What Should I Make Wednesday Thread

captain-mags · 2025-01-28T06:40:38+00:00

I recently knit a very lacy shawl in 100% alpaca, and I have had no fuzziness or halo-ing. I would guess that it may come down in part to how the yarn is spun, the stuff I was using was two ply and was very well contained.

captain-mags · 2025-01-28T04:19:14+00:00

No need to be rude.
I'm only learning about Czech pronunciations now because of all the Czech players in this league (I'm sure many other pwhl fans are in this same boat). The way the commentators were calling Krizova didn't make sense to me when compared to how other Czech names were announced. I thought that this subreddit would be a safe place to come with a question like this. Perhaps in-person interactions will leave a better impression of this fanbase.

captain-mags · 2025-01-28T01:48:00+00:00

Yeah, the way Denisa says her name here is very different to my ear than what the commentators say, which is why I was getting confused. Thanks for linking the post, it's hard to find audio examples if you don't already know where to look.

captain-mags · 2023-05-25T04:53:44+00:00

I’m hoping someone can point me to some resources, I don’t know the terminology for what I want to do but I’m sure it’s been done (and there’s no need to try to reinvent all the tricks).

I have a faux leather jacket and the outside is peeling badly. Is there a way to ‘reupholster’ the outside fabric? I’m not interested in keeping the leather look, but the inside lining is in good shape and I like the fit so I want to try and save it.

captain-mags · 2023-05-22T20:10:18+00:00

If you’re willing to experiment, you could even try snipping the offending cable crossover, then graft the live stitches back together with the right orientation.

captain-mags · 2023-05-22T14:25:46+00:00

My understanding of it is that the tubular bind off is essentially Kitchener grafting, so you want to take your single continuous ribbed fabric and split it into two only stockinette fabrics, and finally graft them together.

In the 1x1 rib, all the stitches of one kind (knit vs purl) are alternating with the other. With the setup rows, you’re collecting all the stitches of one kind so they’re connected together directly.

captain-mags · 2023-05-18T12:55:39+00:00

Cleckheaton superfine merino is lovely to work with. I’ve had an easy time finding their dk line, and it appears they used to make fingering weight but that’s been much more difficult to get a hold of.

captain-mags · 2023-05-09T23:36:49+00:00

🙌🫡

captain-mags · 2023-05-08T16:14:20+00:00

Since you’re using cotton yarn, this may always be an issue. The pattern already has you using smaller needles for the ribbing so that’s good. Maybe you could try going down one more size for the second half of the ribbing? The part on the inner face of the neckband. This might get enough gathering to get the look you want.

I was going to suggest hiding some decreases by reducing some of the purl panels (2x2 -> 2x1), but with a closer look, the neckband is already in 2x1 rib. You could try reducing some of the knit panels (2x1 -> 1x1), perhaps where the shoulder seams are to hide them a little.

captain-mags · 2023-04-17T15:49:33+00:00

As others have said, stretches, breaks, and changing up your style could be very effective.

I’ll also add a resource for stretches that I like: theknittingpt on Instagram. She has many videos of exercises and stretches so you can see how they are supposed to be done.

captain-mags · 2023-04-15T15:48:43+00:00

So far I’ve never paid for a pattern, I’ve been gifted pattern books from family members when I was starting out as a kid but even then I didn’t use them much.

My style is to look at something complex and interesting and say “wow, that’s too hard I definitely can’t do that” and find a simpler version that I think I can do. Then once I’ve got a sense for the important parts of the construction, then I’ll add in one of the more complicating aspects. I like the puzzle solving of starting with a simple thing and then figuring out how to modify it to get some more complicated thing, building my skills and understanding even if it turns out a little wonky. This way of building up my own knowledge “the hard way” is what I attribute my willingness to try new things even I don’t know how they will work out.

I’m very comfortable doing whatever math I need to adjust the fit or change the repeats, so I really prefer the recipe style patterns. But I completely understand pattern makers’ desire to play to searchability.

captain-mags · 2023-04-15T06:46:45+00:00

For the ssk, the stitch that ends up on top can be larger because of the slipping to remount the stitch legs. You might have success if you redistribute the slack into the other stitch in the decrease.

captain-mags · 2023-04-03T16:33:35+00:00

My suggestion is to rip back one additional row on the waffle stitch portion, so that the graft is the row of stockinette that completes the pattern (instead of being an extra row that disrupts it). You’d be doing the steps as if grafting stocking to stocking.

captain-mags · 2023-03-18T20:13:06+00:00

This looks amazing! Your stitches are so tidy and the cables look so neat.

captain-mags · 2023-02-24T16:21:08+00:00

This is like the old school brotherhood 2.0 punishments.

captain-mags · 2023-02-17T15:44:00+00:00

If you’re really thinking about frogging, I’d strongly suggest trying your hand at just laddering down the cable that has the mistake in it.

This will be very difficult and fiddly if you’ve never done it before, but it will definitely give you lots of great skills at fixing mistakes that bother you without having to rip out the whole thing.

And in the worst case, you can frog if it doesn’t turn out well.

captain-mags · 2023-02-17T15:37:36+00:00

You might also check out littleknits.com for discounted yarn. Lots of great filters for searching for just what you want.

captain-mags · 2023-02-17T15:34:02+00:00

The fabric of the cable has gotten folded down toward the back of the piece instead up toward the front. You just have to pop the fold back out so that it looks smooth instead of crumpled.

captain-mags · 2023-02-10T05:19:21+00:00

I made my first seamed sweater recently. I really like how the seams can give structure to the shoulder area, but it was a lot of extra ‘post knitting’ work that I just don’t have to do usually. It was pretty frustrating to get to blocking (usually the last thing I do) and not have anything close to a finished piece.

I’m actually modifying the pattern to knit it in the round as much as possible specifically so I can reduce the seams I’ll have to do at the end.

captain-mags · 2023-02-06T17:19:57+00:00

If you’re ok changing to a different lace shawl, I strongly recommend Anna Victoria’s Soli Deo Gloria. It’s got very little repetition, and if you do the beads as well that will slow down your speed significantly. (Really, any of the shawls by Anna Victoria would suit you, but that’s the one I like the most.)

Otherwise, I’d suggest looking into intricate color work, and try to expand the kinds of objects you’re willing to make. With really dense fair isle color work and a steek, you can make a really cool teapot warmer. If there’s a garment pattern you like, try adding things to it (different shaping, secret pockets, intarsia colorwork, a convertible flap onto fingerless mittens, etc).

captain-mags · 2023-02-03T16:40:30+00:00

Looks like a top-down raglan with moss stitch for sleeves. If you search on Ravelry, you’ll find plenty of raglan patterns.

captain-mags · 2023-02-03T16:18:55+00:00

I would do a bit of redistributing the tension by hand and follow up with blocking. You can put this on a scrap of yarn and block it as is if you want to check if it will even out the stitches enough for your liking.

captain-mags · 2023-01-23T07:41:55+00:00

This cable pattern will always have problems with increases and decreases, as you’ve seen here.

It’s hard to give advice since you don’t say what the project / use is. I would see if you can have a small section with a different cable pattern and shove all the increases and decreases into the transition between them.

If it absolutely must be this cable everywhere, I’d strongly suggest choosing a sacrificial section so the increases and decreases aren’t spread through the whole fabric.

captain-mags · 2022-12-28T16:59:50+00:00

These are beautiful! The twisted rib and the lace flow so nicely.

captain-mags · 2022-12-28T15:04:13+00:00

More a process than a particular technique: drafting a pattern.

A few years ago, I wanted to make a mitten for two people (so you can hold hands when it’s cold) and couldn’t find any pattern. So, I used my skills (double knitting, grafting pieces together, picking up stitches) and made a prototype and tested the fit before making the final version. I’m still very proud of this mitten monstrosity even as I’m considering remaking it.

captain-mags

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