This thread is to discuss tips and techniques involved with knitting your own woolen covers for cloth nappies.
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This thread is to discuss tips and techniques involved with knitting your own woolen covers for cloth nappies.
Yay first post from a total NOVICE lol :)
Hope some others join me!
Crafty Desires: Longies Pattern
:D Just thought I would add this in here.
Hey PP!!
I think you might be adding stitches by not fully removing the old stitch when you take it off. How tight do you have the wool? Is it difficult to get the needle into the stitch to knit it? If so then you need to loosen it up.
Maybe practice by knitting some squares or a scarf until you are keeping it square, and then start doing things like ribbing and increasing and decreasing stitches IYKWIM.
I am currently knitting some longies for a fellow BB member! We are doing swapsies :lol: she is sewing some nappies and I am knitting longies. I am using the Audrey Doodlepants pattern but when I get around to making my own longies I will adapt the pattern and give it feet and make enough changes for it to be my own pattern. I am thinking about selling them too if MIL is willing to help me!
knittinginstructions
this is the one i am attempting!! :)
ALi - i think this is what i am doing (was just talking to nessa about it). i think i am splitting a stitch into 2 as it is very tight! will try to do it looser... will it affect the overall product if the stitching is looser? i think i need to get them all even in a row ... not some twisted as i think this is also what i am doing wrong
WOMN - Purple 12ply 100% wool! ..... for Longies
(Whats on my needles lol)
Woohoo!
Great to see you lot pop in here :D
I've got 2 longies on the go. One is a large pair of Shannons but I'm waiting for a 30cm 3.5 circ needle so I can finish it.
I also am doing it in the crawler size and I've done the elastic casing waistband which is a HUGE achievement. I'm doing that with el cheapo patons carnival wool from BigW (I hear it works pretty good though) because when I'm finished I will use it for my first dip dying attempt.
River that is my inspiration ;)
Just so you know Sam, the one on the blog is different to the one from Nappycino. It's the one I knit from (be damned with anonymity people can know who 'River' is ;)). Basically those side increases are just moved 10 stitches in on the front instead....they fit the legs in so much nicer there, I only changed it originally because Katanya had front increases and I was respecting her business (even though they were slightly different in orientation), but she no longer knits for BaaBum, so I feel okay about publishing this one.
Why are you using 3.5mm needles hun? And super yay for the elastic casing! you ROCK! oh, and the carnival wool is great for dip dyeing, it takes the dye so well. Good hardy wool too. If you want to try a cheap good aussie wool, you should check out Bendigo woolen mills - $11 for a 200g skein great value.
Sammi, I use that wool and it rather good, feels nice and soft and easy to knit.
PP that is the same as the pattern I am using! I use safety pins as markers so i dont loose the markers.
River ;) I think I will try those ones next! I nearly used your old username then :lol:
oh ali... i havent even got to markers lol... i have done the first 2 lines of the kkp of the waist band it is look slike crap so have unravelled it both times and started again!
I do the first line after cast off and it is really messy... it isnt a smooth loop over with the knitting underneath the needle.. it has bumps and knots all over the loop part and then the knitting underneath...
what do you think i am doing wrong?
Coolies Shannon ;) Is that pattern then the same as the cargos you knitted up for Caleb (if you can remember back that far?) It has the leg increases further around the front. They rock BTW! He's grown a bit too tall for the legs now but they fit perfectly on the rise.
Sorry I didn't explain myself too well did I! The 3.5mm needles are for the Trelikse I dyed with the NC girls. Pic is on my blog. It is supposed to be 8ply but seems to be a bit thinner in spots so I thought I'd knit it up with slightly smaller needles to be on the safe side. I had to pull it apart anyway cos the cat demolished it. Silly me didn't order 2x 30mm's and I don't want to risk faffing about with changing needles over etc cos I drop stitches and the like so I'd rather just invest the extra $11 and get another pair.
ETA PP what cast on are you using? I prefer the long tail cast on (on knittinghelp) as it seems to be a bit stretcher and forgiving.
PP, I think you may be doing the ribbing wrong if you are getting bumps where you are not changing over from K to P and ViceVersa. are you going under the needles when you change which side the wool is on? are you knitting from the front of the stitch at all times? Knit goes through from left to right, purl goes right to left, with the needle you are kitting from on the left at all times. I might take some pics to show you if it doesnt make sense. Let me know if you need to see it.
yep take some picks for me.
Fj has been talking me through - not sure what i am doign wrong. under the stitchupwards front to back with KNIT - yarn to back of needles
under the stitch downwards back to front with PURL - yarn pulled through between the needles to the front... and still big balls of crapponitto!!
PP try going to knittinghelp dot com and have a look at the tutorial videos. I found they are awesome when I get stuck on a new type of stitch. Oh and when you are looking at them there are two options for most - we knit the normal way not the continental way!!
I am soooo impatient, I get bored so quickly! I once took forever knitting a pair, was up to the crotch when I realised that they were way too small for Riv and Si hadn't been thought of yet! So I frogged them and cos I wanted the wool for something else (who knows what, it's not like I've ever made anything else).
I'm not sure I've ever finished any knitted item ever! :redface:
Nelle, the trick is to start with a small and simple project and then get onto the more difficult stuff once you get a bit more confident. I have LOTS of scarves :lol:
Hey PP I have and idea of what your problem could be!
When you are doing the rib and you knit two, then bring the yarn over the front to do the purl two, are you bringing the yarn over the top of the needle or bringing it through the middle of them?
When I was beginning I was bringing it over the top of the needles and making a total hash out of it. You need to bring the yarn to the front between the needles to do the purl then back between the needles to do the knit etc.
Nelle I was like that too. Chucked it away for months, got right into sewing nappies, then as I'm finding it hard to sit at the sewing machine with my sore back ATM I've taken up knitting again cos I can do it while sitting on the couch ;)
Thanks Sam, That's what I was trying to say earlier! you just articulated it better.
i am attempting again now with all your advice and watching that video on knittinghelp over and over lol
btw - lincraft has 33% off yarn!!!!!!!!!!
I heard about the lincraft sale this on the radio morning. Might sneak off tomorrow and leave the lads with DH :D Can't remember if it's his Sat on though. Would probably negate any savings on wool with all the stuff they end up talking me into buying. I'm a bit of a softie sometimes.
Thanks Ali I wasn't sure if I had articulated it right myself but if it makes sense to someone else then I must have ;)
hi girls
I am sewing (stocking stitch - gave up on beig fancy after the 200th time of recasting from scratch!)
ANd i am up to the 5th row.
FJ suggested i but in a eyelot row now for the drawstring..... but she is offline
can anyone talk me thhrough it?
I have 48 cast off stitches
At least you have started PP...But I just sucked up to MIL and she is comming tommorrow afternoon to teach me to knit.
Oh Sam - what a great idea for a thread.
I am about half way through a pair of Shannon's longies from the NC website (Yep - I know River - you directed me there months ago and I am only half way through them - luckily no great rush!) I am using a wool alpaca blend and they are turning out really scrummy. Will have to try the all improved pattern next.
Sam - be careful of the Lincraft sale - I just got back and if DH finds out it will end in tears!
PP - easiest way would be (hoping my maths is correct here) K3 [k2together, yarn over, K3]x9. Basically knitting tow together then putting the yarn over the needle means that you don't drop any stitches (the yarn over recreates the stitch that you just knitted together) and means that there is a series of eyelets to threat a drawstring through. HTH
I went to the Lincraft sale but was a bit underwhelmed! I did get some nice pink merino so I'll make a hat from that. They didn't have any of the patons carnival 100%. They had lots of other patons but they had acrylic in them. There was their own brand wool too but it seemed a bit rough for my likings.
I did get some other wool called Shepherd Colour 4 Me in a pink verigated. They were low on stock so there wasn't enough to do a full set of longies in Calebs size besides in pink or yellow.
PP the eyelet row works by knitting two stitches together (k2tog) then using the yarn to a new stitch between them by taking the yarn over the needle (yo) and then knitting the next two together. The yarn over makes a loose hole that then becomes the eyelets. You knit the next row as normal.
The colour 4 me is quite good sam, nice colours! My first soaker (a fern and faery soaker) was in that yarn. A tad scratchy, but still nice. I love their colours, I'm always tempted to buy more (but have waaaaaaaaaay too much wool to get it for just becauses ;)).
And yes, that is the same pattern as the cargoes :).
Oh a bit scratchy you say :( Bit of a bugger then!
If anyone has been to spotlight they have all the cleckheaton country wool on sale. I got some 12 ply for $2.99 a ball (usually $4.99). I imagine the 8ply would be a tad cheaper. It's nice and soft :)
Nearly finished the trelikse longies too. Getting a bit of knitting RSI so resting my fingers a bit. I find knitting with the 30cm circs is a bit funny on my fingers. I have no problem with the 40's so maybe it's the angle I have to hold the 30's on or something. Damn boy and his extra long lanky legs :lol:
Well i finally figured it out and have almos finished my soaker (gave up on the longies lol)... might find a fancy way to put cuffs on the legs though.
Trying oto upload a progress pic but it says 'successful' but then the pic isnt there my gallery
ANy thoughts?
Resize it to a smaller resolution! If it's too big then it won't display.
Not too scratchy Sam, still a nice yarn. I bought some of that 12ply and dyed in a rainbow gradient for a swap I'm doing on Woolaholics, it turned out fabbo. The 8ply is the same price, you just get less yardage per 50g is all ;).
PP, yay for the almost finished soaker. That's fabulous.
I just posted this in the cloth nappy General discussion.. but as the granny knitter belong here lol...
here it is yayayay!! thanks Raven btw for the resizing of the pic tip!
I have been able to finish part 2 of my wool soaker.
I think i did quite well for my first EVER attmept of knitting (lucky mum was here today to teach me to cast off lol). Those of you who know how hard it was for me to learn how to do a stupid k2p1!!! rarararararar!!! will appreciate that i actualy finally finished.
I want to sew on some little frills around the leg holes now as my next experiement !
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...php?photo=8574
Girls quickie bargain! SL have got the cleckheaton country 12 ply on clearance for 50 cents a ball! I went in to get another ball as I wasn't sure if I had enough to do Calebs longies. So I got another 5 balls and spent $3 all up.
I don't imagine it will be around for long at all for that price so if you can get in tomorrow and see it should be worthwhile. I had to fight the nannas to get a look in the bargain bin but they weren't after the plain white stuff so they were helping me. I'll use it for a dying experiment :D
WOW PP you've got it worked out now! The soaker looks great! Well done :)
wow raven that will be the cheapest longies ever lol!!
Well i am all done.... yipppeeeee
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...php?photo=8614
Amazing how long and involved it is to do though... no wonder people charge $30-$50 each hehe.
Yep PP there is a looot of work involved. Added to that the cost of the wool (and time and cost for the dye if applicable) and it's totally understandable!
does anyone know of a free shorties pattern??
I would love to knit some for summer!! I have done a soaker but just cant figure out the leg ribbing
Beatrix. i will be able to try to help you like you did me with the leg ribbing if you like
FJ actually showed me how with the knittinghelp website!
Will check if you are in MSN later when i have 1/2 hr to sit down.. (after lunch when DD is asleep)
Hey granny's LOL, thought Ishould post in here. Knittinghelp.com is a great site. I am learning as I go but have found sharing tips from one learner to another is great as the learner showing the learner is using learner terms that are easier to understand.
Ness, on NC Shannon has a free longies pattern, you could just do that but stop at the leg length you would prefer for shorts.
Also on knitting help there is a video about adding stitches just as you would to add the ribbing to the legs. Its easy enough once you know how.
I have MSN on m ost of the time & hppy to offer my learner advise LOL
Girls take Fj up on that!! lol She was VERY patient with me and my knitting lol
I just realised on closer inspection on e leg cuff is 1 row longer than the other... no wonder it was bugging me that it looked lopsided... theres my OCD again!! arhhhh lol
No more knitting for me for a little while. Broke both my size 5 and 6 needles! rah!!!
Ness if you have a look at Rivers (Shannon) blog link in her post near the top of this thread it has her pattern on there ;)
I've finished :dance: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...php?photo=8634
Caleb didn't want to wear them and pulled them off so no modelling pic.
great longies Raven! yayay
Do you know of any longies patterns or shorties that are not IN THE ROUND?
I only have a pair of 3.5,mm needles left (until i break them too) but want to try again with more
ALSO HELP -- how do i make the cast on stretchy at the waist ribbing. the k2p1 is stretchy but it is tight to get over DD's bum and nappy to start
thats why i do k2p2, also you may find you need to loosen off a bit as you knit, it may be your tension making it tight then it needs to be kwim