New knitters

I took some knitting to our daughter’s while she and her husband were out of town.  I always have great plans to knit and I usually end not knitting at all.  This time I took some seamless slippers to finish.

Our grandson was taking a nap, E wasn’t feeling well and was camped out on the couch with Mr. Aitch and Z. They were watching something on TV.  I sat down in a chair with my knitting.

“Nona, will you teach me how to knit?”

I only had four metal double-point needles with me so I transferred the live stitches from the slippers to some stitch holders and cast on 16 stitches for Z.

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Wooden needles are better than metal ones when first learning to knit as the metal ones are very slippery and fall out.

After I got Z started, E wanted to learn.

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Both did several stitches with a lot of help.  They even knit a row or two and some partial rows with much satisfaction.

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After much “This is so hard” and “You knit faster than me because you’ve been doing it longer”, I finished knitting their coasters and gave them some yarn to weave through the bumps.

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They liked the weaving much better than the knitting.

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Coasters for hot chocolate.

Plus they appreciate how long it takes to knit something.

 

Repair or replace

Slippers-1I don’t remember when I started wearing these slippers.  Three, four, five, or more years ago.

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Well worn, they are.

 

 

The soles have holes.

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The toes have holes.

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The heels have holes.

 

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My aunt has a pair of pajamas that have been patched and repaired so many times I don’t think any of the original fabric is there any more.

I must confess that I have repaired the toes of these slippers several times.  The one heel is in pretty bad shape.  I’m not sure if that part can be salvaged.

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I just happen to have three new pairs sitting in my stash…

At what point do you repair or replace?

DPN substitution

I have some last-minute knitting (as usual) to do before Christmas.  This morning before I left for work, I grabbed a bag of yarn and double point knitting needles to knit a small bunny.

Only the knitting needles that were in the bag of yarn (US 5) were not the size needed (US 1).

So I had to substitute with what I had.

Mini-bunnyCable needles.  And they were the correct size albeit shorter than I like.  Only four inches in length.  Fortunately it’s a small knit and I’m managing.

 

Progress, sorta

My Bacardi Cardi is a slow go.  I’ve got seven different balls of yarn tethered to my needles at all times.

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I’ve done a lot of Fair Isle knitting before but not with so many different colors of yarn at the same time.

It took a full seven minutes to untangle the mess last evening before I went to bed.  Granted I was tired.  And frustrated.

Do you have a secret for keeping things neat and untangled when you do Fair Isle knitting?  Please share in the comments.  Or commiserate with me.