Oh my gosh! I have knitted a swatch!

Congratulations!

Can you go to a regular yarn store and play with the needles and yarns, and see what feels good to you? I'm going to guess that the best yarn to work with would be worsted weight wool (not acrylic)--unless of course you're allergic to wool. It's soft, springy, and thanks to the wonders of modern science, often machine washable. If you can play with the needles (at yarn stores, they will let you do this, and advise you--maybe even help you cast on if that's a problem), you can find out whether you want slick needles (like aluminum or that pearly stuff), or ones with a little more drag (like wood or bamboo), or a lot of drag, like nylon and other "space age" materials.

Have fun, and give us a report!

Georgia

Hi Georgia, Thanks for all the suggestions. Will the needles with a little "drag" halp prevent me from dropping stitches so much? I think that is my biggest problem, they are slipping off while I try to do a purl stitch.

Thanks, Di

Diane: You sound like me! I had tried to learn to knit a few times before but gave up. I recently tried again and, by jove, I think I may be getting it this time! Anyway, I'm trying to learn to do this and that. I got a pair of plastic size 13 U.S. (9.0 mm) needles and I can hold them much better than the metal ones.

they probably will help with that. They may also make the stitches tighter in general. If that is a problem, experiment with ways of holding the yarn to put less tension in each stitch (hope that's intelligible, because I have no idea how you're holding the yarn, and can't remember what the way I knit is called, if it even has a name).

Georgia

hi ya Well, you've done your swatch, now you work on perfecting it, so that you get the tension right and no dropped stitches. It all takes time, but worth it in the end. Good luck, you've done very well so far, it's just a case of being at ease with it all.

Hugz Cher

Congratulations. Is this a case of "it didn't work the first time" or is it just "it's been a really long time"?

As Georgia said, go to the yarn store and try out the different yarns. To start with, you want a smoothly finished yarn with a consistent thickness and a tight enough twist so that it doesn't split easily. Leave the slubbies and the novelty yarns for later.

Unless you are allergic, I would recommend wool simply because it is really very nice to knit with. It has a natural stretch and resilience that makes it easier to make stitches. (I say that as an acrylic user.) There is some nice acrylic around, too, and wool blends have the best of both worlds. I would advise against cottons or silks because they don't stretch; knitting with them takes more care, but blends with some wool in them are easier to use.

Size 9 needles are probably a good size to start with; they should help prevent you from knitting worsted-weight yarn too tightly. For hats and mittens I prefer sizes 6 and 8.

=Tamar

Hi Diane,

Wow, that's great that you are relearning to knit. It will take time to make it perfect, ask me, I know. I started learning to knit mittens with the old style wool and size four needles. It took a while, but I got it down pat after many attempts.

I would use your Red Heart, but a bigger needle to practice with, then when you have mastered that, you can go to any size the patterns call for. When I do knit, I'm like Tamar, 6 and 8 are my favorite sizes.

Hugs,

Nora

Hi Brenda,

I don't remember your name, Dixie Sugar so welcome to this great group and do come back again and tell us what you are knitting.

Nora

Good Diane! I am sure you soon are an expert! ;-)) Aud;-) skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...