knit one purl one
Rosemary is trying to organize a mitten knit-along and I am trying to join in. Today I made an impulse decision to pop into a local yarn shop. I pulled up the patterns Rosemary had found for me on my phone and showed them to the assistant. She pointed out the different kinds of yarn that would work for each one, and talked about the various challenges of the patterns (eg "have you knitted on double pointed needles before?"). The nice thing about toddler mittens is that they don't require a lot of yarn. I bought a single skein of 100% wool Noro yarn in a lovely purply-greeny-black variegated style. We ran into an issue with the needles, as they had only US 6 and US 8 in stock, no US 7. She asked if I tended to be a tight knitter or a loose knitter, but I couldn't remember. I ended up buying the US 6 (4mm).
Altogether with tax: almost exactly $20, of which half was the needles.
I got home and (after bedtime for the kiddos) fired up some knitting videos on YouTube to remember how to cast on, knit, purl, etc.
I'm doing the gauge swatch now. It's definitely coming back to me, but I'm definitely slow, and I've also made some mistakes. I counted wrong from the beginning and knitted 21 stitches instead of 20. I'm just going to ignore the last stitch when I measure. I also got mixed up when my husband came home and started to knit when I should have purled, and only figured that out after two more rows, so I had to rip them all out.
I think in about 60 minutes of actual active knitting (as opposed to adjusting the music, watching videos on YouTube, etc), I got about 4"x1.5" done on the swatch (I want 4"x4"). I was kinda hoping to finish the swatch before bed, but I think I need to get to sleep sooner than that.
Ok, actually I think I have a major question. Attention knitters. Ahem. Thank you. The pattern says: "20st = 4″ in stockinette stitch on size 7 needles or size needed to obtain gauge."
Does that mean that 20 rows should ALSO be 4"? Because I just tried to count the rows and it looks like I've done about 12, but it's only about 1.5". Yet the 21 stitches are definitely more like 4". (I haven't actually measured yet, but it's a little larger than my hand width at the knuckles.)
I'm Googling around but it seems like the pattern gauge should mention a row measurement?
Ugh now I'm getting really discouraged and wondering if I can do this. :( At least without someone in person to help me figure it out. I'm reading the pattern and I'm having a hard time visualizing how it will work.
Ok, I watched some more videos and I'm a bit calmer now. I'm glad these are toddler mittens, because I foresee a lot of ripping out and starting again, and at least with tiny mittens I have a prospect of finishing them.
Altogether with tax: almost exactly $20, of which half was the needles.
I got home and (after bedtime for the kiddos) fired up some knitting videos on YouTube to remember how to cast on, knit, purl, etc.
I'm doing the gauge swatch now. It's definitely coming back to me, but I'm definitely slow, and I've also made some mistakes. I counted wrong from the beginning and knitted 21 stitches instead of 20. I'm just going to ignore the last stitch when I measure. I also got mixed up when my husband came home and started to knit when I should have purled, and only figured that out after two more rows, so I had to rip them all out.
I think in about 60 minutes of actual active knitting (as opposed to adjusting the music, watching videos on YouTube, etc), I got about 4"x1.5" done on the swatch (I want 4"x4"). I was kinda hoping to finish the swatch before bed, but I think I need to get to sleep sooner than that.
Ok, actually I think I have a major question. Attention knitters. Ahem. Thank you. The pattern says: "20st = 4″ in stockinette stitch on size 7 needles or size needed to obtain gauge."
Does that mean that 20 rows should ALSO be 4"? Because I just tried to count the rows and it looks like I've done about 12, but it's only about 1.5". Yet the 21 stitches are definitely more like 4". (I haven't actually measured yet, but it's a little larger than my hand width at the knuckles.)
I'm Googling around but it seems like the pattern gauge should mention a row measurement?
Ugh now I'm getting really discouraged and wondering if I can do this. :( At least without someone in person to help me figure it out. I'm reading the pattern and I'm having a hard time visualizing how it will work.
Ok, I watched some more videos and I'm a bit calmer now. I'm glad these are toddler mittens, because I foresee a lot of ripping out and starting again, and at least with tiny mittens I have a prospect of finishing them.