for my bff's christmas present, i made her a crocheted succulent garden! the succulents ended up kind of... leaning... because i stuffed the "dirt" a little too full and it kind of pushes them all outward. still, i'm pretty proud of how it came out!
I'm putting serious thought into unravelling the pair of socks I knitted myself forever ago, back when I started knitting, and turning that yarn into a hexapuff or something because it turns out that making socks with acrylic yarn is A Mistake. Specifically, they have no stretch to them at all. Which makes getting them on just obnoxious enough that I don't like wearing them. And then replacing them with some nicer socks, possibly knee socks. I really want some good knee-high socks and I've got a lot of sock-weight wool to work with.
So I want to get into/back into fiber arts. I used to (try to) sew but I had fuckall resources and was largely self taught. Thanks grandma. Also my hands are fucky, more so than they were then so it might be painful to get back into. I got interested in embroidery but see fucky hands. Maybe knitting? I like touching soft yarn, I get distracted by it every time I'm in a craft store. Can someone maybe point me to absolute beginner resources, and maybe some beginner projects that are cool? A lot of beginner projects I find at the stores are. Fucking. Baby scarves. Kitsch. Soccer mom shit.
I can't point you to super-beginner online resources because I randomly googled 'how to knit' and picked something up off there, plus some in-person tutoring from various people, and a book (can give you the title if you really want) but the best resource for finding patterns, which is filterable by difficulty, includes free patterns and paid ones, and has a very thorough search function generally, is ravelry it also has forums, though i've never been on them, with apparently quite the lively community, where you might be able to find some good beginner resources maybe?
i also would like to point out that at least for my variety of fucky hands knitting is better than the fancy fingergymnastics and exercises the doctors showed me bc i tend to overextend/over exert with those but knitting just gives me easy exercise (when I remember to do it)
For a first knitting project I recommend a hat! They work up pretty quick so it gives you instant gratification, and there are a lot of really cool simple ones. Ravelry is great for finding patterns, and you can sort them by difficulty. With fucky hands, going with a larger size of thread/needle is helpful, and i personally find bamboo and wood needles mess me up less than metal.
seconding hats! if hats aren't your thing though, or you're not sure about working in the round, headbands/earwarmers are heckin excellent I've also done a lot of starter dishtowels and mug cozies! good way to churn out a couple readymade gifts and/or practice things
so I wanted to make one of these two: worsted option, aran/worsted option for my father-in-law to be who likes to bike but HATES wool-on-skin feeling I'd like to find a fiber option that doesn't break the bank or upset his ears, while still being sturdy enough to hold up to spring/fall weather in the Far North any suggestions?
i'm assuming he's allergic to wool, so even super-soft wool like merino or alpaca is out? in that case i suggest knitpicks 'comfy', which is cotton/acrylic and extreeeeemely soft. https://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Comfy_Worsted_Yarn__D5420171.html i made a summer-weight blanket out of it and it's warm enough that it gets used for couch cuddles in the winter.
hrmmm I don't think he's allergic? future MIL has said he's okay with merino and to be fair, he doesn't know the makeup of his clothes quite as well as he knows "I hate this, this is wool, no more wool" he's also had mainly experience with army wool I think, that'd put anyone off it oooh that looks like an excellent option though!! thank you so much!!! his current favorite socks are ones I made out of caron x pantone, so like, bulky yarn you shouldn't be using for socks, but it works because they have "gaps" that keep his feet cool here's their makeup: 60% Manufactured Fibers - Acrylic 20% Manufactured Fibers - Nylon / Polyamide 20% Wool - Merino so I think minor amounts of merino might be a go?
in that case, if you want something warmer than cotton, knitpicks various superwash merino are all non-scratchy and pretty reasonably priced. it's the hand-painted type stuff that's expensive. solid colors are really affordable.
oh perfect, thank you! the other major concern was, uh, cleaning? because biking can be sweaty @_@ also he's a very Plain Colors kinda guy so that ought to work well!!
so funny enough, that's the one I liked best when I went looking on knitpicks, and when I checked the ravelry page....they used swish looks like that's three votes for!!
good and easy but potentially boringly repetitive ETA: if you do go for a scarf use bulky/super bulky yarn. it works up into a decent length WAY quicker and is generally less fiddly for beginners
I always found scarves frustrating because they take a while to work up, but they are pretty simple and you'll learn a lot
i personally like making very wide scarves from lots of bulky yarn bc then you have a blanket half way through making your scarf and can keep your knees warm while you knit :P
