[Harriet]

12 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

Hats don't need to be knit in the round, if you don't mind a beginner vibe. You knit (or crochet) a rectangle that wraps around the head and goes a fair bit above it, seam it up into a tube, then gather one end of the tube and stick a pompom on it, and you have a bobble hat.

 

 

The seam and gather is a bit lofi, but whatever, it's a homemade hat. Beginners can do it with a simple rectangle.

 

One of my first projects was a dobby hat knit flat. It was basically a big triangle. Not very flattering. But in the advanced search, you can go to filter "attributes" -> "construction" -> "knit flat". There seem to be some great options now.

 

You may have to learn how to seam though. It's not difficult.

[sarakingdom]

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

 I also want socks but that seems even fiddlier.

 

If this is about coldness rather than needing socks, I have more beginner-square good news. There are multiple ways of making slippers out of squares. A lot are single squares folded in one of several different ways, others are assembled out of squares that are seamed together. Some of them look pretty good, though I'd imagine they all benefit from having a foot in them to really make them foot-shaped. They might look odd off the foot.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Appreciate it lots, but guys make no sense. ? Why would I bother wasting time and money and resources learning to make something I have no interest in? No matter what I make it's going to be ugly. If I make an ugly scarf then I'll still have to spend money buying more stuff only to make an ugly hat later. While making an ugly hat will get me one hat closer to maybe one day making a nice hat.  And if go for an intentionally ugly end product why would I bother even trying to finish it? ?‍♀️

 

2 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

If this is about coldness rather than needing socks

Nah it's about having cute comfy socks for lounging in.

 

21 hours ago, Harriet said:

But how many crochet willies are there?

All of them. But also some cute puppy hoods and handcuffs.

[Harriet]

26 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Appreciate it lots, but guys make no sense. ? Why would I bother wasting time and money and resources learning to make something I have no interest in? No matter what I make it's going to be ugly. If I make an ugly scarf then I'll still have to spend money buying more stuff only to make an ugly hat later. While making an ugly hat will get me one hat closer to maybe one day making a nice hat.  And if go for an intentionally ugly end product why would I bother even trying to finish it? ?‍♀️

 

Why would a knit hat or scarf necessarily be ugly? I mean, my dobby hat was. But I have never recommended knitting the dobby hat to anyone, and I never shall.

 

26 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

All of them. But also some cute puppy hoods and handcuffs.

 

I googled puppy hood and I hate it.

[Elastigirl]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Appreciate it lots, but guys make no sense. ? Why would I bother wasting time and money and resources learning to make something I have no interest in? No matter what I make it's going to be ugly. If I make an ugly scarf then I'll still have to spend money buying more stuff only to make an ugly hat later. While making an ugly hat will get me one hat closer to maybe one day making a nice hat.  And if go for an intentionally ugly end product why would I bother even trying to finish it? ?‍♀️

 

And this is where I'm stuck at for most creative projects. ? I've tried to knit, but even my potholders were crooked.? And I don't really want to spend 10,00  hours learning how to make a decent potholder

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Why would a knit hat or scarf necessarily be ugly? I mean, my dobby hat was. But I have never recommended knitting the dobby hat to anyone, and I never shall.

Because I'll be the one making it! ?

 

12 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

And this is where I'm stuck at for most creative projects. ? I've tried to knit, but even my potholders were crooked.? And I don't really want to spend 10,00  hours learning how to make a decent potholder

But at least they're your crooked potholders. ☺️

[Mistr]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Appreciate it lots, but guys make no sense. ? Why would I bother wasting time and money and resources learning to make something I have no interest in? No matter what I make it's going to be ugly. If I make an ugly scarf then I'll still have to spend money buying more stuff only to make an ugly hat later. While making an ugly hat will get me one hat closer to maybe one day making a nice hat.  And if go for an intentionally ugly end product why would I bother even trying to finish it? ?‍♀️

 

Nah it's about having cute comfy socks for lounging in.

 

I agree that you should start with yarn and a pattern that you like. You are not in primary school where you would have to work with acrylic yarn and plastic needles. One skein of yarn is usually enough for a hat, so it will not be too expensive. Even if you get beautiful hand-dyed yarn.

 

One of the helpful features of Ravelry is that you can see how a pattern worked for other people. Plus you can read their comments about it. That lets you see how the pattern looks when knit with different colors and yarns. If you see a hat pattern and think "that would be cute if it was not chartreuse", you can see what other people did and if you like it.

 

As a knitter who prefers double-pointed needles for socks and gloves, I strongly recommend getting a long circular needle and using the magic loop method. It is much more beginner friendly.

 

Make sure that the yarn feels good on your skin. The hat will be on your forehead and ears. You do not want it to be scratchy.

 

I think that knitting in the round is easier than flat knitting. Once you get going, you just keep spiraling until you are done. There will be some decreases as you get to the top of the hat so that it is head shaped, but those are easy. The start (casting on) is a bit tricky for either circular or flat knitting. Some knitting shops offer casting on as a service. Check if that is available near you.

[Mad Hatter]

5 minutes ago, Mistr said:

As a knitter who prefers double-pointed needles for socks and gloves, I strongly recommend getting a long circular needle and using the magic loop method. It is much more beginner friendly.

I looked into it and came to the same conclusion. I like the compactness of DPS, but mostly they look very stabby and I'll 100% drop them. ?

 

6 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Some knitting shops offer casting on as a service. Check if that is available near you.

Sadly I couldn't find any cute knitting shops. The one in Helsinki was so colourful and helpful and friendly but I couldn't find anything like that here.

 

Thanks for not trying to discourage me of my silly ideas. ?

[Harriet]

36 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Because I'll be the one making it! ?

 

Even if your stitches are a little uneven, blocking will even them out magically*. The rest is a nice pattern, a beautiful yarn, and something that suits you. I will say that highly variegated yarns look fascinating in the skein, but they knit up like technicolour vomit. Happily, ravelry lists yarns and you can search a specific colour and see how it knit up in other people's projects. 

 

*Except with the loose stitches where you change DPNS, or switch out the halves of your magic loop circle. Let me know when you get started and I'll remind you how to avoid it. It will make more sense with the project in your hands.

[Mad Hatter]

24 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I will say that highly variegated yarns look fascinating in the skein, but they knit up like technicolour vomit.

Oh good to know, I was wondering about that. Some yarn looks sooo pretty but I couldn't imagine the final piece.

 

Buying stuff online has proved quite the pain in the butt and it took a significant portion of the day.

 

- Every time I found something nice looking but not too expensive it was sold out.

- Most online shops I had to scroll through pages and pages and pages of useless crap because the search filters were garbage. I could only sometimes reliably search for recommended needle size. Apparently they don't do yarn weight here.

- It doesn't help that I have no clue how to search for things in Polish. Not only don't I know the search terms, but even after I manage to translate I still don't know which conjugations are the most commonly used search terms. Overly simplified example but "knitting needle" and "needle for knitting", except the word "needle" would be radically different in the two cases. To add to the confusion colloquially people don't say "knitting" but "make on wires". ?

- Most shops here only use a payment service that requires a Polish bank account. I discover this at checkout. Every time.

- The Amazon equivalent where I finally ended up buying things has a fun bug. Someone has inverted the logic statement for removing selected items from the cart, so instead of removing what you don't want, you remove all things you do want. Guess how I discovered this. Rage.

 

44 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Let me know when you get started and I'll remind you how to avoid it.

Thank youuuu! ?

[sarakingdom]

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Nah it's about having cute comfy socks for lounging in.

 

Hrm, that doesn't quite clear up the distinction I was trying to make about form versus function. "Sock" means multiple things, and I can't tell from context which one is important to you. Sock as function doesn't imply much about the exact type of basic fabric sheath that goes over the foot. (Homemade knit slippers are also called bed socks or house socks; sock, and specifically lounging sock, is the job they all do, not what they look like.) Sock as form is "the classic modern standard sock", with the rounded heels and the narrowing toe case and small gauge yarn and so on, something that looks super super conventionally socky.

 

If the sock form is what's important, there's not really any way to make that knitting project any easier or faster, because the pieces and how to make them are very defined. If the sock function is what's important, there are many topologically easier (and thus faster) forms of sock than the conventional commercial sock.

 

54 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I will say that highly variegated yarns look fascinating in the skein, but they knit up like technicolour vomit.

 

SO MUCH THIS. They're like a television static pattern in yarn form, only somehow visually noisier.

 

But the self-striping yarns can be really nice. There are some gradient yarns out there that slowly fade from one at one end of the skein to the other, those can be nice, too.

[Mad Hatter]

43 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

Hrm, that doesn't quite clear up the distinction I was trying to make about form versus function. "Sock" means multiple things, and I can't tell from context which one is important to you. Sock as function doesn't imply much about the exact type of basic fabric sheath that goes over the foot. (Homemade knit slippers are also called bed socks or house socks; sock, and specifically lounging sock, is the job they all do, not what they look like.) Sock as form is "the classic modern standard sock", with the rounded heels and the narrowing toe case and small gauge yarn and so on, something that looks super super conventionally socky.

Honestly I haven't even thought about it, it's such a very future maybe thing! Definitely not slippers, I don't like 'em. The socks I'm picturing are 1) very tall socks as they're hard to find, 2) socks that are kinda slouchy, 3) generally socks with nice patterns. When I said for lounging in it's mostly because I absolutely wreck socks. ?

 

52 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

But the self-striping yarns can be really nice. There are some gradient yarns out there that slowly fade from one at one end of the skein to the other, those can be nice, too.

How do those even work? Doesn't the pattern have to be exactly matched for it to work?

[Harriet]

12 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Oh good to know, I was wondering about that. Some yarn looks sooo pretty but I couldn't imagine the final piece.

 

Buying stuff online has proved quite the pain in the butt and it took a significant portion of the day.

 

- Every time I found something nice looking but not too expensive it was sold out.

- Most online shops I had to scroll through pages and pages and pages of useless crap because the search filters were garbage. I could only sometimes reliably search for recommended needle size. Apparently they don't do yarn weight here.

- It doesn't help that I have no clue how to search for things in Polish. Not only don't I know the search terms, but even after I manage to translate I still don't know which conjugations are the most commonly used search terms. Overly simplified example but "knitting needle" and "needle for knitting", except the word "needle" would be radically different in the two cases. To add to the confusion colloquially people don't say "knitting" but "make on wires". ?

- Most shops here only use a payment service that requires a Polish bank account. I discover this at checkout. Every time.

- The Amazon equivalent where I finally ended up buying things has a fun bug. Someone has inverted the logic statement for removing selected items from the cart, so instead of removing what you don't want, you remove all things you do want. Guess how I discovered this. Rage.

 

Thank youuuu! ?

 

That is confusing. Usually I just google "knit pro symfonie stricknadeln kaufen" and google suggests something for me. Probably amazon.

For buying yarn. Each pattern will have a tab with "yarn ideas." For example. Say I want to knit this Antler Toque . It already has "suggested yarn" on the details card. But I want to see what other people used so I go up and click the yarn ideas tab. Wow, malabrigo rios was used over 700 times. I click on the yarn picture to go to the yarn's own page or I click "used 700 times" to see this specific hat with that specific yarn! Wheee! Having gone to the yarn page I can see its details. It is worsted weight and plied. Yay! I can look at what colours the yarn comes in "colorways", or see it knitted up in other people's "projects". If I'm on the fence about a specific colour I can even see how it knitted up, or see different people's pictures of their balls. Or skeins. If I want to see if it's available in my region I go to "see all buying options" which is not at the top but on the right hand side. My region is set to Germany, so it give me German options first, then other European options. Hopefully the yarn shops are well designed, but who can say.

 

When you aren't experienced, planning a project can take time. When you're experienced it's faster because you already know shit; like that Malabrigo is a higher end yarn (but not as expensive as, say, Madeline Tosh) with solid, semi solid and variegated options. You know a few other yarn brands you like in your price range. You know whether you want single ply or multi plied. And You already know a few online shops in your country. Etc.

[Mad Hatter]

2 minutes ago, Harriet said:

For buying yarn. Each pattern will have a tab with "yarn ideas." For example. Say I want to knit this Antler Toque . It already has "suggested yarn" on the details card. But I want to see what other people used so I go up and click the yarn ideas tab. Wow, malabrigo rios was used over 700 times. I click on the yarn picture to go to the yarn's own page or I click "used 700 times" to see this specific hat with that specific yarn! Wheee! Having gone to the yarn page I can see its details. It is worsted weight and plied. Yay! I can look at what colours the yarn comes in "colorways", or see it knitted up in other people's "projects". If I'm on the fence about a specific colour I can even see how it knitted up, or see different people's pictures of their balls. Or skeins. If I want to see if it's available in my region I go to "see all buying options" which is not at the top but on the right hand side. My region is set to Germany, so it give me German options first, then other European options. Hopefully the yarn shops are well designed, but who can say.

Oh didn't realize it was region specific, that's helpful. Where do you buy stuff from in Germany? It's close enough.

 

4 minutes ago, Harriet said:

When you aren't experienced, planning a project can take time.

Totally. And you know what you like and what you want.

[Harriet]

2 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Oh didn't realize it was region specific, that's helpful. Where do you buy stuff from in Germany? It's close enough.

 

So, keep in mind that while I buy cheap shampoo, I buy expensive yarns. Because if I'm spending 30+ hours on a sweater I want it to be delightful.

I've cannot remember them all but I have bought from wollbox, mylys, bonifaktum, Stephen and Penelope (Netherlands), Laine & Tricot (France), Loop (UK--I don't buy from there anymore since Brexit because customs tax). And for smaller accessories, some expensive stuff from dyeforyarn and dyeforwool on Etsy. Usually I choose a yarn first, then find a shop that sells it. You can also go to your profile (top right) and edit your location. That way the website will recommend shops for you. Ravelry really has everything. Except snacks. Damn, now I'm hungry.

 

Quince and co are a favourite workhorse. They make solid and heathered yarns that are really nice quality, priced accordingly (like 7-15 per skein*), not stupid designer hand painted prices, but not bargain basement acrylic prices, either. Available in Europe, many colours and something in every weight category. https://quinceandco.com/collections/yarns

*It may not be immediately obvious, but knitting chunky items is more expensive than knitting fine items, because yarn is priced by weight, not meters. You need more weight of chunky wool to get the same meters you would get with lace weight.

[Mad Hatter]

20 minutes ago, Harriet said:

So, keep in mind that while I buy cheap shampoo, I buy expensive yarns. Because if I'm spending 30+ hours on a sweater I want it to be delightful.

Of course!

 

21 minutes ago, Harriet said:

heathered yarns

?

 

22 minutes ago, Harriet said:

yarn is priced by weight, not meters

That was very confusing to me. It still is. I can see the advantage of weight because it's much easier to measure. But it doesn't seem to translate to anything. It doesn't necessarily translate to a length or a yarn weight or anything really. But I also couldn't think of a good measurement as there's so many factors involved in determining how much yarn you need. In the end it seems to come down to XP.

[Harriet]

19 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

?

 

When they spin together fibres of different colours to create a slightly inconsistent final colour. Other yarns are spun first, then dyed.
 

Spoiler

 

19 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

That was very confusing to me. It still is. I can see the advantage of weight because it's much easier to measure. But it doesn't seem to translate to anything. It doesn't necessarily translate to a length or a yarn weight or anything really. But I also couldn't think of a good measurement as there's so many factors involved in determining how much yarn you need. In the end it seems to come down to XP.

 

Oh, I meant yarn is priced by gram, not meter.

Yarn weight (aran, DK, sport) does correlate *roughly* to length, and it will also give you a rough idea of what needle size you'll want and how fine or thick the fabric will be. With experience you'll know roughly what the finished fabrics will look like. But for now, I'd say just choose a yarn of the same weight category as the pattern, then buy the amount in meters that the pattern says (possibly with a little extra to avoid running out).

 

You can recreate a pattern with a different weight, but there is some maths and fiddling.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Oh, I meant yarn is priced by gram, not meter.

No I got you. That was the strange part. And that yarn weight is not the same as weight weight. And that yarn weight is not even remotely related to weight or density, it's more like the diameter when tight. It's fine, only incredibly inconsistent.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Yarn weight (aran, DK, sport) does correlate *roughly* to length, and it will also give you a rough idea of what needle size you'll want and how fine or thick the fabric will be. With experience you'll know roughly what the finished fabrics will look like. But for now, I'd say just choose a yarn of the same weight category as the pattern, then buy the amount in meters that the pattern says (possibly with a little extra to avoid running out).

Exactly. Roughly being the key word. ?

 

It makes me think that it's because grannies are the ones traditionally knitting, and this is also how they bake. Whenever I ask for a recipe it's like - add eggs, flour and sugar and mix until it feels right then bake it until it's done. ? 

[Harriet]

8 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

No I got you. That was the strange part. And that yarn weight is not the same as weight weight. And that yarn weight is not even remotely related to weight or density, it's more like the diameter when tight. It's fine, only incredibly inconsistent.

 

Well yeah. That's true. A worsted woolen spun tweed is not going to make the same fabric as a worsted weight worsted spun yarn. Oh yes, worsted is a weight, but also a spinning style

 

8 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Exactly. Roughly being the key word. ?

 

It makes me think that it's because grannies are the ones traditionally knitting, and this is also how they bake. Whenever I ask for a recipe it's like - add eggs, flour and sugar and mix until it feels right then bake it until it's done. ? 

Yes it all gets remarkably easier with experience. For best results, I suppose it makes sense to take advice from the pattern makers until you have enough experience to go off script. I do think people used to knit without patterns, and some still do. I'm not that experienced, though.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Well yeah. That's true. A worsted woolen spun tweed is not going to make the same fabric as a worsted weight worsted spun yarn. Oh yes, worsted is a weight, but also a spinning style

What even. ?

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

I do think people used to knit without patterns, and some still do. I'm not that experienced, though.

I'm sure with a bit of trial and error and fitting while knitting you could do it. But why? If you want something you can't find it makes a lot more sense to start with something similar than go in completely blind.

[Snarkyfishguts]

I like knitting hats. They're fun, they go on your head, you only have to make one of them. There are a couple ways to cast on, and you tube has some great videos for starting to knit.  I enjoyed this chunky knit hat  on ravelry when I first started knitting hats. This is the next hat I want to try. 

 

I'm excited for your hatventure!

 

 

[Mistr]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What even. ?

 

I'm sure with a bit of trial and error and fitting while knitting you could do it. But why? If you want something you can't find it makes a lot more sense to start with something similar than go in completely blind.

 

Yeah, the terminology is quite confusing. The same word is used informally and as a technical term. Take "worsted"

 

- Worstead (UK) - a town known for weaving that gave its name to a type of smooth weaving yarn.

- worsted (yarn structure) - yarn spun with the fibers parallel, making a smooth yarn. Typically used in weaving fabric for suits.

- worsted (yarn size class) - a medium sized woolen-spun yarn. The chart at https://woolery.com/yarn-weights-helpful-explanation/ includes length per 100g, which is very helpful.

 

"Woolen" is equally bad. It can mean something made from sheep's wool, something that would have historically been made from wool but now is made from any type of fiber, or a yarn that is spun with the fiber in a spiral organization to incorporate lots of air (making a fluffy/bouncy yarn).

 

You will notice that nearly all knitting patterns tell you to knit a gauge swatch first. This is because knitting is elastic and different people hold the yarn tighter or looser when they knit. Two people can use the same yarn and needles and get a different number of stitches per 10cm. That is not a serious problem for a hat, but it would make a sweater come out the wrong size. I often test two or three needle sizes when I swatch. That lets me see which needle size makes the right texture of fabric with the yarn.

 

As Harriet said, the next step is to do the math. You measure your body part. For simplicity, say that you do not need to adjust for being snug or loose. The knitting will just fit around the area (this is fine for hats; socks need to fit snuggly or they are uncomfortable). My head is 57cm around at the place where I would wear a hat. If my gauge is 5 stitches/cm, I need 5 x 57 = 285 stitches.

 

For a first project, I would just start by using a yarn of a similar size to the one in the pattern and not do any adjustments. After you have knit several rows, try it on. If it is too big or too small, you can start over with fewer or more stitches. Most hats start with a really stretchy ribbing section, so it is likely to fit you.

 

[Mad Hatter]

15 hours ago, Mistr said:

Yeah, the terminology is quite confusing. The same word is used informally and as a technical term. Take "worsted"

 

- Worstead (UK) - a town known for weaving that gave its name to a type of smooth weaving yarn.

- worsted (yarn structure) - yarn spun with the fibers parallel, making a smooth yarn. Typically used in weaving fabric for suits.

- worsted (yarn size class) - a medium sized woolen-spun yarn. The chart at https://woolery.com/yarn-weights-helpful-explanation/ includes length per 100g, which is very helpful.

 

"Woolen" is equally bad. It can mean something made from sheep's wool, something that would have historically been made from wool but now is made from any type of fiber, or a yarn that is spun with the fiber in a spiral organization to incorporate lots of air (making a fluffy/bouncy yarn).

Eww. ? 

[Mad Hatter]

20 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

I like knitting hats. They're fun, they go on your head, you only have to make one of them. There are a couple ways to cast on, and you tube has some great videos for starting to knit.  I enjoyed this chunky knit hat  on ravelry when I first started knitting hats. This is the next hat I want to try. 

 

I'm excited for your hatventure!

 

 

Ooh that’s nice! Do you have any videos you’d particularly recommend? 
 

The second hat looks so complicated! How do you deal with all the colour changes? Are there some special techniques or do you just change colour for like a single stitch then change back??! Surely not.

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

The second hat looks so complicated! How do you deal with all the colour changes? Are there some special techniques or do you just change colour for like a single stitch then change back??! Surely not.

 

Fair isle AKA stranded knitting. You hold two yarns at once. It's doable, but it will be quite distracting if you're trying to learn to knit at the same time, and it can go wrong if you don't make the floating strands at the back the right tension, which is easier with general knitting experience. I made some stranded sweaters from this pattern in different colours and they are some of my favourites. Not me:

 

Spoiler

 

Other colour techniques include intarsia (for big blocks of colour) and mosaic, which is suitable for beginners because you only knit with one colour at a time.

 

Spoiler