A thread for stitchers, crafters, and makers

[KnittyNorah]

This talk of knitting up thread, reminds me that I was given some knitting kit a couple of years ago for a birthday, and never really touched it. I’m going to revisit it and see if I can muster up some enthusiasm for it.

I need a goal, something to knit, relatively simple but functional. Not a scarf .6" long

Definitely DON'T knit a scarf - they are such disheartening things to make.

If you knit two rectangles, about 7 - 8" wide and 6" deep, starting and finishing with garter stitch (knit all stitches on each row) but with the rest knitted in stocking stitch (knit one row, purl the next), you can easily make a very basic pair of fingerless (and thumbless!) mitts. They won't be fancy but they will help to keep your hands warm, perhaps over thinner gloves, or at home or work when you need to be able to eg use the keyboard still.

Cast on an appropriate number of stitches (enough to wrap around the widest part of your hand, remembering that knitting is stretchy) and knit 4 rows of garter stitch. Now knit stocking stitch until the piece is about 5.5 inches from your cast on point, and knit another 4 rows of garter stitch. Cast off.
Repeat.
Now fold each rectangle piece in half widthwise with right sides facing (the wrong (purl) side will be showing). Using a blunt tapestry or wool needle and a length of your wool, sew up (whip stitch) a side seam, starting at the cast on edge, for 2.5”. Using a separate length of wool sew down from the cast-off edge for about 1.5".This will leave a 2” hole for your thumb. Turn them the right side out, put them on and enjoy warmer hands!

I can't tell you the number of stitches or rows to knit as it will depend on the thickness of the wool, the size of the needles, how big you want the finished item to be - and the fact that as a new knitter you will almost inevitably knit impossibly tightly!

 

[EltonFrog]

Definitely DON'T knit a scarf - they are such disheartening things to make.

If you knit two rectangles, about 7 - 8" wide and 6" deep, starting and finishing with garter stitch (knit all stitches on each row) but with the rest knitted in stocking stitch (knit one row, purl the next), you can easily make a very basic pair of fingerless (and thumbless!) mitts. They won't be fancy but they will help to keep your hands warm, perhaps over thinner gloves, or at home or work when you need to be able to eg use the keyboard still.

Cast on an appropriate number of stitches (enough to wrap around the widest part of your hand, remembering that knitting is stretchy) and knit 4 rows of garter stitch. Now knit stocking stitch until the piece is about 5.5 inches from your cast on point, and knit another 4 rows of garter stitch. Cast off.
Repeat.
Now fold each rectangle piece in half widthwise with right sides facing (the wrong (purl) side will be showing). Using a blunt tapestry or wool needle and a length of your wool, sew up (whip stitch) a side seam, starting at the cast on edge, for 2.5”. Using a separate length of wool sew down from the cast-off edge for about 1.5".This will leave a 2” hole for your thumb. Turn them the right side out, put them on and enjoy warmer hands!

I can't tell you the number of stitches or rows to knit as it will depend on the thickness of the wool, the size of the needles, how big you want the finished item to be - and the fact that as a new knitter you will almost inevitably knit impossibly tightly!

Great tips, I love the idea of fingerless mits.

 

[KnittyNorah]

A first first for me. I've made rope bowls and coasters and place mats before, but today I used fabric wrapped round the rope just to make it a bit different. I quite like the look.

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I made a lot of stuff like that a few years ago when I was doing craft fairs; sometimes I used fabric to wrap the rope and sometimes I'd dye the rope. I regularly used to have 100s of metres of dyed cotton clothes line hanging from my (synthetic, so it wouldn't stain) washing line. Fun times! I recently found some coasters and place mats I'd made - the things wear like iron!

 

[welsh dragon]

I made a lot of stuff like that a few years ago when I was doing craft fairs; sometimes I used fabric to wrap the rope and sometimes I'd dye the rope. I regularly used to have 100s of metres of dyed cotton clothes line hanging from my (synthetic, so it wouldn't stain) washing line. Fun times! I recently found some coasters and place mats I'd made - the things wear like iron!

I intend to dye some rope as well. It costs a crazy amount not just to buy coloured rope but the postage is also stupdily high as most of it comes from abroad.

 

[Reynard]

I intend to dye some rope as well. It costs a crazy amount not just to buy coloured rope but the postage is also stupdily high as most of it comes from abroad.

Why not go for natural dyes - there's loads of plant-based things you can do, though likely you will need a mordant as well.

A bit late in the year now, but blackberries and elderberries give you a wonderful deep purple, and walnut husks give a rich brown. of things to hand all year round, onion skins for a tan colour and red cabbage for a blue / purple. Beetroot will give a lovely bright magenta.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Why not go for natural dyes - there's loads of plant-based things you can do, though likely you will need a mordant as well.

A bit late in the year now, but blackberries and elderberries give you a wonderful deep purple, and walnut husks give a rich brown. of things to hand all year round, onion skins for a tan colour and red cabbage for a blue / purple. Beetroot will give a lovely bright magenta.

Blackberries and elderberries are fugitive, as are red cabbage and beetroot, even with mordants. As the colours are anthocyanins, they are pH dependant so make for good science projects! Onion skins are a better bet, especially if you mordant the fibre before dying.
Cotton and other cellulosics are much more resistant to natural dyes than are protein fibres such as wool and silk, sadly. However, lots of simmering is needed, and you can't use utensils you've used for dying in the kitchen afterwards with many natural dyestuffs or with the mordants. Boiling up for hours and hours with onion skins makes the kitchen smell weird, too! Anyone interested in natural dyes can do no better (in Britain) than get a copy of Jenny Dean's Wild Colour.

For cottons and cellulosics (such as washing line/cotton rope) fibre-reactive cold-water dyes are really a better option all round, synthetic and produced from fossil fuels though they doubtless are. They are gloriously fast, and those available for hobby use are (relatively) non-toxic, requiring only the use of washing soda and salt, certainly far less toxic than many of the mordants routinely used for natural dyeing, and the beauty of the cold-water fibre-reactive dyes is that you do it all at ambient temperature using old tubs and buckets - nothing that needs to be put over a heat source, or retired from the kitchen - and probably stuff you've already got or can get very cheaply.

 

[welsh dragon]

Blackberries and elderberries are fugitive, as are red cabbage and beetroot, even with mordants. As the colours are anthocyanins, they are pH dependant so make for good science projects! Onion skins are a better bet, especially if you mordant the fibre before dying.
Cotton and other cellulosics are much more resistant to natural dyes than are protein fibres such as wool and silk, sadly. However, lots of simmering is needed, and you can't use utensils you've used for dying in the kitchen afterwards with many natural dyestuffs or with the mordants. Boiling up for hours and hours with onion skins makes the kitchen smell weird, too! Anyone interested in natural dyes can do no better (in Britain) than get a copy of Jenny Dean's Wild Colour.

For cottons and cellulosics (such as washing line/cotton rope) fibre-reactive cold-water dyes are really a better option all round, synthetic and produced from fossil fuels though they doubtless are. They are gloriously fast, and those available for hobby use are (relatively) non-toxic, requiring only the use of washing soda and salt, certainly far less toxic than many of the mordants routinely used for natural dyeing, and the beauty of the cold-water fibre-reactive dyes is that you do it all at ambient temperature using old tubs and buckets - nothing that needs to be put over a heat source, or retired from the kitchen - and probably stuff you've already got or can get very cheaply.

Thanks for that . I have been looking at Ritt dyes. They seem quite good.

 

[Reynard]

Blackberries and elderberries are fugitive, as are red cabbage and beetroot, even with mordants. As the colours are anthocyanins, they are pH dependant so make for good science projects! Onion skins are a better bet, especially if you mordant the fibre before dying.
Cotton and other cellulosics are much more resistant to natural dyes than are protein fibres such as wool and silk, sadly. However, lots of simmering is needed, and you can't use utensils you've used for dying in the kitchen afterwards with many natural dyestuffs or with the mordants. Boiling up for hours and hours with onion skins makes the kitchen smell weird, too! Anyone interested in natural dyes can do no better (in Britain) than get a copy of Jenny Dean's Wild Colour.

For cottons and cellulosics (such as washing line/cotton rope) fibre-reactive cold-water dyes are really a better option all round, synthetic and produced from fossil fuels though they doubtless are. They are gloriously fast, and those available for hobby use are (relatively) non-toxic, requiring only the use of washing soda and salt, certainly far less toxic than many of the mordants routinely used for natural dyeing, and the beauty of the cold-water fibre-reactive dyes is that you do it all at ambient temperature using old tubs and buckets - nothing that needs to be put over a heat source, or retired from the kitchen - and probably stuff you've already got or can get very cheaply.

Mmmm, but if it's for something decorative that's not going to be washed, it's a cheap play really. I dunno if you're like me, but I've a stack of pots and pans in my utility room that I never use for cooking, so losing a few to other projects wouldn't be a bad thing.

Being of part eastern European extraction, I always dye eggs for Easter with some of the above. It's traditional. How well it translates to fabrics, I've far less experience - beyond GCSE / A-level chemistry that was far too long ago...

 

[KnittyNorah]

Thanks for that . I have been looking at Ritt dyes. They seem quite good.

I don't know about here in the UK, but Ritt 'All Purpose' dyes in the US are a mixture of dye types, some of which aren't very fast at all.
For my money - depending on what sort of fibre you want to dye, of course! - Dylon are hard to beat for availability, clear instructions and ease of use. The Dylon you see in almost all hardware shops, Wilkos etc are a very good type of FR dye which also work as acid dyes (when used with different chemicals, and a slightly different process - vinegar or citric acid, and heat, as compared to the washing soda and salt at 'room temperature' needed for cellulosics such as cotton or linen) on protein fibres such as wool. Also on nylon, as it has a molecular structure with some similarities to wool ...
However, if you want to do much dyeing, Dylon, although convenient, is quite an expensive way of dyeing stuff and it is cheaper to buy 'pure' FR dyes and which, if correctly stored, will keep for years. Also for dyeing proteins, the acid dyes are better than than some FR dyes. I buy my dyes from Kemtex which has a wide range of dyes and auxiliary chemicals. No connection with them, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

[welsh dragon]

I don't know about here in the UK, but Ritt 'All Purpose' dyes in the US are a mixture of dye types, some of which aren't very fast at all.
For my money - depending on what sort of fibre you want to dye, of course! - Dylon are hard to beat for availability, clear instructions and ease of use. The Dylon you see in almost all hardware shops, Wilkos etc are a very good type of FR dye which also work as acid dyes (when used with different chemicals, and a slightly different process - vinegar or citric acid, and heat, as compared to the washing soda and salt at 'room temperature' needed for cellulosics such as cotton or linen) on protein fibres such as wool. Also on nylon, as it has a molecular structure with some similarities to wool ...
However, if you want to do much dyeing, Dylon, although convenient, is quite an expensive way of dyeing stuff and it is cheaper to buy 'pure' FR dyes and which, if correctly stored, will keep for years. Also for dyeing proteins, the acid dyes are better than than some FR dyes. I buy my dyes from Kemtex which has a wide range of dyes and auxiliary chemicals. No connection with them, other than as a satisfied customer.

Thanks. Just having a look now.

 

[EltonFrog]

I found some material in the bargain bucket, made another shirt.

 

[welsh dragon]

I found some material in the bargain bucket, made another shirt.

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Good lord. Your nearest and dearest will certainly be able to find you if you get lost in a crowd.

Looks like a good job.

 

[alicat]

That fabric may have been in the bargain bucket for a reason.

 

[EltonFrog]

Good lord. Your nearest and dearest will certainly be able to find you if you get lost in a crowd.

Looks like a good job.

That fabric may have been in the bargain bucket for a reason.

Apparently it’s an African Wax Print, I’ve made it into a Hawaiian style shirt, a fusion if you will. I shall wear it in Hawaii in two weeks time.

ETA: I love it.

 

[welsh dragon]

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