Monday, August 20, 2007

If At First You Don't Succeed....

...unravel it and start knitting again. LOL. Some of you may have guessed from one of my recent posts that I've been doing a bit of unravelling when it comes to my knitting attempts. :-) I thought it would be good to at least master 1 dishcloth with my knitting needles. I'm sure you need at least 3 hands to co-ordinate those things. LOL. I will admit that co-ordination did become easier as the project progressed (is this because the knitting helped hold the needles together?).

When I came across this blog post, I decided it was time to do away with perfectionism and just get on with getting it done. Not because of any deadline but because I could see myself reknitting the first few rows 100 times and never finishing.




So here is the finished product. If you're a knitter I'm sure you'll spot the mistakes. I had trouble with phantom stitches appearing on my needles. And it took a couple of rows for me to figure out I needed to shift the wool back and forth when switching between normal stitch and purl stitch (hence the hole). However, I was most pleased with myself to be able to drag how to do a purl stitch from the deep dark recesses of my mind.

But anyway, my first knitting project (since I was about 10) is now done. Not that we actually need any dishcloths at the moment. I tend to edge old towels or handtowels for dishcloths. What we do need though is some face washers so I'm going to see how this holds up in the bath. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It's not knitted with cotton since I didn't have any. I found some baby wool I bought a very long time ago thinking I might get inspired to knit while I was pregnant (I didn't). At least it's nice and soft but not sure how it'll go under duress in the bath with the kids. :-)

Thanks again to Rhonda Gay for her help. There were times when I wish some of my blogging friends lived just next door so I could pop over with the needles and say "what is going on here?" LOL. Then again, perhaps it's better that I had to work some of it out for myself.

I'm now back to using my round looms for knitting. Not that I'm abandoning my needles - just taking a break. At the moment I'm attempting to make an afghan throw rug for DS (in crows colours) on the loom. When it's done I'll post a pic. If my cloth survives the bathtub, I may even attempt to knit another one - this time without any holes (hopefully). :-)

Oh yeah, before I go tossing it in the bathtub, I probably should weave the ends in. I cheated and just tucked them underneath for the photo. LOL. I'm a classic when it comes to not quite finishing things off!

10 comments:

Kez said...

Luckily I'm not a knitter, so I can't spot the mistakes! I'm impressed anyway :)

Unknown said...

I"m not a knitter either ~ I think you've done well. I hope when I give it a go that I can do something like that!!

Kin said...

Oooh, that looks great! I did knit in a past life, but for now I will stick to my cross stitch.

Anonymous said...

There is not a thing wqrong with that dishcloth. Looks great.
HHMM now where did you get that pattern from I wonder LOL

Lis said...

I also can't remember how to knit...so it looks great to me!

Anonymous said...

Wow you beat me! IT looks so soft and hope it works as a flannel. I have attempted mine several times and each time it seems to stretch so big but still has the same no of stitches I began with. How many stitches did you cast on Jodi? Even with 20 my cotton seemed to stretch. Must be doing something wrong!LS

Polly said...

It took me a while to find that hole and I wouldn't have noticed it at all if you hadn't mentioned it. You did a great job.

Recently I had a taste of how a new knitter must feel when I tried my hand at continental knitting. I gave up after a while.:-(

lightening said...

You're all so kind. :-)

LS - how much stretch does the cotton have before you knit it? I know the feathers wool I've used with some of my looming stretches so much more than some of my other yarns. I started with 45 stithes (and finished with 46 LOL). My only other suggestion is to try and wrap the cotton a little tighter around the needle. I know that some people tend to knit tighter than others.

Any other knitters have any suggestions on why LS's dishcloth is stretching?

Polly - you have me intrigued, I'll have to google continental knitting now - I've never heard of it before.

Louise Allana said...

Your cloth looks great. I just finished my first scarf (since I was about 10, as well) and it has a fair few lumpy edged - took me a while to figure out where all the extra stitches were coming from, and then I came to the same realisation as you about the purl technique :)

I am interested in how the wool goes as a washcloth, as wool is naturally water resistant, unlike cotton which is quite absorbent. Cotton also has a smoother hand than wool. Let us know :)

Alexandra V. said...

I think it looks very good. The only mistake I can find is that one little hole in the corner. Your tension is excellent.