Is this actually a widespread thing? I'd never heard of it (sorry if this doesn'tfit the sub)

Just have to vent, because I’m struggling to finish this sweater. The body was knit with US 17s (12mm). Now I’m doing the sleeves on US 19s (16mm) because my gauge was too tight with the 17s. I have discovered I don’t like knitting with these size needles. They’re uncomfortable for me to hold and knitting with them feels like a chore.

Vent over. Hopefully I’ll get this sweater off the needles today or tomorrow, and now I know to avoid any more projects using these needles.

So I want to knit up an all-over lace top, which is originally made with two strands of Lang Yarns Mohair Luxe. I've been searching for non-animal alternatives for quite a while now. My best bet might be Lammy Soft Sensation, but as it's rather cheap I'm afraid it might also look and feel cheap. Does anyone have experience with it? The reviews I can find online are rather scarce.

Also been looking into Alize Cotton Gold and Hobbii Amigo. They're not exactly mohair-y but might provide a little fluff and, more importantly, softness.

What do you think? Are there better options? TIA!

The pattern is free on Ravelry- 198 Yards of Heaven. I used Madeline Tosh Vintage in Fatal Attraction (1 skein). I'll have to post it after it's dry because this picture doesn't do the color justice.

Caveat: when the article mentions the "dominant hand" and "non-dominant hand" they really just mean "right hand" and "left hand". These knitting styles do not adjust to your personal handedness. So I guess you can read it as written if you're right-handed, but if you're left-handed this was not written with you in mind.

One day I might finally cave and buy a real yarn swift & winder, but for now this shall suffice

Seems to be put together with images from The 4-H Knitting Handbook.

While I am asking about what knitting resources you use I might as well plug this thread asking for knitting resources for beginners.

I have a Ravelry account I rarely use. I come here from time to time. I still have a few how to knit books I got as a child. And I have a few specific tutorials (none are video-only, they are all image + text tutorials) bookmarked online that I know I'll need to refer back to sometime in the future:

• https://sheepandstitch.com/what-is-knitting-gauge/
• https://nourishandnestle.com/tension-in-knitting-too-loose-tight-or-inconsistent/
• https://www.yarnspirations.com/blogs/how-to/how-to-knit-cables
• https://sarahmaker.com/stockinette-stitch/
• https://smokeandslate.com/pages/weave-in-ends-stockinette-stitch

Finally, I keep the pattern I am working on written out in Obsidian (@obsidianmd@lemmy.world says hi), with a little note at the bottom describing the tension I am using and this: "Finished row x, need to start at row x + 1". (If I wrote 'row x' I would have no idea if I just finished it and need to start x + 1, or if I just finished x - 1 and need to start row x. That was a serious issue for me when using just a counter that ticks up. I could just technically write 'Finished row x' but I feel better both writing that and 'need to start row x + 1'.)

Slow but steady progress on my socks

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Sock

Needed a new car knitting project as my Kelowna sweater is too big now to work on comfortably. So I cast on some socks for me.

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Palm Springs colorway

Decided to get sleeve island out of the way. I’m worried I won’t have enough yarn even though I’m on gauge. I am using different yarn than the pattern and it’s definitely not the bulkiest bulky yarn I’ve ever used.

I picked up 12 stitches in the underarm (instead of the pattern’s 6) because I was worried about holes. I may have some small ones to close up at the end but we’ll see how they look after blocking.

Pattern: Kelowna sweater

The socks with my first ever fish lips kiss heel are done! They even got a spin through the washer and dryer because our dog spilled milk on them (yes our dog lol).

My spouse tried them on and they fit perfectly. For my next pair of socks I’m not sure if I’ll use this heel again - I do really like it but now it’s got me wondering what other awesome heels I haven’t done yet.

Just finished this. Took about a month. The pattern is free!

Since it’s unisex I used a Caron cotton cake in DK I think and knit the small size. I followed the guidance on the label for needle size. It started as an experiment and ended as a happy accident.

Also, I modified by adding the panel in the hood and icord string.

This week got away from me, I spent most of today thinking it was Wednesday. I started this sweater on Saturday. Thankfully we were in a city visiting family, as I’d overlooked the fact that this pattern uses 12mm needles for the body (the largest I have is 8mm). I was able to run to the store and pick some up right away.

I tried all 3 sizes for the neckline and none looked like the right fit, so I decided to do a provisional cast on and worry about the collar later.

The pattern is this one! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-bear-hat-8

I made some adjustments, like starting with 8 rows of ribbing, then doing two kfb increases in row 9, before doing the rest of the pattern as described. I also picked up 10 stitches instead of 8 for the the ears, because of personal preference.

I was able to finish it in one evening, and I'm thinking of making another for his cousin that will be born just two months after him :)

(Please excuse the fuzz and pilling, these are OLD)

Ok these are definitely not the most "impressive" cabling project I've done, but they are by far the most special to me so I'm going with them for cables month! A few reasons I love them so:

• I won this yarn in a knitting group on Google+ (RIP), about a month after I'd started knitting in 2013. It was my first ever fancy yarn and I was so incredibly excited!

• Because I was such a new knitter, these gloves were my first ever cables, and also my first time using DPNs. Felt like too many extra hands, I still don't like DPNs to this day!

• And because I like to jump in at the deep end, when one of them went wrong I decided to drop stitches down and figure out how to rebuild the cables as I picked the stitches back up. Worked pretty flawlessly and I was SO proud of myself!

• Last but not least, they always remind me of a friend who sadly passed away a year or so later. She helped me a lot with my first few projects, shoutout to Bernie ❤

Pattern is Roundabout Fingerless Gloves, and here's a bonus pic of the other side where the left one is looking weirdly baggy but I swear they do actually fit irl 😄

Started a shawl in late January, and it needs to be finished by July. Which, for most people I'm sure that's nothing but I am a very slow knitter, really!

The pattern is lacy and complicated and mistakes will be really visible, so it's no good to work on while watching TV or doing anything else and I'd just not been putting time aside to properly concentrate on it.

The solution: A spreadsheet to keep track of how far behind I am, and a graph so I can watch myself (hopefully) catch up.

There are very few problems in life that can't at least be a bit improved with a spreadsheet, and I reckon that applies to knitting just the same 🤓

I just finished this cardigan and because it was a gift I tried really hard to make it look tidy.

The yarn is recycled yarn ("I used to be a pullover") in Murano green.

The pattern is adapted from the raglan pattern in Ann Budd's book "The knitter's handy book of sweater patterns."

Edit: a few more detail shots of the cardigan:

Back of the zipper. I made a tiny strip to cover the zipper fabric.

Front of the zipper. I knit a strip sideways along the entire edge of the front panels and folded it onto itself to make a roll that would cover the zipper.

The cuff. I had such a hard time finding a cuff I liked and that would look good and not wavy. I ended up making a 2x2 rib and I really like how regular it is.

The front panel mounted on my knitting machine, taking up 198 of the 200 needles available.

First attempt at the fish lips kiss heel. I got stalled on these socks for a couple weeks because no matter how many times I read the instructions it didn’t make any sense to me. Plus I don’t get much time to knit most days, usually just 10-15 minutes while I’m waiting for my kid to get out of school.

I ended up finding a video (Fish Lips Kiss Heel by Betty Mueller on YT) and it made sense! It doesn’t exactly follow the FLKH pattern instructions but it worked for me. Unfortunately looking at them this morning I’m pretty sure the sock is too long for my spouse, but I have to wait til they get home from work before I can see for sure. Either way I really like how quick and easy this heel was so I’m not concerned if I have to tear it back a bit and redo.

Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know this, but it only just occurred to me to try - and it worked!

I gave it needle size, ply and the garment size I wanted - as well as asking for Australian sizing and instructions (so you'll need to change that for whatever you're used to) and from what I could see it was pretty good. Haven't actually tried it but I may for a small project and see how it goes.

Edit to say that I'm very aware of chatgpts limits (I work in a field where it's being abused) but thought it was an interesting idea. Simplicity would be key. I'd consider myself a beginner this might be a good way of creating small simple projects. Or nonsense! I have bags of cheap wool that I got through my local buy nothing group so I'm always up for a bit of experimentation.