knit swatches. knit all kinds of patterns of swatches: lace, cable, basket weave, etc. once you get a feel for how fabric is constructed and how different combinations of the knit and purl stitches work together, how different sides of the fabric look, why you need garter stitch to border a rectangular piece of fabric, etc., a complicated pattern like a glove or a sock will be so much easier because the act of knitting will be so much more intuitive. reading a pattern makes so much more sense when you understand *why* it’s written that way.
don’t be afraid of trying to knit anything. it can always be frogged if it needs too.
learn how gauge works. i still suck at this and it’s the bane of my knitting life.
related to the above, learn what different yarns do and why you need different yarns to knit different patterns or types of patterns.
i know i have a lot of knitting followers- chime in!
Join Ravelry, a free knitting/crochet website. The community is amazing and if you ever have any questions they’ll not only be answered, but explained several different ways so you’ll definitely find one that clicks with you.
They have an enormous database full of patterns, with thousands of free ones that are both beautiful and suited for beginners.
They also have an enormous database full of yarn! It’s great for finding out things like how this yarn tends to fade after only a few washes, or how the label of this yarn says it’s sport weight but it’s really fingering weight.
Seriously Ravelry is great.
Needles of different type/material react differently, even if they’re
the same size, so try as many as you can until you find one’s you’re
most comfortable with.
Similarly, there are also lots of different ways to knit! Don’t keep
using the “standard” right-handed English style if you find it
uncomfortable.
http://techknitting.blogspot.com/
is an excellent resource for a technical look at why knitting works the
way it does. Want to know why stockinette curls? How to avoid ladders
on DPNs? Twenty different ways of casting on and when to use each? That’s your blog.
While you should learn how gauge works, I wouldn’t worry about sticking to it until you can do all the basic stitches in your sleep. After you can do that, the next step is getting a consistent gauge in general. Then you can worry about matching your gauge to the pattern’s.
Today I found out that yarners think crocheting socks is subversive and controversial and I just…on one hand, why the fuck not, I guess yarners are allowed to have their controversies, but on the other, how much time do you have in your FUCKIN DAY??
My main concern is how they would feel but Maggie u know yarn fandom gotta think about something while knitting five miles of stockingnette for a sweater
Look, you can’t just leave it at that, why is it subversive and controversial? *gets popcorn*
I mean, I’m taking this on good faith, and I’m not saying this is my own personal belief. I believe in all crafts.
But…the structure of the stitches and the resulting fabric is pretty different between crochet and knitting. You get different effects between them, which lends themselves to different crafts. And none of the effects of (most) crochet stitches lend themselves naturally to socks. You’re (usually) going to end up with something either stiff and bulky, or full of holes that will Not Feel Good to walk on. Whereas knitted socks will just…BE elastic and comfortable.
Sure you CAN do it. And there are people and patterns that do it well!!
But MOST crochet socks are a bit like calling this a bicycle
I mean… Okay? But people are going to Talk.
But this is BABY controversy, this is nothing. You haven’t even touched on the good shit like RHSS or that time the Olympic Committee dissed us.
Iiiinteresting. So one of those “just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD” things.
Also I know very little about the yarn fandom except for that bit where a woman had to fake her death and had a nervous breakdown over selling homespun/dyed yarn so like, I already have big expectations.
Was that the one that “died” of leukemia or the one that “died” of lupus, or the one that overdosed?
From what I know of the narrative as it was described to me, I want to say the one that overdosed, but I am intrigued and vaguely concerned that there are multiple distinct individuals the above situation could apply to.
hey umm, what the fuck
the fake deaths thing: indie yarn dyer gets popular, gets overwhelmed by orders, can’t refund money because of shitty bookkeeping, decides faking online death is the only way out.
i’m sure some of them are unintentional rather than premeditated scammers but they’re all still thieving assholes who shouldn’t be running businesses and need to give all the money back.
the olympics commitee: ravelry, well-known knitting (fiber arts in general) site, held a contest they called the ‘ravelympics’ to drum up olympic support then get a cease-and-desist letter for copyright infringement, and the letter said that calling it that ‘denigrates the true nature of the Olympic Games’ and was ‘disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes’
except, you know, ravelry had like 2 million users who all, by nature of ravelry being a website, have basic tech literacy. the social media backlash was so bad that the olympics board had to make 2 official apologies because the first wasn’t good enough.
RHSS: Red Heart Super Saver is cheap Walmart-level yarn. some people hate it because it used to be just really fucking awful and they haven’t bothered updating their opinions. some people hate it because they hate non-natural yarns. some people hate it because they’re yarn snobs(which, btw, comes in two flavors: the disdainful assholes and the people who just don’t see the point if you have the money and don’t indulge yourself). a lot of people defend it because it’s cheap and widely locally available and honestly not that bad after a wash and some fabric softener.
crocheted socks: exactly what kaitoukitty said. people who crochet socks tend to either be new crocheters who are not aware crochet is not the best medium for socks or experienced crocheters who are pushing the boundaries of the medium.
babies on fire: i can’t believe we’re talking about yarncraft controversies and no one mentioned babies on fire. that’s my favorite controversy.
so when deciding what material to make baby blankets out of, in addition to considerations like softness, ease of washing, and allergy concerns quite a lot of people like to consider what would happen to the baby if the blanket was set on fire. yes, really.
wool has the problem of hand-wash only blankets for a new mother (superwash wool exists but that’s a whole ‘nother paragraph), allergy concerns, and also
real fucking expensive if you want quality not-itchy-on-baby-skin wool. but pro-wool-blanket people insist that because wool actually resists being set on fire pretty well and also can self-extinguish, it’s the only sensible choice.
acrylic on the other hand is cheap and you can throw it in the washing machine, and while bad quality acrylics might be stiff and plastic-y they’re not itchy, but if it gets set on fire it will melt onto the baby’s skin. pro-acrylic people insist that if your blanket is on fire, you probably have bigger problems than what the blanket is made of.
wow I didn’t expect such a detailed response. thank you!
Fiber Arts Just Be Fucking Like That.
Oh my god I have been missing out on all this drama?!?!?!
I love a good fandom drama but this is on a level so beyond anything I have experienced… I am in awe.
So, if any of you following me have read Knit One Girl Two, now you know I didn’t make up the indie dyer faked death anecdote 🙄😏
De Gene Zijde 