A thread for the knitters and those who like to crochet.

I can't knit to save my life but I have a question if there is anyone that does knit.

Is it possible to knit a tube? Or would you knit a flat bit and have to seam it?

It is certainly possible to knit a tube. You can buy a 'circular' needle which is a length of wire/plastic cable with a needle at each end, you just keep knitting round and round. It is a good idea to put a marker at the beginning so you know when you have done a complete round. This is fine for larger items like a sweater. Obviously you need to have sufficient stitches to fill the cable.

The second method is to use four double-ended needles, you divide the stitches between three needles and use the fourth to knit onto. This method can be used to knit smaller items like socks as well as larger ones. I have used both methods.

Edited to add that when knitting a tube you don't have to knit one row plain, one purl, you just knit the 'right side' all the way. I haven't tried knitting a pattern although it ought to be possible but would need thinking about carefully.

I can't knit either, but my sister (who also has no clue about knitting) got some really cool gadgets for her birthday that I wouldn't mind trying some day. They remind me a bit of the corking we used to do when I was a kid and it looks very easy to knit things. Apparently the technique is called loom knitting (a word they forgot to teach me in English class ). The tools my sister has are called Knifty Knitter but I'm sure they come in different brands too. http://www.loomknitting.com/ has some more info, in case anyone is interested.

It looks like a larger version of French knitting which is what we called it when using an empty cotton reel with four nails knocked into the top.

I think your French knitting is what I called corking in my post. Had to look it up in the dictionary and pick one of the many terms they listed.

I used to call it a Tomboy. I once made one that stretched from one side of my lounge room to the other.

Loom knitting is really popular right now. Knitting "looms" or "boards" have actually been around for a VERY long time, and while some modern hand-knitters may scoff (and many do) it is a time honored part of the knitting tradition. They're a lot of fun to use, good for folks who don't (yet or can't) have the dexterity for manipulating the needles, and excellent for learning how knitted fabric is structured. And you CAN knit flat on them as well.

I'm the knitting moderator on a crafting forum, and while not an expert, I can honestly say, if anyone has any questions, I'm sure that I can find you answers, if I don't already know them myself.

Also, just for the record, I recently read A History of Hand-Knitting by Richard Rutt and it was a great read. If anyone is interested in reading about the historical significance of this craft from a textile standpoint, it's well worth looking up.

I've recently started knitting, and I'm about to finish up my first project (a Dr. Who scarf which will be about 9-10 feet at the end). Problem is, I've never bound off. Can anyone recommend a website with good pictures, or a clear description of what I should do?

Knit two stitches in the normal way then slip the first stitch that you knitted over the second that you knitted. Then knit another stitch and pass the other stitch over this one and continue until the end of the row and finally pass the yarn through the final stitch. Make sure you do the casting off loosely.

Ooh, a Dr. Who scarf. Nice! Have fun weaving in all the ends. Sue's explanation is excellent, but if you need pics I could share some resources with you via pm.

Talking about knitting a tube - this is the way I make sweaters. You do the body up to the armpits, then do the sleeves. Just add the sleeves onto the body (you need a BIG circular needle, obviously) and keep going until you are done. The only sewing necessary then is a little bit under the arms. I like this much better than making flat panels and sewing them together.

Are you building a raglan sweater there? Or do you have a snazzy way of doing a set-in-like sleeve that I don't know about. Because I have always wanted to find a way of doing a seamless set-in sleeve.

Agony I hate sewing knitting too. Can you give us a diagram or a link to a site that explains in more detail just how you do it. I understand up to the armpits on a circular needle but don't understand how you do the sleeves. Thanks.

I would very much like to take part in this little knitting group!

It MAY, or may not, come as a surprise to some that ummmm, I am a MAN.

I have created many of my own patterns, and my favourite style is "cable work", using large needles and chunky wool. I have however, created some pretty lacy patterns for baby clothes, using 2mm needles and 2 ply yarn.

I wonder, is there any difference between UK knitting patterns, and US knitting patterns?

I've seen a lot of seamess sweater patterns, some top down and some bottom up, some are both, most of which are raglan or yoked or a traditional aran that produces something rather like a seamless drop sleeve or very simple set-in sleeve. But I've never found a seamless pattern that has a shaped, non-raglan seamless sleeve.

I actually don't mind seaming, and after knitting for so long on a garment I rather enjoy the somewhat cathartic process of creating a nice mattress stitch seam. But there's something unbelievably slick about making a sweater without having to sew anything.

About differences between UK and US knitting patterns, the biggest differences between patterns are the differences in knitting needle gauge. But most patterns these days make a point of listing both US needle size and the corresponding metric size, and there are charts available for converting "old UK" sizes to either US or metric or both. The biggest area you'll run into with this is vintage patterns. Really anything before the 1980s I think. Then you have to be very careful you know where the pattern you're looking at came from to be sure you know exacty what size needle to use.

Also, knitting pattern abbreviations have NEVER been standard even within a specific country, so I doubt they're standard between countries. However, usually published patterns provide an abbreviation guide, so this shouldn't be too big a problem.

My copy of "The History of Hand Knitting" which was written in the UK and tends to focus on UK trends, mentions at the end of the book that graphic patterns were becomming more common at the time of publishing, at the end of the 1980s, but I don't honestly know how common graphic patterns are there now. They're not common at all in the US. You will run into them in a lot of Japanese patterns, though, and if you've never looked at Japanese knitting now's the time!

And since this thread is not just for knitting, but also crochet... Crochet differs between the US and Europe (everywhere else? I'm not sure). In the US, we have a chain stitch, then a slip stitch, then single crochet, double crochet, etc. The US sc is a European double crochet, etc. So when you work a crochet pattern it is vital that you know what nomenclature it uses.

I should think another difference is likely to be the names of thicknesses of yarns, for instance in the UK we have 2-ply, 3-ply, 4-ply, double-knitting, chunky and so forth.

Good to have you here delboy. My father was an excellent knitter, it was him who used to knit our garments when we were children.

I haven't done any knitting for several years as my cat(s) inteferred too much. I used to enjoy cabling too and really enjoyed intarsia, fairisle and the sort of knitting which makes it look like it is woven - I can't remember the name off hand but it looks like this. The collar on this was knitted on a circular needle.

I have knitted lacy things but really don't have the patience.

Ooh, that's entrelac, Sue, and lovely!! I haven't tried it yet.

The names of yarn weights are indeed different, although DK, or double knitting yarn is the same in the UK and the US. However, I haven't run into as much trouble with that as one might think because any more most patterns published in the UK are for the international market (can't say the same about the US), and they mostly don't refer to the required yarn by weight, but by brand name and style. I may not know whether Rowan Summer Tweed, for instance, is a 2-ply or 3-ply or 4-py, but I can look online to see that most yarn companies sell it in the worsted catagory, and that the label states a certain gauge on a certain size needles, and that way I can substitute as neccessary.

Incidentally, in the US, we have Fingering/sock/baby weight yarns, sport/DK weight, worsted weight, chunky weight and bulky weight, with aran I think falling somewhere just between worsted and chunky.

Entrelac, that's right, the name was escaping me. I saw someone wearing one many years ago and fell in love with it.

I have no idea how many jumpers I have knitted in entrelac, loads of them. I like them in two different yarns of the same colour such as that silver one, I have a white one with a round neck which is also two different yarns. What I have done a few times is to use a random yarn as you have no idea what it will look like. A few times I have done it in contrasting yarns.

I think most patterns have them with more or less a slash neck but I don't care for that so adapt the patterns to give either a round or a roll neck although I have done a couple with slash necks, just not for me.

One of the beauties of knitting that pattern is that you only work on a few stitches at the time, perhaps eight or ten. It doesn't take long to finish a row!

I have one sweater part finished which won't fit me now if I do finish it, it is not only entrelac but is also heavily patterned on each block, with colours and complex stitches. I will finish one day, perhaps I will knit a gusset to go up the sides to make it fit. This is the pattern

My father did embroidery and tapestry too. In fact he could turn his hand to almost anything, wedding cake decoration included. Three out of four of us children can do most things with our hands, our youngest brother has never had any inclination and is all thumbs.

My son-in-law can sew, he made himself a duvet cover when he was a student. He was probably getting in some practice as he is a doctor.

Sorry, took me a while to get back - no, the sleeves I make do not have shaped shoulders.

Knit the body from the bottom up just to the armpit line. Once the two sleeve tubes are knitted up, just waiting on holders, you go halfway around the body, knitting the front. Knit one of the sleeves from its holder onto the big circular needle you are using, then do the back of the sweater, and when you get to the other side, just add in the other sleeve. Next row, you have the whole thing, all one big tube. Then you start reducing, so it narrows down until you get to the neckband. Gives the same effect as a raglan.

That makes sense to me now. Presumably you use markers at intervals so you know when to decrease. What a clever idea, I might give it a go when the cat dies.