Men Who Knit Promoting and inspiring the art of knitting amongst men.

I make wooden and bamboo knitting needles as a hobby, not as a business. I am willing to trade for; yarn to build my stash, knitting notions and gadgets, knitting books, make me an offer. If you request a specific size, I will need to know if it is US or metric. If you have a design in mind, let me know... pix and/or drawings help. I use my own hand-made Straight and Double-Point needles to knit with, and I know what is required by a knitter to make them pleasing to work with the very first time they are used. If you are not happy with my creations, I will gladly return whatever it was you traded me for them.

Has anybody experimented with knitting backwards?  Apparantly it's a technique that eliminates having to purl by keeping the right (knit ) side facing throughout and working backwards when at the end of the row by working off the right-hand needle onto the left.

 Apparently it's great when working patterns as the right side is always facing you.  I tried it once but it seemed very cumbersome and I've now forgotten how to do it.

I'd value any advice or instruction.

Simon

Guys,
Since joining this site a few months ago I have been in contact with an amazing range of guys. Kind, helpful, resourseful & compassionate about our common craft-knitting.
Darrel without you, none of this would have been possible.
Thank you so much.
Looking forward to a great knitting year, 2006.
best to all,
Martin

For the benefit of new knitters, I thought it would be useful to have a place here which lists those knitting books which we have found to be the most helpful to us.  I am confident this information would be very beneficial to those guys who visit our site and who are just learning, thinking about learning or returning to knitting.  There is an overwhelming number of knitting books available on today's market and a person could get lost in all of them.  I'd like to list under two catagories: The best instruction book and the best knitting reference book.

My favourite instruction book is "Knitting in Plain English" by Maggie Righetti.  Until I found this book, I was unable to figure out how to knit.  She is witty and explains things in an easy to comprehend fashion.  And, once I had done the "Dumb Baby Sweater" I found I had the confidence to jump right into knitting an adult jersey.

If anybody reads this that knows how to knit in a design, such as letters, numbers, and other such stuff, please PM me or use any of the contact methods in my profile. I am working on a scarf for my daughter and would love to put her name on it.

If you break a needle, whether plastic, wood or bamboo... DON"T throw it away. Those short pieces, when sharpened at both ends, become great little double-points for knitting the fingers on gloves. Then you'll be wrestling with a hedge-hog instead of a porcupine. I have had my share of experience with snapping needles in half, or even just the first two inches off the tip.

Since I'm a cheap S.O.B. I also came up with a cheap way to store my Lilliputian DPN's. Plastic M&M candy containers keep my short DPN's corralled, as well as straight pins, sewing needles, safety pins, and who knows when I may need a snack while knitting (melts in your mouth, not in your hand) that won't make a mess. I'll put a pic in the gallery and you'll get to see what I mean.

I want to replace my plastic cable needles with a set of wooden needles in the 3 sizes.  I've searched all over but I can't seem to find them.  I saw a set of Brittany wooden cable needles on ebay once but I can't find them anywhere else.  Can anyone help me with this, thanks?

Weekly Topic #4

Tell us about your stick(s)! What type of needles do you prefer and why? Metal, wood, bamboo, etc. Also, thoughts on how to keep them organized! My DPN's are everywhere!!!!

Happy New Year too all!

I've been a lurker for a while and thought I should post something... I've been knitting for over 20 years, taught myself in college from a book. 

I'm currently working on a cable sweater in alpaca/silk/wool from Knitpicks.  I already made one sweater with this yarn and just had to have more!!

I just finished a sweater in hemp/wool for a book due out sometime next year. 
I also have a t-shirt sweater in cotton and a long sock scarf going in the sidelines. 

If any of you guys in the Atlanta area are looking for a group to knit with, check out the Atlanta Stitch-n-bitch group in Yahoo groups.  We meet several places around town and there are 4 of us (men) who regularly attend.  We are trying to get more men to join us.