Knitting Class
In May I experimented with loom knitting and showed you some of the results. I used flower looms to make knit hats for my small dolls. The hats were easy to make and I thought that they turned out well.
When our local community center offered a class on beginning knitting, I decided to take it to see if I could learn to knit with knitting needles.
I have had two classes so far and I can knit, pearl, and cast on. I know one method of casting off.
The advantage that I can see for using needles instead of a loom is the flexibility for the size and shape of projects. The disadvantage is that I have a more difficult time keeping the correct tension on the yarn as I knit.
I have several more classes to complete. I hope to eventually be able to knit one of the sweaters for eighteen inch dolls that Joan Hinds includes in her doll pattern books. If I’m able to make sweaters for eighteen inch dolls, then I may be able to knit sweaters for small dolls.
So far I haven’t produced anything that’s worth the trouble to photograph. If I ever knit anything for dolls that I like, I will show it to you.
I would encourage you to start with the 18″ dolls as you have planned. That’s exactly what I did about 10 or so years ago. Once you get the feel of knitting and keeping the tension even, you can start to go down in needle and yarn sizes. I am trying to go down to the 00 and 000 needles right now, to the point where the 0’s feel large to me. The others still seem impossibly tiny. I can remember when size 2 and 3 needles seemed small. Here are some of my projects over the years if you’d like to look at the. http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=68499916@N00&q=knit After the 18″ dolls, I spent a couple of years knitting for the 10″ Ann Estelles. I now mostly knit for American Girl mini dolls.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have my yarn and needles to knit an American Girl sweater. I just need to get started. I enjoyed seeing your photos. You have made some lovely things.