* nice and soft. I've been working on a little swatch, and it feels good in my hands. I'm just not sure what to do once my cowl is done. I'd like to make sweaters for the kids, but I'm worried that they'll have grown out of that size before I finish... I'm not exactly quick. And I don't understand most of the abbreviations and directions on regular patterns. I need a knitting mentor!

Comments

[k425.livejournal.com]

Well, you can ask questions on your journal and I'm pretty sure at least I'll be able to try to answer, if only to translate abbreviations.

I make sweaters a size larger than YoungBloke currently is, so that if he has a growth spurt or I get distracted there's still a chance it'll fit when finished.

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's an excellent idea. The pattern I've just started has bobbles -- you're supposed to make 5 stitches in one stitch, and I haven't the faintest idea how to do that. I could do it in crochet, but with knitting needles, I'm totally baffled. I'm skipping the bobbles anyway, because I hate bobbles, but it's probably something I should learn how to do.

[tafagirl.livejournal.com]

My knitting blog has a sort of pink theme - white background, though. With the account type I have I can't modify colours, but I love the cutesy knitting theme as such ;-)

(And I know you didn't refer to me personally, I'm just sayin')

Ask ahead about any sort of instructions that seem puzzling!

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

Not yours at all :) It's more the predominant color scheme on most of the instructional and link pages I found. The hot pink was particularly egregious -- just really hard to stare at after a while.

[joy-disaster.livejournal.com]

I think it is great that you are knitting! Don't worry, you definitely won't be stuck with cheapo yarns - there are alot of animal-free alternatives (is it just wool that bothers you, or alpaca and mohair too?). Amy Singer from knitty is also allergic and uses no wool at all - I believe she is working on a book of patterns and tips for non-wool knitting. here are some yarns you might like: "Sari" silk, rayon chenilles, bamboo (so soft!), cotton (of course), Cotton with modal (such as knipicks.com "Shine" yarn), cotton-silk blends and pure silk. There's banana fiber yarn but I tried it and I can't really recommend it.

[jan-andrea.livejournal.com]

I haven't experimented with alpaca and mohair, but I can use Lansinoh... I don't know what part of wool it is that bothers me, but if it's sheep-specific, maybe other animal fibers would be all right? Not sure. I just itch everywhere I touch wool. And I'm allergic to cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc. so I'm guessing it's not just sheep. Dunno. The non-wool ones you list sound nice... I wonder if my LYS has them? I bought some lovely cotton there for Sophia's hat (in my icon) but I feel like if I'm still just learning, I shouldn't be buying the really pricey stuff yet. But that's probably not true, either :)

[joy-disaster.livejournal.com]

It depends - for me, if I spend more on yarn simple pressure (guilt!) makes me finish what I am doing, and makes me more likely to rip back for mistakes. But then on the other hand, many better yarns are around the same price scale as those avilable at craft stores so that is becoming moot. My friend Diana can use no wool or animal fibers of any kind - check out her blog for great yarn suggestions! http://bestitched.typepad.com/bestitched/