Cable knitting

Posted on February 26, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve wanted to learn to cable to for a very long time, but have been concentrating on crochet so obsessively for the last 18 months (had you noticed?) that I put it off. I’ve also always felt that my yarn holding technique was inferior because I hold my right needle from above and take my hand off the needle to wrap the yarn. Do you know what I mean? Lately I’ve seen You Tube knitters, John Lewis demonstrators, a Mollie Makes ‘How to knit’ demonstrator on video and a knitting teacher do the same!

I learnt to knit when I was a child and found it the easiest method despite Mum telling me it was wrong (she still says I should learn to hold the right needle underneath and wrap the yarn ‘properly’.) Admittedly I do think that my Mum and Gran’s method of holding the needle underneath, sliding the hand along to wrap the yarn in a fluid movement is faster and more efficient but it seems nearly impossible to change an ingrained habit. However the knitting teacher said my method is fine, very common and is called ‘throwing’!

My tension looks fine to me, would you know which method was used?

(Upside down pic!)

Last week I bought the latest Let’s Get Knitting and Crochet mag, which I haven’t bought for a while because I’m subscribed to Mollie Makes and Simply Crochet, but there is a really sweet cabled bag in issue 48. The problem is that you only get very sketchy instructions with LGK&C so I just couldn’t work it out.

Last night I learnt to cable with a little help from the book that I heard thud onto the door mat as I typed yesterday: Knitty Gritty. This is my first attempt and you can see I didn’t have an issue with the technique. I’m so surprised! I always thought that cables would be very hard and beyond my skill level.

Next I want to master intarsia. Watch this space.

What new skill are you determined to master?

Puff Stitch

Posted on October 29, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Argh!!!!!!!

I keep losing the working loop when pulling it through the 1000 loops on the hook. Bring back the bobble stitch I say…

Whose idea was this stupid CAL anyway?!

Embroidery

Posted on October 26, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

The embroidery workshop last month was fun. It was a good refresher as I haven’t done any for years. We concentrated on these stitches mainly: running, back, blanket, French knots, satin and chain. There was one stitch I’ve never come across before; split stitch which is what I used for the orange thread. I really like its plaited appearance.

Here’s the t-towel I embroidered during the session.

For some on the workshop it was all completely new, others were at a similar level to me. I’m hoping they will run a follow-on workshop in the New Year, my friend and I are very keen to go.

Guess?

Posted on September 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I made the stitch exactly as before apart from a chain after each popcorn as advised by a You Tube vid (why are these mostly American women who shout?!)

The other tiny, but effective, change was to start with a magic ring as advised by Lynne on my Grrrr post yesterday. If a published crochet and knitting designer gives you advice you’d be a fool to ignore it heh?

I have satisfying pile of blocks, growing at a steady rate. I’m going to tackle another now. How are you getting on?

If you’re not crocheting along what are you making this (rainy) Sunday?

#8 Popcorn Flower GRRRRRR

Posted on September 22, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Yesterday after my last post I had an email from someone saying they didn’t like to comment publicly, but did my popcorns look a bit odd??
After affectionately calling her a nasty biatch or similar, to which S said “it’s only crochet”, I had another closer look at the block this morning.
Apart from the centre looking square rather than drawn into a circle the popcorns are a bit flat somehow, maybe just not pulled quite tight enough on the finish?

Have another look too and see what you think?

I also realised that I’ve obviously missed out a row because there aren’t enough holes. I’ve only done three – if you look from the middle outwards -rather than the block in the book which has four.

Yes it is ‘only crochet’ but the point of working my way through Jan Eaton’s 200 Crochet Block book was to learn new skills, techniques and become better, not perfect but improved.

So now you see it, now you don’t…

I’ll be back with a third time lucky #8 shortly. Grrrrr.

;-)

Bit of practice

Posted on September 10, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Pre-workshop embroidery practice! I saw this Ikea cushion for £7.00, the cover is made of linen and cotton. It’s perfect for trying out stitches. So far I’ve embroidered some back stitches and chains.

It’s very very soothing apart from someone getting irate with tv related questions “What did she see?” “Did he recognise the baddies?” or “Can we rewind so I can watch that bit again? I was going round a corner.”

Flowers & Seashells

Posted on March 19, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Yesterday I was road-testing the flower key chain pattern for Adrianne of Teeny Weeny Design and trying to get over a streaming cold, so crochet in bed was in order.

Imagine my horror when I realised that the petals were made with a combination of dc (fine) tr (not an issue) htr (quite like them) and dtr (EEEEEK!)

The dreaded dtr and me have a bit of recent history as you might know. I even started a little dtr SOS thread on Ravelry. People there are sooo helpful and knowledgeable. If you want to ask anything crochet or knitting related there’s where you need to head right away.

I watched a very short and simple YouTube video, then got on with trying them again. They are not a problem with cotton! Not an issue at all!

I’m now waiting on the next set of instructions so I can carry on with the leaves and finishing off. I’ve taken my job seriously and emailed some suggestions for the clear translation of English terms etc. It’s been really fun!

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Today I have mastered dtr with chunky yarn too.

:-D :-D :-D

I’ve had a quiet morning sitting in the sun having a second go at The Chunky Seashell Scarf that I tried a week or so ago. The dtr for some reason are not a problem now! This new found ease must be from yesterday’s petal practice. Perhaps doing them with cotton gave me confidence to try using the more bulky chunky yarn and big 6mm hook?

Want to see? (Sorry, I’m being a bit naff-twee…as if having a crochet blog wasn’t twee enough ;-))

I’m off to The Little Room now, back into the sunshine to practise a few more dtrs -my tension needs to be consistent – while I recoup some more energy for the rest of the week ahead. A friend has given me a couple of Bollywood music cds. Fab crochet-while-chair-dancing about to happen!

Feel free to tell me what you’re working on at the moment, I love a poke around online into others crafty blogs and websites.