Scarves For Nuno and Knitting

Scarves For Nuno and Knitting

Comments 42 comments

I bought some gorgeous scarves yesterday for nuno felting. The first two are different coloured versions of a blue peacock one I bought and sampled not so long ago:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe others are from a stall which sells 3 scarves for £5. It does make me feel a bit uneasy because it probably means they were made in some sweat shop in Bangladesh or China, but then a lot of the people who’ve turned their noses up at my extremely reasonable prices think I only deserve sweat shop wages anyway.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI recently finished knitting some pieces I want to make into arm warmers. They’re just rectangles made with pencil roving waste and very similar to a piece I made a while ago when I first tried the roving out:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe reason I haven’t joined the seams together yet is because I don’t know how to. I did ask on a group on Facebook, but I couldn’t really follow the suggestions. So, if you know of a tutorial or video which shows how to join knit stitch seams together so clearly that a cack handed 5 year old could follow it and do it neatly, I’d be really grateful! (no offence intended to left handers!) This is a ‘cuff’ I made by attempting to join seams together. I knitted 5 strands of plotulopi together to make a sample, then used the left over to join it up. This is the front:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is the dog’s dinner I made of joining it together:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAny help greatly appreciated!

42 thoughts on “Scarves For Nuno and Knitting”

    2. Thanks, Lyn 🙂
      Don’t worry about the video showing here! I think the bit where she pulls it and the stitching disappears is what I’m after, but she doesn’t explain how she’s doing it. To me, it just looks like she’s stabbing the needle in anywhere. Maybe I’m really stupid, I don’t know, but I just don’t know what is being done.

  2. For next time (if there is one) perhaps you could knit your rectangle with a provisional cast on, have your stripes going vertically and then kitchener stitch (graft) the ends. Or circular knitting? Lots of videos available for all these techniques

    Reply

    1. It took me 30 odd years to grasp the knit stitch! This is my very first ‘real’ project, hopefully in another 35 years I can master circular knitting 🙂

  3. Since I don’t know how to knit, I would attempt to sew the pieces together by hand, with a strong whipstitch–perhaps doubled buttonhole thread. The stitches would disappear. I do the same when I make my felt arm warmers or cuffs.
    The scarves are lovely and should make nice nuno-felting. I had a good laugh over the sweatshop wages with which our customers expect us to be satisfied. ;-))

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Cathy 🙂
      It seems everyone does some ‘V’ shaped knitting stitch which has a clear bit to sew onto, maybe it’s the fluffy/chunky pencil roving that makes it hard to see, but I really don’t want to ruin it by just winging it! Maybe I’ll start taking a 5 year old with me to fairs, and when anyone asks how I made something, I’ll say ‘ I didn’t, she did’ 🙂

  4. Wow, yes to scarves being lovely, and thanks for that video link, was about to search for such a tutorial 🙂

    Reply

  5. Hello as to where you put the needle in try stabbing it so that the ridges join each other that is the way I do it. I know what you mean about sweat shop prices people seem to want unique and pound shop prices.

    Reply

    1. I don’t have visible ridges 🙁 I have lumpy/fluffy bits and thinner bits. Can’t someone come round and do it for me?!!

  6. Thanks for the morning laughs, Zed. In the video it appears that she’s slipped the first stitch on each row, so she gets a nice, even edge to sew together. If you’ve not done that, then I can see where you’d be lost. The Kitchener stitch will give you a nice seam, but it’s quite fiddly. I like the idea of just whip stitching them together.
    I’m drooling over those scarves!! Great find!

    Reply

    1. I looked at some related videos and the pieces are knitted on some knitting board gadget, I don’t know how that makes them different to needle knitting. Those scarves are huge too, they’ll last for a few projects 🙂

  7. The scarves are beautiful I can’t wait to see what you do with them. It’s been so long since I’ve knitted anything, I’m afraid I’m useless to you there. I’m sure someone will come up with a good suggestion.

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Marilyn 🙂
      I’ll take some pieces to the well being classes, I’ve got plenty. I just have to remember to take photos!

  8. I wish I could solve your knitting dilemma, but I don’t knit- just crochet.
    I did want to ask if your scarves are silk and if not how can you Nuno them?
    Thanks,
    Sylvia

    Reply

  9. Those arm warmers are good. I like the dog’s dinner…a little quirkiness adds to the handmade allure. What about sewing them together with a whipstitch as suggested, then going over with a different yarn as a decorative element? Just some x’s or the like.
    I’m also giggling about those sweatshop wages. Personally I work for $2 per hour, and people still think I have a king’s life…lol

    Reply

    1. Hide my mess you mean? 😉 I will see if I can find videos for whip stitching the pieces. I realised I don’t have a big needle either, I’m not very prepared!

  10. In the days when I used to knit, I used to crochet the seams together. Have someone show you how with a large crochet hook. Easy peasy. OR, you could just thread a yarn needle and stitch them together.

    Reply

    1. That’s how I made the dog’s dinner of the other one by pulling the thread through with a crochet hook!

    1. Thanks, Ann 🙂
      I think pictures probably would explain better actually. Thanks for that.

  12. The scarves look great for nuno. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them. I am absolutely no help with the knitting. Isn’t there someone at the well being center who knows how to knit and could show you?

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Ruth 🙂
      Yeah there’s a few, but I won’t be there for a few weeks now I’m at the other one. If I haven’t worked it out by the time I go back, I’ll take them with me!

  14. This tutorial is great! Stitching together a piece knitted in garter stitch can be tricky and this tutorial does a great job of explaining and showing how to create a neat seam.

    Reply

    1. I think it’s my pencil roving which is making it more difficult for me to understand, it’s not as tidy and defined as the yarn used in the tutes, but I think I understand now 🙂

    2. I have a question from all of you knowledgable artists.
      I thought Nuno could only be done with wool on silk.
      Are other fibers as cotton and synthetics usable?
      And if so, are they harder to felt in place?
      Thank you,
      Sylvia

    3. Hi Sylvia, I did reply to your question the other day and included a couple of links for you, scroll up a bit and you’ll see it 🙂 But yes you can use cotton and synthetic fabrics, and it doesn’t have to be wool, it could be alpaca or other animal fibres. Nuno is a Japanese word for ‘cloth’. Some fabrics will attach more firmly than others, like the very open weave cotton fabrics which can ‘sink in’ and almost disappear kind of like how silk chiffon can. Some fabrics really won’t attach at all, very slinky/satiny densely woven ones, but it’s always worth experimenting and discovering for yourself!

    4. Dear Zed,
      Yes you did answer my question, but I didn’t check my mail. Thank you for your Nuno help and also for your book Beyond Nuno.
      Somehow I didn’t believe synthetics would work but you’ve opened a whole new “world” of fabric to me.
      Thanks,
      Sylvia

    5. Hi Sylvia, you’re welcome 🙂 I’m glad you like Beyond Nuno, enjoy your new nuno/fabric addiction, you’ll soon be looking at friends’ scarves and thinking ‘Hmm, would that felt?’ 🙂

    1. Hi Leonor 🙂
      Well, from the video Judith found and the Knitty guide, I think I know what to look for. I haven’t dared to try it yet, between forgetting, needing a clear bright day and good eyes, so thanks for the offer! If you have any advice before I start, I’d be very grateful 🙂

    2. So your problem is weaving in the ends, right? There’s a YouTube video from a group called something like Men Who Knit and it tells you specifically where to place the ends to make them blend into the pattern. Shall I find it for you (if this is indeed the help you need)?
      If it ends up not working, send it to me and I’m happy to help 😀

    3. I’m not too sure, sorry. Is weaving in the ends hiding the tails from casting on and off? The trouble I’m having is wanting to join two sides of my knitting (basically a rectangle into a tube) to make arm warmers.

    5. Argh, this replied before I was ready! I was saying you want to join two pieces together, then I believe the videos shared here might help? One way to join them is also to use a crochet hook and just hook one knit loop from each side, and then crochet them together… Do you crochet, and would this help?

    6. 🙂
      I tried crochet on the plotulopi sample, it does seem like that should work just as well really, though I don’t think I have a big enough hook. I think I’ll make a smaller sample piece and then have a practise so I don’t mess up my proper pieces 🙂

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