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Mid-week Ramblings...
Sep. 10th, 2014 02:56 pmLet's see....
Ali: Knitting IS hard - at first. It takes practice to teach your hands what to do, when. I promise, IF you want to learn to knit, you can - it just might take a while. However, you don't HAVE to knit (I know, that should be obvious, but some people don't "get" that. I give you permission to never knit anything if you don't want to. :wink:) *I* can't crochet at all - yet people tell me all the time that knitting is harder to get.....for them, maybe it is. For me? Crochet simply does NOT make sense. I am in awe of my daughter, who can do both.
H: Spinning...doesn't require a wheel, you know. :wink: Drop spindles are cheap and small and portable - yeah, they're slower by the day, but faster by the week. My collection fits in a flower pot. :lol: There's also a lot of small wheels out there....but wheels aren't cheap or as portable. If you wanna try, let me know. I'll see if I can't scrounge up a CD spindle - I have a TON of wool I can share. :whistles innocently: :giggles madly: :runs away: (Yup, I'm a fiber-enabler. You want to learn something I know how to do? I'll gladly share stuff and what I know. :lol:)
Sock Report: I'm on the 2nd lace pattern now, about halfway up the foot. I have to say, this pattern is NOT hard - it looks it, but it really isn't. (I'm not just saying that, either - it really isn't hard!) As long as I count carefully on each odd row (the actual pattern rows are the odd ones; the even rows are straight knit all across), it's easy-peasy. I am still using lifelines, because...lace. Dropped stitches. 'Nuff said.
Oh - and yes, sock machines ARE fun. And fiddly - as far as I know, no one is currently making them (I could be wrong - Auto Knitter was supposedly making new ones back in the early 2000's, but I honestly don't know if they are/did.), so all the available ones are from the turn of the 20th century. And they act their age. Mine was bought fully refurbished, and guaranteed to knit; it did/does, but it's picky. VERY picky - if you don't apply the correct amount of weight to the knit tube, it'll refuse to knit.....so you have to pull down on the knitting with your non-cranking hand. And....that hurts my wrist. More than knitting by hand does...so, the CSM sits and gathers dust.
Mine dates from 1920-ish, if I remember correctly. It's complete - and when it's in the mood, you can crank out a pair of socks in an hour. Ribbed cuff and all.
I need to sit down and spin some so I can think about Ali's post today.....I don't have any mindless knitting to help me focus, so I need to spin. I think better when my "upper" mind is focused on something like spinning/easy knitting.
Ali: Knitting IS hard - at first. It takes practice to teach your hands what to do, when. I promise, IF you want to learn to knit, you can - it just might take a while. However, you don't HAVE to knit (I know, that should be obvious, but some people don't "get" that. I give you permission to never knit anything if you don't want to. :wink:) *I* can't crochet at all - yet people tell me all the time that knitting is harder to get.....for them, maybe it is. For me? Crochet simply does NOT make sense. I am in awe of my daughter, who can do both.
H: Spinning...doesn't require a wheel, you know. :wink: Drop spindles are cheap and small and portable - yeah, they're slower by the day, but faster by the week. My collection fits in a flower pot. :lol: There's also a lot of small wheels out there....but wheels aren't cheap or as portable. If you wanna try, let me know. I'll see if I can't scrounge up a CD spindle - I have a TON of wool I can share. :whistles innocently: :giggles madly: :runs away: (Yup, I'm a fiber-enabler. You want to learn something I know how to do? I'll gladly share stuff and what I know. :lol:)
Sock Report: I'm on the 2nd lace pattern now, about halfway up the foot. I have to say, this pattern is NOT hard - it looks it, but it really isn't. (I'm not just saying that, either - it really isn't hard!) As long as I count carefully on each odd row (the actual pattern rows are the odd ones; the even rows are straight knit all across), it's easy-peasy. I am still using lifelines, because...lace. Dropped stitches. 'Nuff said.
Oh - and yes, sock machines ARE fun. And fiddly - as far as I know, no one is currently making them (I could be wrong - Auto Knitter was supposedly making new ones back in the early 2000's, but I honestly don't know if they are/did.), so all the available ones are from the turn of the 20th century. And they act their age. Mine was bought fully refurbished, and guaranteed to knit; it did/does, but it's picky. VERY picky - if you don't apply the correct amount of weight to the knit tube, it'll refuse to knit.....so you have to pull down on the knitting with your non-cranking hand. And....that hurts my wrist. More than knitting by hand does...so, the CSM sits and gathers dust.
Mine dates from 1920-ish, if I remember correctly. It's complete - and when it's in the mood, you can crank out a pair of socks in an hour. Ribbed cuff and all.
I need to sit down and spin some so I can think about Ali's post today.....I don't have any mindless knitting to help me focus, so I need to spin. I think better when my "upper" mind is focused on something like spinning/easy knitting.
