In need of...

Knitting inspiration! Help! I'm all sick and tired of knitting endless pairs of wool socks (although my kids do love them), for they instantly go through the laundry and become shrunken and felted. I finally figured out that my husband, who finds the hand washed socks on top of the dryer, is the culprit who tossed them into the wash. Grrrr. Communication error. And the other thing about wool socks: they get holes in them really really easily.

I finally finished a small stack of stuff for some nieces and nephew last night at knitting group, and happily spent some time looking at wedding dress patterns for a gal who is going to be getting married this summer. Girly fun!

And I less-than-happily darned a few socks (see above).

So, I need knitting inspiraton. I really want to knit a sweater, but am worried that such an endeavor would ultimately result in a shrunken felted sweater, too, if I used wool.

Furthermore, there's the budgetary difficulty of buying enough yarn for a whole sweater all at once. You aren't supposed to mix dye lots. I wonder if the knitting shop has layaway.

So, any knitters out there with suggestions? Please, pass them on.

Comments

margaret said…
Variagated yarn is a good way around the dye lot problem. Or stripes. I had a bad habit for a while of just buying one ball of something because it was gorgeous and then had to find ways to use it and in the end I bought coordinating plain cheap wool and made various stripey things. Little differences in dye aren't noticeable with stripes or blocks.
Anna said…
dish cloths - cotton is cheap and peeps really like them as house-warming presents or wedding shower accessories. Ravelry has cute circular/posey shaped patterns.

small shoulder shawls - fingering yarn is more bang for your bucks. Plus, hand wash and lay on towel to block it on your bed. Less likely to get shrunken.

Mittens/gloves/fingerless mitts - which can be shrunken for optimal use. If ya can knit socks, you can master gloves. :-)

Yarn suggestion for socks - use the ones with a bit of nylon and superwash wool. Won't shrink as much and will last longer.
Hezra said…
I am crocheting baby things like crazy. I intended to do it to SELL but then so many of my friends have had babies. I like that I can try a sweater but it is small. There are lots of free patterns for crochet AND knit. It also is a small investment of yarn. I bought three small rolls of pink wool blend for 1.50 each and have made a sweater /hat/bootie set in preemie size, then have a sweater/bootie set almost done in 3-6 mos sz. and still have yarn left. So maybe trying baby items? Then if it gets flted, you turn it into doll clothes! by the way, I started the wool sock addiction. There is an easy crochet pattern. I made the dear hubster a pr FIRST(cause if they survive HIM they will survive anyone!) and they were brown fisherman's wool(also on sale!) He carefully hangs them after washing them in cold. Good boy eh? So now I can maybe make ME some. The kids have slipper socks in their assigned colors with regular yarn(not wool) because they all put in their own laundry!ohhh, I saw the pr Kirsten got from you for her sister!! SO pretty!!!
Genevieve said…
There are ministries , usually connected with hospitals, that sew or knit clothing for preemies and especially micropremies who are too small to wear clothing bought from a store. I was gifted with these pieces when my first child was stillborn at 21 weeks. We treasure them because they were her things. Of course, those pieces are usually given to babies in the NICU but they need them! Any, just a thought. Joyful Lent!
Bohemimom said…
I used two dye lots once and it turned out okay. Probably the exception. Some fun projects floating around the neo-punk knitting crowd is knitted lingerie. Check out whitelies.com for patterns, and ravelry of course. I am in the process of teaching myself how to follow a pattern.
Anonymous said…
http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/kategori_oversikt.php

An adsolutely amazing site, all free. I don't think you'll be able to choose easily!

Cheers

Pinelopikappa
scarves or hats, perhaps?

Or, try out a blanket. Make different squares then seam them. That way you can buy yarn as you go, and make it just however you desire!

My friend is doing a shawl project where each month you do a different section. I think it's called 12 months shawl on Ravelry.

Happy knitting!
Mimi said…
I was just drooling on Etsy over some cute Mary Jane slippers.

But, I also want a pair of socks.
Charis said…
Ditto on Ravelry.com. Almost any and every pattern you could want is on there.

If you want a one skein project, Knitty.com has a pattern for fingerless gloves called "Fetching". I've made 2 sets now and really enjoy them.
Anonymous said…
I bought some cotton/acrylic yarn that feels natural to the touch and is machine washable.
And it's tweed, which makes me happy.
http://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/Tatamy-Tweed/productinfo/KY-TATAKR-/

I second making fingerless gloves. I feel much warmer with mine, but I can still pick up my keys when I drop them. And I get to play with cables and fun things while knitting, and since they take so little yarn it's easy to justify something kind of nice, since it still ends up less than buying gloves.

Good luck!
Alana said…
Well, a friend gifted me with enough washable wool from her yarn stash today to make a child's cardigan or sweater! Trolling for patterns now. Some niece of mine will be a very lucky little girl.