THE ATTEMPT TO KNIT A BETTER SOCK.

I had not touched my sock project during the Christmas break. Now that it’s the new year, I’ve picked up my knitting project again. I’m paying very, very careful attention on the direction of stitches for the stockinet stitch because I don’t want to make the same mistake as I did the last time. (Remember my earlier blog on the terrible sock I made?) Let’s hope that this sock will turn out more successful.  Lately I’ve also taken an interest in learning how to sew with the sewing machine. The problem is, I don’t have a machine to experiment on yet so I guess that project will have to wait. It’s a nice idea still…..

Another attempt at doing a flat circle

My flat circle didn’t turn out as expected. Check this out. I got an ugly looking doughnut thingy. I will make another attempt to knit another circle tomorrow. Should I start from the center and work my way around? Or should I just draw the circle on a graph paper and knit from left to right? I found another pattern used for the base of a knitted teapot…I might use that too. I hope it turns out as a circle and not something weird. Who knows, the project might turn out as a spaceship or something….

The Second Sock Project

Back to the sock project that I’ve been doing at home. After the first sock that I made (refer to the old blog on my disaster sock). I’ve been paying close attention to which side is the wrong side and the right side of the project. After knitting the cuff of the sock and working on the heel, I realized I did it again. The right side was facing the wrong way! I This time round, I undid the whole thing because I had a headache unknitting the stitches on the heel. So that you go, I’m at point zero again. I’ve made a mental note of which direction I should go when I get to the heel section. I hope my next attempt will be better. Wish me luck….

Knitting a flat circle part 3.

Oh dear. As I knitted further, the true shape of the project started to form. I’ve good news and bad news. First the bad news. It turns out that this wasn’t the sort of circle I was expecting. I had intended to knit a complete circle and not a doughnut shaped circle.  And now for the good news. It does look like a circle at least. Hahaha. Well since I’m half way into this project, I guess I’ll have to complete the doughnut. My ball of wool is slowly getting used up too….For my next attempt to knit a circle, I will fall back on the graph paper method.

Learning Japanese with SEM3 Part 10

Ok, here here’s the next 5 words taken from Tony Buzan’s Master Your Memory using the self enhanced memory matrix.

5446 – roach, new, atarashii – sumo wrestler is rubbing a roach with his new Arthur rashie.

5447 – rock, no, lie- sumo wrestler is rubbing a rock with no ear.

5448 – roof, not, shinai – sumo wreslter is on a roof rubbing a knot shiny.

5449 – rope, now, ima – sumo wrestler is rubbing a rope with a now emu.

5450 – rose, of, no – sumo wrestler is rubbing a rose of red with a nose.

Knitting a flat circle Part 2.

I’ve decided to undo that piece that I did yesterday and study the pattern again. Now I understand why that piece didn’t look anything like a circle. In fact it looked more like a triangle or a wedge. The idea is to knit a fraction of the circle portion by portion. Each portion is shaped like a piece of pie or pizza (yummy!). I’ve just done about 2 triangles so far and what you see here is almost one quarter of a pie.  If I can knit another 2 more triangles, I’ll get half a circle. Isn’t that great?  Let’s see how my progress goes.

Learning Japanese with SEM3 Part 9

Ok, here here’s the next 5 words taken from Tony Buzan’s Master Your Memory using the self enhanced memory matrix.

5441 – rat, me, watashini, sumo wrestler is watching a rat rubbing a crystal ball that looks like water shiny.

5442 – rain, more, motto – sumo wrestler is rubbing the rain with more motor.

5443 –ram, most, ichidan – sumo wrestler is rubbing a ram with the most itchy dance.

5444 – rara, much, takuson – sumo wrestler is rubbing a rara show with much taco sons.

5445 –rail, my, watashi no – sumo wrestler is rubbing the rail with my watashi no

Knitting a flat circle Part 1.

I’ve decided to start another project to work on during the lunch hour. My colleague wanted me to teach her how to knit a flat circle so I searched the net for a simple pattern. What you see here is my attempt at knitting a flat circle. This doesn’t really look much like a circle right?. Hmmmmm….

Learning Japanese with SEM3 Part 8

Ok, here here’s the next 5 words taken from Tony Buzan’s Master Your Memory using the self enhanced memory matrix.

5436 – match, like, suki - sumo wrestler rubs a match to a Suzuki car because he likes it very much.

5437 – mug, little, chiisai – Sumo wrestler rubs his mug with a little cheese

5438 – mafia , love, sukidesu – Sumo wrestler rubs the mafia with some love for their Suzuki desk

5439 – map, make , shitemasu – Sumo wrestler rubs his map with a shitty mask to make his face smooth

5440 – rose, many, taakuson – Sumo wrestler rubs a rose to his takuson plaster.

Learning Japanese with SEM3 Part 7

Ok, here here’s the next 5 words taken from Tony Buzan’s Master Your Memory using the self enhanced memory matrix.

5431 - mat , I am, watashi wa - This one’s easy so I’m leaving this out….

5432 – moon, if, moshi – sumo wrestler is on the moon rubbing his mustache thinking of some ifs.

5433 – mum, in , ni – Sumo wrester rubs his knee whenever he thinks of his mother.

5434 – moor, I know, shitte imasu – Sumo wrestler is on a moor rubbing his nose saying I must have soup.

5435 – mail, last, owari – Sumo wrestler is rubbing his mail with his last ovary.

The knit progress

I’ve been making slower progress with my knitting projects lately. I have not been bringing any projects to work to knit ever since I finished that tissue cover. As for the trainee sock project, I’ve just started the first few rows of rib stitches at the cuff of the sock.  I’ve been very tired and distracted lately. Plus I’ve also been in the holiday mood with Christmas around the corner….

My knitted sock.

Sadly, my knitted sock project didn’t turn out quite as expected. Although it does look like a sock (haha! What a consolation!), I got all the stitches wrong. What you see here is the result from a trainee pattern that I took off the net.

My first mistake started at the point where I had to divide the stitches between the heel and the instep. When I had to knit it as a flap piece, I had forgotten that the stockinette stitch has to be knitted differently from the way it is supposed to be knitted in the round.

The second mistake was something I couldn’t quite figure out. The instructions on the trainee sock pattern weren’t that clear. The rest of the sock at the point after the gusset suddenly has the wrong side facing outwards. Maybe it could be due to the number of rows at the gusset area? Or I had knitted in the wrong direction when I got back into the round again? I really don’t know.

The only good thing about having the pattern inside out is that I’m able to see the different sections of the sock clearly so my disaster project didn’t turn out to be that hopeless after all. I’m going to work on the second sock paying more attention to the stitches. I hope the second one turns out ok.

My First Sock Project

I’m now knitting my very first sock project using a ‘trainee’ pattern. This sock is a tiny version of the real thing because this is just a pattern to get a feel of how to knit real socks in the future. And guess what, I’ve just made my first mistake so I learnt something I should do in future.

The way you knit the stitches can make a difference whether it’s done in the round or as a flat piece. I was knitting the stockinette stitch in the round for the cuff of the sock so I used the knit stitch for each round. Then when I came to part when I had to put half the stitches onto a stitch holder and knit the other half for the heel, I made my first mistake. The stitches on the heel are to be knitted as a flat piece. While intending to knit with the stockinette stitch, I continued to knit each row and the result was….oh no…the garter stitch….you see, when I came to that part, I was supposed to knit one row and purl one row to make the stitch look more consistent with the stitches on the cuff. I already knew that but I wasn’t thinking….bah!

I think I won’t waste time to undo it. Since this is just a trainee project, I’ll just continue all the way to see how this will turn out. Oh well….it’s good to make mistakes now with the trainee project than on the real project right?

My second fingerless mittens is now completed!

My second mitten is finally completed to make a pair! Yay! For my next project, I want to experiment with knitting socks. I’ve a trainee sock pattern from one of the websites. I’ll blog about my progress when I begin that project.

How to knit in a circle using double pointed needles.

Here’s how you knit a small round with Double Pointed Knitting Needles. It’s actually very simple.

First you cast all the stitches onto 1 needle. (Some people prefer to cast all the stitches directly onto 3 needles at the first round, I find this cumbersome because the stitches between the needles tend to get loose easily).

As you knit the first round, you distribute the row equally onto 3 needles. Try to tighten the stitches a little more between the needles because that is where the stitches tend to stretch most. And voila, there you go. You’re now knitting a circle!

I find it easier to knit with double pointed needles compared with the circular knitting needles but it’s all a matter of preference. Some people prefer to use the circular knitting needles instead because it’s hard to hold so many needles in the first few rounds. I’d say it’s better to learn both methods because each method has its own plus points and it’s good to be versatile. For instructions on how to knit with the circular knitting needles, you can check out this blog page 

Ps: These needles can also be multifunctional. I also use both the circular needles and double pointed needles as a cable needle and stitch holders. The investment is really worth it. Cheers.

Update on My fingerless Mittens.

So far so good. I’m making progress with the section where the fingers should be.

How knit in a small round using the magic loop technique.

Personally after trying this method out, I kind of prefer using double pointed needles. I do it find it a chore to move the stitches onto and off the needles each time I knit half the circle. On the other hand, I do have friends who find the magic loop method better than using double pointed needles. I guess it is a matter of personal preference. On the plus side, once you master this technique, a set of circular needles can be a very good investment. This is because the circular needles can also be used to knit flat panels, big circles as well as small circles unlike the double pointed needles. This means if you ever need to get new needles of a certain size, you just need to get circular needles and it can be used for all sorts of projects instead of buying different sorts of needles. In short, the circular needles can be a multi-functional knitting tool once you learn how to maximum its use.

Here’s how you knit with the magic loop:

First you cast all the stitches onto one needle.

Then you push all these stitches to the center of the cable and then put half the row of stitches onto one needle and the half onto the other needle. You will now have 1 cable loop between the row of stitches. (If you are having a tough time moving the stitches from needle to cable and back to the needle again, you are not alone. It’s normal.)

And next, move the stitches from the right needle down to the cable so that you have a second loop between the right needle and 2nd half of the row of stitches. (The first loop still remains between the 2 halves of the row. )

Once you have achieved this part, you may start knitting the stitches on the left needle onto the right needle. By doing this, you would have finished knitting half the circle.

Next push the unknitted part of the circle from the cable to the needle. And then push the knitted part of the circle from the needle to the cable and knit.

And there you have it. You have just knitted a full circle using the magic loop. Keep doing that as you knit each round.

This is how the project looks as one half of the row is being knitted onto the other needle.

If you find the photos confusing, here is a drawn out picture of how it should look like when the cables are not getting the way and in a confusing angle.

It can be pretty daunting to move stitches back and forth but once you get the hang of it, it will become a piece of cake. (and chocolate cake yummy!)If you want to learn how to knit with double pointed needles, check out my blog on my second fingerless mittens written about 2 weeks back. I’ll probably write the steps again in another blog.

I hope you found this blog useful. If you’re interested in getting a book on how to knit by some professionals, you check out these links if you like:

 

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Happy knitting folks!

Update on My Fingerless Mittens.

The mittens are coming along fine as at this point. I’ve finished the area that has a lot of M1 stitches. I hope that I didn’t make too many holes with the M1 stitches. I can already see one though. Sigh….practice makes perfect I guess.

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book

Knitting and Shaping. I’ve got it!

My experiment has been a success! Now I know how to knit with a shape!  This is pretty useful for knitting necklines, along the arm holes etc.  Check out the end result below but ignore the messy edges….I didn’t do a proper cast off at the edges.

The steps are pretty easy.

First you do a swatch to figure out the gauge. For eg: How many stitches make up 1 cm in a row and how many stitches make up 1cm in terms of the height. This step is essential if you are making something to wear.

Next you draw it out on graph paper the shape that you want. If the line passes through at least half the square, mark an ‘x’ on it. If it doesn’t, leave it. Refer to my previous blog on how I drew the squares for the project above. You will definitely get the shape you want. And you don’t have to spend money on software for knitting patterns. . I hope you found this blog useful.

There are people who say that knitting mathematics can also help you get the same results. I believe so too. I think it has something to do with calculating the gradient of a curve using differentiation of a quadratic equation and then working out the area below the curve. I’ll save that for another time to experiment on – after I revise the maths that I learnt a donkey’s years ago. Cheerio!

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Knitting with a shape in mind

I’m now knitting base on the excel-spreadsheet graph paper that I designed.  I drew a curve along the square. I’m going to knit along the curve and the area below it.  The tricky part is deciding whether to knit the partial squares.  For every square where the line penetrates for more than half the square, I will knit that stitch. Otherwise, I will ignore the square.  So far I’ve only knitted only a few rows. I can’t wait to see the results.

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting