Anyone around here knit????

[Carol]

I've taken it up to maintain my sanity as I am not to venture out for 6 weeks or do too much.  I am doing alright at straight knitting but I'm wondering if I am a bit "slow".  I am having trouble identifying when I drop a stitch or how to undo it and re do it if I make a mistake.....is this normal or am I just of low intelligence in this area. ?  My mom came by to try to teach me but now I feel even more incompetent.  Give me input here would ya??

[dort]

Haha, I'm the worst for hand crafts!  I tried knitting years ago and found the same problems.  I found that crocheting was a bit easier.  My suggestion:  give it up and hang on the computer!   

[Carol]

Well at least it's not just me.....this is waaaaay too much like work.  The pity of it all is that I could work 4 hrs. in a doc's office and buy 10 of these in the store.  Instead I'm here spending hours upon hours frustratingly working my way through this....it definitely is a scarf only a mother could love, and I've spent $$ on yarn and books to do it.....

[patty]

Give me input here would ya??

can i have a hat? something for the up and coming aerosmith concert in april i'm attending?? 

[Carol]

[q
can i have a hat? something for the up and coming aerosmith concert in april i'm attending?? 
[/quote]

Patty girl, I love you waaaaay to much to do that to you.  My kids are trying to be nice and pretend to be arguing for the scarf but I see that smirk twitching in the corners of their mouths.  Little do they know how very much I love them for that!!  How bout a pair of houseshoes....you know, the ones with the little balls on the toes, bet I could make 2 left feet with no problem.

[BEAU]

Wish I could help, but I only know how to crochet.
I never could get the hang of knitting either...
Sounds like you have enough help if you decide you want to try and take up crocheting.
 

[Shalva]

I knit
actually I knit quite a bit.... if I can be of any help.....
but I knit european style so I am not sure I can help you with stitches but patterns and stuff..... let me know

[Carol]

OH yay p!!!!  At least there's help. Beats me if it's European or not but don't worry, I don't even know how to pearl yet, just a straight knit. What I seem to have the most diifficulty figuring out is how to tear out part and start over. Sometimes I'll realize that I've split the stitch in the yarn and then have knitted a couple of more stitches but then I don't know how to take it back down and so I can correct it.  This is probably really boring for everone else, so feel free to email me if you can help.

[Shalva]

the easiest way for a beginner to do it is to take one stitch at a time and back up.... so take one recentlyl knit stitch that you want to back out of let it off the needle pull the yarn and you will see the loop ..... from the previous row.... put it back on the other needle and go on to the next....you will probably back out in this fashion for a while until you can start seeing the stitches.... better..... when you do this recount to make sure you have the proper number of stitches on your needles..... over time you will be able to back down by pulling just a few stitchs in the middle and reknitting the excess from what you pulled in the middle of a project but that is advanced work and I still have trouble doing that successfullly ..... if I can I try to back out stitch by stitch......
I dont know if this makes sense.....

if I have to rip out whole rows I will pull out the rows I need very very carefull and get needles about 3 sizes smaller so I can easilly pick up the loops then transfer them back to the right sized needles....
s

[BEAU]

It figures you would knit!
Now I should have you make a stocking for me!
Or I should say remake a stocking..... someone attempted one once... but its just not the same...
 

[Carol]

This makes sense, at least the loop by loop thing....I'm going to go get a scrap ball of yarn and just try knitting and backing out to make sure I have this....Just another question...when I put the loop back onto the original needle how do I know if I have it on upside down or right side up or doesn't it matter?  Thanks p...you're a lifesave!!!!

[Shalva]

when you back it out you will clearly see the loop..... it will be standing up and just pull the stitch out and you will see the loop very clearly.... just put the other needle into it and you will be good to go...... once you do it you will see what I mean..... if you need to back out whole sections you can pull the material off your needles and pull out what you need to pull out and again you will see the loops just make sure you count when you are done so you are sure you have the same number of stitches left on your needle as you started with..... the other thing is while you are knitting and ripping is to look at the way the stitches go ..... the move up so if you do drop a stitch you can create a stitch by looking at the pattern and remember the pattern is not from left to right or right to left,.... its up and down so look at how the yarn goes into the loops below it to create past stitches..... a crochet hook is a great help when you have dropped a stitch and don't want to have to back out.... with a crochet hook you can go into the loop of the stitch and pick up the piece of yarn pull it through the loop and voila you have created a stitch......
s

[Shalva]

It figures you would knit!
Now I should have you make a stocking for me!
Or I should say remake a stocking..... someone attempted one once... but its just not the same...
 

now why is this so surprising? huh??

[JoeF]

Cuz you're sooo talented!

[Carol]

Beau and Sav, whatever you do...PLEASE don't crash the board til tomorrow....I've got to have the kids pick up some printing paper and print this thread off....that way I can refer back to it as I go (BTW, I really didn't think you'd crash the board, but just in case...