i am struggling with my knitting learning purling whatever. i can cast on and then i seize up in terror and can't do anything else. i've been trying to learn everything backwards since i'm left handed and all the diagrams are for righties. PB's mom got me some looms (for no needle knitting) and those are way more left handed friendly, but i'd like to get the needle shit straight.
tommyboy i am mad impressed. where is your homemade giants hat?
I should get that done during the week off. Since I'm broke I get someone to buy the yarn and then I make them a hat first. My brother will probably 'sponsor' me unless he's set on me knitting him a Yankee hat. By the way, I'm left handed too, but I don't know how it affects my knitting. All I know is that I prefer to hold the needle (I hate using that word considering this is BL) that has the yarn on it in my left hand, and then transfer the yarn over to the needle in my right. So basically after I cast on to a needle, I hold that in my left, and knit it onto the needle in my right hand, while using the free fingers of my right hand to wrap the yarn between the stitches. Once I finish the row I switch the needle with the stitches back into my left hand.
Keni, have you looked at youtube vids? When i was learning crochet, i found some of them very helpful - they have a heap of southpaw vids too, for you crazy left-handers
Youtube videos are great for learning about knitting. The hat I knitted was all from watching youtube videos, and a few tips from my friend over the phone. When I first learned how to knit by this girl, she taught how to knit a scarf, and I was so slow with it that it was all I learned in person since it took me all semester to do. Since then, everything I have learned about knitting has been through youtube videos. I got a knitting book this Christmas, but knitting is definitely something that you need visual and audio aids to help, so I haven't really read much into the book.
Kenicke--I went to the yarn store where I bought yarn and made the lady practically sit over my shoulder until I got it. Then, I continued to go every week while I was making my first sweater and got help all the way through. Now I could knit in my sleep I think!
Here are my gifts this year:
Nice! What's the pattern on the one on the top right? The hat I did was just a k2 p2 on the bottom inch or so, and then knit the rest of the way up.
Here is the yarn I have for my next project (if I don't knit a Giants hat first
)
I'm going to start off with making a hat, and then maybe some accessories if I can manage. It is medium 4 fishermen's wool. I just checked out the website that is on the paper around the yarn since it said it has 1,200 free knit & crochet patterns, and I am very impressed with the site.
http://www.lionbrand.com/
I clicked on 'patterns' up top, and then 'pattern finder.' From there you can narrow down your search depending on if you want to knit or crochet, what you want to make, the yarn size and material, skill level, and a few others. I just glanced at the site for the first time now, so I don't know if it's really free or if there are some
strings attached .
Edit: Looks like you have to sign up, but it's free, and you don't have to subscribe to anything.
From the confirmation email I just got after signing up: "Unless you ask to be added to our mailing list, this is the only e-mail that youmwill receive from us."
That is great because the last knit/crochet pattern site I signed up for sent me so many emails it was ridiculous. It says that there are 4,540 free patterns on the site, which is more than it said on the labeling of the yarn, so they are always adding more.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
