"So, how do you knit?" - the Poverty Projects

[beandelphiki]

Some time back, on one of my days off when I was really bored, I asked my mother (who has recently gotten back into knitting - which is now apparently a craze), "So, how do you knit?"

She evidently thought that was a hilarious question. But she got me a pair of needles and a big ball of "practice" yarn, and got me started on an 8x8 inch square.

It's not a totally useless project. Apparently there's a yarn store in our city which is collecting 8x8 inch squares for an ongoing project - they collect numerous squares, and then knit them into blankets. Then they donate said blankets to the local homeless shelters.

So I'm knitting a square, out of this large ball of Red Heart yarn. (The store has asked for crappy-yarn-squares, because if the blankets are too nice, the poor homeless people will get attacked for them.) The official color of this stuff is "multicolor" - it's sort of an Easter-egg rainbow.

So far, I have 5 inches of length - w00t!

Weirdly, it's 8½ inches wide. I have no idea why this is, or whether it will be smaller when I get it off the needles, or what. (It also fans out at the starting end, but Mom and I think this due to the fact that she did the cast on and first row, and her stitches are much looser than mine.) I think I will check out some sites and books for beginners, and then ask in novice_knitters if I can't find something to tell me. Otherwise, I guess maybe I'll make it 8½x8½ inches and call it a washcloth? (What happens to 100% acrylic when it gets wet?)

I also need to learn how to cast off, how to cast on (Mom did it for me this time), and possibly how to purl. Then, I have the following projects in mind (possibly to be edited for skill value, etc.):

List of Knitting Projects

-1 more square, for more practice
-2 adult-size scarves, for practice
-a "family" of scarves (two adult size, two somewhat smaller for children)
-2 adult-size hats, for practice
-a "family" of hats
-2 pairs of mittens
-a "family" of mittens
-...gloves, maybe?
-......my own blanket?

To be donated to shelters in time for the winter.

I'll be a bit busy with these, I think.

Comments

[haleth.livejournal.com]

Acrylic does not absorb water. It's bad for towels, but supposedly works for scrubbies. Usually people make washcloths from cotton. I made one and it's way too heavy when wet, so now I use it for a small towel.

Your explanation for the flaring at the end is most likely correct. Your own gauge can change during a project, too, especially if you're just learning to knit.

The square is too wide because you didn't check gauge first. For projects where it matters, people usually knit a swatch first and count the stitches and rows in a measured area of it (not the stitches around the edge, though, because they don't lay flat and the tension might be different at the edges). Then you know how many stitches you want to cast on if you need something a certain size, or if you need something a certain size and to have a certain number of stitches, you know if it will work with the yarn and needles you have or if you need to go up or down in needle size, or try a different yarn.

Anyway. Knitting is popular right now, and there's lots of information and tutorials and stuff online. Have fun!

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you for the comment! I probably knew you knitted. Uh. Probably.

We always need scrubbies in my house, so I guess maybe that's what I'll appoint my square when it's done, and we'll see how well it works.

The square is too wide because you didn't check gauge first. [Etc.]

*puzzled frown* Huh. Well, Mom read something off the side of the yarn ball (y'know, that wrapper thing that goes around the middle of some of them?) and apparently on the size of needle she gave me (she had to go hunting for the size, whatever it is), 17 stitches = 4 inches in width. Or should. So she cast on 34 stitches, and I just checked - I still have 34 at the moment. (I DID manage to add two stitches somehow on one row, but Mom fixed it for me.)

So...does that not work? Or does it matter how big my own stitches are or something?

I'll double-check with Mom, maybe we can figure out where we oopsied.

(not the stitches around the edge, though, because they don't lay flat and the tension might be different at the edges).

Good to know.

Thanks for your help! :)

[haleth.livejournal.com]

Well, what they give you on the label is more of a recommendation than anything. "We think our yarn gives best results at this gauge, and the average knitting will obtain that gauge with this size needle." But depending what you want to do, you might want a looser or tighter knit. Also, everyone knits different. Some knit loose, some knit tight, and you'll need to adjust your needle size to compensate for that. I knit pretty tight, and need to use larger than suggested needles to get gauge, usually. (I don't recommend that, btw. Try not to knit too tight! It's harder, and slower, and I should learn not to so much. :-P)

I used to pick up extra stitches all the time! So annoying. I don't so much anymore, but I still don't know how I was doing it.

[haleth.livejournal.com]

And I caught typo just as I hit post. Oh well.