Do you Knit? - Ravelry archived

Not to sure where to pop this so I'll start here and hope you'll work it all out...who knits? who uses tea cosies? Do you people even know tea cosies?? There's a neat new book full of quirky cosies that are works of art, Wild Tea Cosies:
http://www.grandpurlbaa.com/

I knit, barely. I'd love a tea cosy, but I make tea in a pot so rarely these days that I'd never use it.

Besides, I knit left handed, so I've yet to figure out how to read a pattern.

if you're arty, or appreciate the creative, it is still worth a look at the grandpurlbaa website...I have to admit I have knitting projects that have never been finished, from 30 years ago!! (I just don't knit, not worth it from me) The designs are gorgeous and witty...Personally, I'd just beg someone to buy me one, then stuff it like a puppet!! :wink:

I never thought about knitting left-handed. I know the website owner, who is also the designer of the patterns, would be approachable if you wanted to discuss adapting the patterns.

Posted By: joanneI never thought about knitting left-handed.

Yeah, my grandmother was left handed too, so she taught me this way. I wish I'd been taught right handed like everybody else:cry:

I'm sure Loani has some ideas to help untangle the knotted web...she has a knitters' group as well as the website, and a great professional business to untangle people's clutter, so being helpful is what her life is about!! :wink: (Her dream apparently is to die organised, uncluttered, with the world's biggest collection of knitting wool tidied in her closets)

Wow! Those are some truly stupendous tea cozies! I have to say that it never occurred to me to knit a tea cozy. I'm currently on a bit of a sock binge...

Posted By: joanneHer dream apparently is to die organised, uncluttered, with the world's biggest collection of knitting wool tidied in her closets

A Woman After My Own Heart!!



Kegel - be proud of your leftie-ness!! (Personally I love to see the look on people's faces when they get completely frazzled watching me work left-handed) Most patterns are actually written such that it doesn't matter whether you work left or right.

mergele, did you read about how the twin tall cosies started out as extra-long sleeves on a done-wrong cardigan or sweater?? ahh, Loani is a clever knit-wit, eh??!!

I knit backwards. Or so I'm told. I was also told I'd never be able to follow a pattern because of how I knit.

So, I make scarfs.

But the tea cozies are beautiful - I'm emailing the link to all my knitting friends.

joanne - I did! i love it! There's a visible sense of humor in her work, which is wonderful.

joy - what do you mean by backwards? do you work from your left needle onto the right one, or the other way around? and anyone who told you you could never follow a pattern didn't know what they were talking about. not that patterns are the be-all and end-all by any means. some of the best stuff i've ever done was entirely made up as i went along.

I knit - and knit - and knit - and crochet - and crochet - and crochet - like a LOT. A lotta lot. I haven't seen that website before but I've seen some pretty amazing tea cosies on Ravelry, where I hang out a lot (www.ravelry.com - knitters & crocheters, if you're not on it - get on it! Amazing resource, and amazing discussion boards). But hers are so creative!

For those of you who knit "backwards" or "left-handed" ... you absolutely should be able to follow a pattern. Just mirror-image it. I feel sad when I hear people saying that they can't knit well, or can only just knit scarves, because they knit in a non-standard way. ALL ways to knit are the "right" way. i.e. there is NO right way or wrong way. There used to be a woman on MOL who is a world-famous knitting designer (Annie Modesitt) who is the Queen of "there is no wrong way to knit." She's written books about it! She lived in South Orange for a few years, but she moved a couple of years ago.

I'm in a small knitting group that will be meeting this fall on Tuesday nights (or that is the current plan), 6 - 8 PM. I'm not sure where though - we'd been meeting at Bonte but I think they close at 7 on Tuesdays. We've been trying to recruit new members for a long time. I'll post more details when we have everything sorted out.

I'm registered on ravelry, and there's tons of great stuff there, but I mostly lurk. there just aren't enough hours in a day!

eta: I've been looking for a knitting group around here for a while, but I work in the city and can't count on being back in town much before 6:30-7pm. :cry:

CLK, please post more info on the knitting group. AS far as knitting backwards or such, it is determined by whom you were taught. If your grandmother came from Europe you knit a certain way (the way I was taught). Then there is the throw method, and I think one more if you were taught by an English grandma (the way my friends mom kinits). When she saw how I knit she had fit saying it was "wrong".

Remember Rocket Kneedles??!! :surprised::surprised::surprised:

merg - I'm told I twist my stitches - that all my stitches are backward.

But I do ok and am quite happy with my surprise scarves!

I too am on raverly - just haven't done anything with it.

It's too hot to knit right now - so I will pick it up again in the fall.

Would love to join a knitting group. I used to take the train with 4 other knitters - we would knit our way into the city each morning.

I'd to join a knitting group, too. Maybe someone can help me I finish a sweater. I am not quite a beginner but not quite an intermediate either, I can decrease and increase but sweaters have stumped me. I have most of the pieces and haven't had much success putting them together. While the knitting store on springfield is beautiful, I really miss the shop above the movie theater in town. Rosemary was the best. She would help me fix my problems and at that time I was still working my way up to sweaters.

Yay! Knitters!

Joy, your way of knitting is exactly how Annie Modesitt knits. There is a name for it - Eastern Crossed I think. The only "problem" with it is that if you purl in the usual way (or knit in the round I think), you will get a very tight fabric as there is a twist in each stitch. There is a way to purl, though, that untwists the stitches and your fabric comes out fine - that is called "Eastern Uncrossed." This method is how most people in the Middle East knit. It's a perfectly legitimate way to knit, just not as well known in the West.

Then there is Continental, which means you hold the yarn in the left hand and "scoop" with the needle. That's how I usually knit. With English, you hold the yarn in the right hand and "throw" it around the needle. One good way to do Fair Isle-stranded knitting is to use a combination of continental & english - one yarn in the left hand, one in the right. I like this method a lot but it has some critics, too.

I'll keep you guys posted about the knitting group! Mergele, there are so few of us in the group that we can be flexible - the early time was done for me, as I have a daughter and I wanted to get home to say good night to her. She is getting older so a little later is less of an issue than it was when we first started to meet. We all want more people so I'll ask the others what they think.

I am MamaCat on Ravelry, fwiw ... put me in your friends and I'll reciprocate.:bigsmile:

PS one of our group was a brand-new knitter when we just started. Most experienced knitters LOVE meeting newbies and lending a hand. We want converts to the Cult of Knitting, after all. :bigsmile:

here's annie modesitt's blog: http://www.modeknit.com/

CLK - I think I need to add Continental to Eastern Crossed. I do hold the yarn in my left had - and I think I do 'scoop' with the needle.

thanks for helping me figure this out!

I use to knit, but I haven't picked it up in a couple years. Knitty.com is a great source of free patterns.

It'd be nice to start again...

In your spare time, I suppose...

Those are wild tea cozies! The single tea cozy I made was no where near as exciting.

mergele...I am on Ravelry too! Do you use the same name?

jesssf - I do. But I haven't checked in there in a while. ... too busy with my current hobby: finding screaming yarn deals on ebay :thumbup:

I know this thread is a little old, but I'm just starting to knit -- taking a class at the SOM Adult School -- and I'd love to hook into the Maplewood knitting "scene." (I've just requested a membership to ravelry.com. A co-worker gave me the link.)

I'm on Ravelry, too. I'm maplemom, but I don't have a flikr account so I don't post pictures of my stuff. I also don't post much in forums or groups, but I use it constantly as a resource. Love it.

I'm on raverly - and haven't done anything yet - but look for me.

I checked out Modeknit.com and saw an ad for a book called "Men Who Knit &The Dogs Who Love Them." I'm sold! I've forwarded the link to my wife who's a BIG KNITTER. And the other links, too. I want to get her off of socks, booties, sweaters, and caps and onto tea cosies.

yes, i think in that book, Annie has patterns for coats for dogs and matching hats and scarves for the men walking the dogs. Really really funny and creative!

My step-daughter knits a lot. She also makes her own yarn. I hate that she's so creative--actually I love it, just wish I was more artsy-craftsy.

I've found a few people at work who knit, so now at least I have an outlet there. We knit on Fridays. My teacher at SOM Adult School just decided to do another class for next "spring" -- knitting a sweater (it's a turtleneck sweater, I believe) and I'm going to sign up for that. Ravelry has been fun to explore, but I haven't posted any pictures or anything. I also met a fellow knitter at the train station last week, which was nice, although I haven't seen her since. I can't wait to try more complicated things. I consider myself still a beginner.