BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Knitting What are we all knitting now

oh wow. I loved the detail of the little notch in the one.

Hi. I am currently knitting a Mickey Mouse sweater for my little 3 year old grandaughter

I am currently working on a) Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket, b) a poncho for my niece c) a hat for my husband (from the book 'Homespun, Handknit,' d) a Coco Chanel sweater for me from 'The Purl Stitch.' There's just so much knitting, and so little time!

I'm supposed to be finishing up a pair of fingerless gloves for my daughter using this pattern: http://tinyurl.com/22z6bx

However, I've been slack. I'm 90% done but I keep putting off the last bit. Hopefully, I can talk myself into finishing them before the cold weather is gone!

I just finished my first pair of 2 at a time socks.. Magic Loop method, 5 i-pod covers and now I am knitting a sweater for my 6 week old grand daughter Melanie.Then on to a sweater for my 4 month old grand daughter Sadie.That should keep me out of mischief for a bit.

Socks. I'm working my way through "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush. Except that I'm converting the patterns for using the Magic Loop method as I dislike knitting on DP's which I find to be the equivalent of snuggling up to a hedgehog. One pair finished last night, one pair to be started tonight.

Other than that, I'm working on a gansey for my DH but I'm not quite done with the spinning stage for that yet. Another project for tonight - after the sock is started and just far enough along to be a "grab & go" project.

I'm still working on my nephew to be's Shetland shawl - he's "due" in May but not to be christened till 4 months so there's time. I've had a couple of disasters including the yarn breaking a couple of rows below the one I was knitting - after I had started the borders!! (over 800 stitches to unpick per row and it's cobweb weight waaah). Oh well I'd rather find the yarn broken BEFORE I block it...

I'm also knitting a charcoal coloured cardigan from Simply Knitting magazine and I must cast off and sew in the ends on a scarf I've been knitting for my recent Simple Scarf pattern illustration.

Adding to the UFO's I have to work the second Norwegian Mitten from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Around, and I have a Sasha doll raglan sweater to finish.

Ice Queen got finished some time ago, and now all my knitters want to make one so i'll be doing it again, hahahahaha!

I also finished a cable sweater... Dickinson Pullover in the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits issue. It is really stunning, and i'd recommend the pattern to anyone!!! I'm getting quite a lot of compliments on it. I made it out of 7 balls of Ella Rae Classic, and the yarn was perfect for this. It's a very cheap wool... the whole sweater project only cost $45.50, can you believe it? And the yarn feels soft when knit up but has just enough strength to hold up well in cables without fuzzing out. I could have spent more on yarn, but i don't think other yarn could have performed better... i was very pleased with the Ella Rae! As far as knitting time goes, the project took me about 70 hours, and i'd say i'm only slightly better than average at knitting speed, so it made the project pretty quick for the wow. It IS cable, after all, so 70 hours for a generous pullover really isn't bad. I did find the sizes run large, however. These cables are stretchy, so if you make the pattern, choose a smaller size than you think you need. I think i'll make this again some day in a different color!

Since then i've done a whole bunch of little things and i'm trying to finish up a few UFO's. I'm teaching someone Fair Isle so i have a Fair Isle Hat and Mitts going simultaneously, and then i also finished the lace i was working on and started another piece of lace (a scarf in lace weight yarn). This lace is a free pattern off of the Knit Picks websight... i think it's called Candleflame and i'm doing it in the Alpaca Cloud yarn it recommends. I finished a cotton purse, too... it's pretty simple. It's in the Araucania yarns and the pattern is from one of their books. I'm wanting to teach a workshop in it this summer so i needed to knit up a sample to put in the store window.

Whew! I guess i've accomplished more than i thought i had. I really REALLY should keep a log of my projects. I have two knitting journals kicking around and i haven't written in either one of them. Anyone else like that?

hello Hollyelise, I am a newbie to kniting,(free lance). I have not learned to read the patterns, and I've got a couple things going on right now. A lapghan, a 60's poncho with a hood, and my experiment with knitting in the round. where would you link me too? "been on Knittinghelp.com ------ my mind is telling me that I want to learn everything "NOW".
GG-MOM
SANDRA
RICHMOND, VA-----------P.S. ARE THERE ANY VIRGINIANS IN HERE?

KnittingHelp.com is where i most often recommend, because they have those podcast tutorials and the most complete reference to terms. If you have particular questions, i'd be glad to answer or link you to the answer.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a way to "learn to read patterns" like you'd learn to read a language like Spanish... everyone learns pattern terms and pattern-writing-styles as they go and as they need them for their projects... or you're just not likely to remember them. I've knit long enough and seen so many different styles, i know a lot of the obscure terms and facts, like why a yo and a yf are really the same thing, but one is notated by continental knitters and the other by British style knitters... and it only took me 20 years to figure it out! LOL.

There are so many different kinds of knitting, that even most experienced knitters are specialized. They might know cable knitting very well, for instance, but not know lace knitting and color work. I would just try to learn what you would most like to do, and not try to learn stuff that you don't like as much. If the sky's the limit, what would you like to be knitting? Because you'll be surprised how much you can advance your skills in a year, if you just knit a little bit every evening! If you linc to me a picture of a pattern you think is really great, maybe i can get you started in the right direction.