not to bad-mouth knitting, but..

[ngabriel]

I just learned to knit, only the knit stitch (garter, right?). Well, I am really wanting to find something to knit, that may be fun and I can get some practice in between crocheting my many projects. BUT I cannot find anything!! I've searched the web for something exciting, and cannot find a thing. I'm shocked , I thought there were so many more things out there for knitting. My pastor wants a scarf in black and brown, so I figured maybe this would be a nice time to practice my knitting, but I cannot even find anything really nice! any ideas? Is a scarf warmer if knitted?

 

thanks!

n

[SHERYL]

Here's a 'how to' for beginners for knitting a scarf:

http://www.aokcorral.com/projects/how2oct2003.htm

 

Here's a basic scarf ~ you can do stripes on this one:

http://www.pretendingsanity.com/knitting_iframe.php?id=7

 

Check out this site for more scarves ~ some are easy, some are harder:

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/scarves.php

[purlwise]

Well, no I don't think a knitted scarf is warmer, but it will probably be lighter since knitting in general is not as dense as crocheting. An easy pattern for a beginner scarf is a simple basketweave stitch. Cast on however many stitches you want the scarf wide, let's say 40 (I'm totally guessing) your basket weave stitch might be 5 knits, 5 purls, 5 knits, 5 purls, all the way across. Turn your work then knit the purls and purl the knits, so it would be 5 purls, 5 knits, etc across. do this for 5 or 6 rows, then switch and knit the purls and purl the knits for five or 6 rows. It is a very nice pattern for a beginner. But with the right yarn a simple garter stitch can be beautiful!

[darski]

You do need to put in some effort to learn the purl stitch. Garter stitch is very limited in what you can achieve. it is useful and will always be a staple of knitting culture but it gets old quickly.

 

Once you can purl there will be so many patterns to choose from you may never get done and they will have to include your knitting needles for your wake.

[ngabriel]

hehe.. thanks averyone!

 

I would learn the purl, if I found more patterns of interest. That basket weave makes me want to learn the purl. But even with that, I can't find anything really nice, like I have found with crochet patterns. (I'm also only a year old crocheter, and have really only heavily gotten into it in the past 2 months..)

 

n

[Angeleyz14]

Also do yourself the favor of going to a book store and looking through the books for ideas/inspiration. One Skein Wonders is a great book with patterns for all levels.

Have you checked out

www.knitty.com

www.knitpicks.com

www.universalyarn.com

 

many of the yarn companies have free patterns available and there is always the option of buying a pattern from them too.

Also look through the knitting magazines available.

I am suprised you can't find much, there is sooo much out there.

also l look up www.diynetwork.com and look for knittygritty the show patterns are put online, plus lots of tips and tricks too.

there are some other sites I frequent that always have interesting patterns, but I am blanking on them right now

[darski]

If you can't find anything worth making then it is probably time to put knitting away and come back to it some other year. it is not like it will go away and you will never get another chance.

 

 

Focus on the crochet and get that well and truly under your belt.

 

I think it is important to be able to do both but it should also be what you want to do.

[Angeleyz14]

with the basketweave.

make sure however many stitches you use for each section is the # of rows...ie 5 knit, 5 purl...for 5 rows to make it even.

Another thing I do with basket weave is 3 knit stitches on either end to keep the edges from curling and to give it a neat appearance.

 

you might also want to check out

www.knittingdaily.com

www.berroco.com (I get their 'newsletter' and they always have interesting and different patterns)

[ngabriel]

Thanks ladies.. I will definitely check out the sites! Darski, you may be right, I might just practice my knit stitch this year when I need a change of pace, but focus on my projects..

 

thanks again!

n

[ngabriel]

angeleyz, thanks so much for the Berroco site, they have some really nice patterns there. Some of THOSE are worth learning knitting for!!

 

thanks again!

n

[ErinLindsey]

I learned how to knit stitch in August of 2006, just days before I went half blind in one eye. It's probably because I needed a challenge that I kept up trying to knit. It took me about a year to learn purl stitch, but as soon as I was able to purl and make actually look like a purl stitch, I discovered other stuff to do with knitting.

 

If you learn purl, you can try this stitch (I dont know what it's called, so if any knitters can tell me?) Cast on an even number of stitchs (example, cast on 30) Then knit one, purl one all the way across. On the next row, knit one, purl one. It'll look like purl stitches on both sides. It's a neat stitch, it feels good, and it's a bid mindless to do, but not too boring.

 

I'm trying to knit long rectangles into shawls with that stitch (I casted on something like 80 - 100 stitches, and then I'm just k1, p1 back and forth till it's long enough, as long as I dont drop stitches, I dont know how to fix those yet)

 

I havent crocheted for over two weeks because my brain and fingers want to knit. Altho, I'm planning on crocheting a tree skirt out of a pineapple doily pattern I found on Celtwich's site (using a K hook and ww yarn)

[darski]

That is the seed stitch and it is a real favourite. it is easy to learn and makes a nice fabric that doesn't curl. it makes a nicer edging on dishcloths and scarves than just garter stitch.

[sashagregor]

I knit and crochet and love them both, but if you don't enjoy knitting then don't do it. Life's too short to do something you dislike!

 

However, if you want to persevere check out http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/ . Are you on Ravelry? That's a fabulous place to see what other knitters are working on. I'll echo the others that you're rather limited with the idea of a brown & black scarf in garter stitch. That's sort of like saying you dislike crochet because you're only using navy yarn in single crochet, KWIM? There's a whole word of both knitting and crochet out there. You can ILL (inter-library loan) hundreds and hundreds of gorgeous knitting books at your local public library - there'll be masses of patterns, instructions, inspiration and ideas. Check out Elizabeth Zimmermann's DVDs and Videos - she was the Julia Child of knitting and so inspiring and witty. She loved garter stitch and was a real artist at it.

 

If, however, this still sounds boring then why bother? Life's too short! Do what you like!!