6 things I wished I knew when I started

1:12th Scale Miniature Knitting 

I can distinctly remember saying ....

I'll never use smaller than a 1mm knitting needle, 

in fact I would be nuts if I did

Never say Never

Now I wish I had started on that size, in the beginning.

I wonder how much further down my knitting path I would have been today! 

20/20 vision is such a bonus, so we need to get the younger knitters started in our miniature world.   

Having had my cataracts removed this year has opened up a whole new miniature world for me. Thank goodness I did my eyes now and did not wait until I was "do dally tap" or 95 in the shade.

I know there are risks in every type of surgery but what a pleasure my new eyes are and how colours have changed they are simply delicious again....when not seen as though through a mist.

 OK BACK TO MINIATURE KNITTING

               Some needles do rust or should I say tarnish with use, then they definitely begin to rust over time.

               You will find your stitches "stick" on the section of the knitting needle that usually rests between your thumb and index finger. It is to do with the acid content of the skin.

No amount of rubbing the needles in your hair one remedy I was told of or buffing up the needle, once the coating is gone it is gone and will begin to rust.

               A couple of years ago I took a human size shawl and knitted it in Venne 70 /2, just to see what would happen.

Firstly I should have used a larger size needle...so the result would never have pleased me.

               After having nearly finished the first side, I stopped working on it, leaving it on the knitting needle I was working with at the time.....

Well I came across the piece last week and found that where the needle had been resting on my skin it had totally rusted. 

The finish coating had worn away from me using the needle.....

the stitches cannot move at all in that section. it will need a lot of twisting to remove the work from the needle.

I'm happy that I did so, as now I have a perfect example of what happens to knitting needles that are not stainless steel and only have a coating.

You can see the rust that has formed on the needle and how it has damaged the fabric

For years I had used a pair of 1mm stainless steel  knitting needles that I had bought in Holland. 

Then horror of horrors one of the needles snapped. I felt as though I had lost the extensions to my hands.

I tried to find out who had manufactured the needles so as to replace them but to no avail. 

I bought and tried every miniature knitting needle available  on the market...homemade ones, lace knitting needles from Lacis, 

I felt a little like Goldilocks, these were too sharp, those rusted, others were too floppy, some were just too long,  some were too short, it turned out the ones most suitable at that stage were the Heidi Ott brand.

UNTIL

I discovered the HIYA HIYA brand

These knitting needles are stainless steel and they work PERFECTLY for me.

I have been using them for more than a year now with no sign of tarnish or rust on the needles.

NB      For the moment,  

I am not affiliated to the "Hiya Hiya" Brand in any way....

I'm just thrilled to have found these perfectly wonderful tools for knitting my miniature lace design and garments.

I happen to use the 0.7mm 24" circular needles, as straight needles for my layettes.

The length of the needle section is 5 inches, so they sit in my hands exactly as they should.

Not too long that the points stick into my clothing, making my knitting go every which way causing me to drop stitches. One needs to be careful that the cord between the needles does not get caught.

That has happened to me a few times much to my horror as I see stitches drop from the needle.

I have asked  

www.brownberryyarns.co.uk

stockets of the Hiya Hiyas needles in the UK to please approach Hiya Hiya and ask them to make other sizes required for the miniature knitters of the world...namely 0.8mm and 0.5mm

1.     Don't be afraid of these tiny knitting needles they 

        don't bite.

        Saying that.....remember they will if the needles you 

        are using, have too sharp a point on them.

                                                            

not so with HIYA HIYA needles the points ARE PERFECT

2.      Don't use knitting needles that are so sharp that they 

         cut through your skin, this is totally unnecessary.

3.      Always have a pair of finer gauge knitting needles than 

         the size you are working with,  in your knitting basket.          Perfect.....should you need to unpick a row. 

         I use the 0.5mm for unpicking            

4.      You need a range of knitting needles in various sizes

                    0.5mm for unpicking a row

        Unfortunately the smallest size Hiya Hiya make are 0.7mm

        I cannot remember where I bought my very fine needles 

        from...sorry

                    0.7mm for knitting in a Madeira Catona 80 thread

                    0.8mm for knitting stocking stitch garments in         Venne 70/2 Cotton Thread.

        I use my Heidi Ott needles, which are the ones with the 

        gold bead on the ends, for the Bomber Jacket

        Hiya Hiya do not manufacture this 0.8mm either.

                   1mm for knitting lace patterns in Venne70/2 

         Cotton thread.

                    1.2mm for casting off when a garment has been   

         knitted using 1mm knitting needles

                    1.2mm when knitting shawls in the Venne 70/2 

        The finished fabric needs to be far more of an open      

         weave for shawls and the drape is marvelous.

5.      You need a range of crochet hooks in various sizes as well

               0.4mm when working with Madeira Catona Thread

               0.5mm when with working with Venne 70/2 Thread

6.      When sewing up your garments use a very fine No 12

         sewing needle.This gives a far neater finish.

Enjoy your miniature knitting experience 

hoping this post helps in some way

Sharon

Miniature Knitting Tips

I thought I would upload some photographs 

showing you the comparison sizes of dolls that I use as models for 

Chrystal's Designs.

 

 Sean  and the Heidie Ott toddler doll as you can see are very similar in size, and as the Ott Toddler has a soft body most of Seans patterns fit very well.

 The size difference is really rather large.

This is the Pattern Ashley which has 3 sizes in the actual pattern.

It is not just a matter of changing threads, the stitch count has been changed as well, to accommodate the difference in size of each doll.

I am told that you certainly get value in a

"Chrystal's Designs Knitting Pattern"

1/24th Scale dolls are really special, toys for the children 

"In Our Miniature World"

I like the hat on the little doll on the left but I forgot to write the pattern down I was so busy playing and now she is SOLD.

Miniature Knitting Tips

The following three photographs show the difference between using smaller needles and finer thread.

 I used exactly the same pattern for both sizes. 

The difference beingt I used 1mm knitting needles and 70/2 Venne thread for the larger outfit.

For the smaller outfit I used .07mm knitting needles and Madeira Cotona No 80....

The end result was a 25% difference in size. 

The only subtle change I would make in the future would be to have 4 rows less on the sleeve length

for the Belly Button Babe.

This is what one has to take into account when changing needles and threads.

 I made one mistake in knitting the smaller outfit..... I added two extra rows which I then followed through on both the dress and petticoat instead of undoing the extra rows.

Venne 70/2  and Madeira Catona 80

Miniature Knitting Tips

Thread Holder

To help keep my working thread clean and to stop knots forming in the thread I do the following

I insert one of my thicker knitting needles into a pin cusion and put my reel of thread over it.

Works in the same principle as attaching your reel of thread to a sewing machine, winds off easily as you go.

I found a little silver bowl and made a pincushion to fit, I filled the pincushion with birdseed and then decorated it with the famous silk ribbon roses. Just shows you how long I have had the pincushion. 

Seeing the photograph, I think it is time I made a new one. 

I wonder how many sewing needles are buried in it.

I also found an old silver pepper pot in which now houses my talcum powder.

Looks so much prettier on my desk than a large container, after all one only needs a little powder at a time. All miniature knitters need a little baby talc for those sweaty hands!

Miniature Knitting Tips

Each person has their own working methods, I thought I would share my tricks of the trade I have developed over the years.

Knitting Needles

I highly recommend the Hiya Hiya brand of knitting needles, especially for people who find that their needles have tarnished once used.

My preference are their 24" circular needles, the actual metal needle section measures just over 5"

I buy my needles from Brownberry Yarns in the UK, I have found them most efficient

    http://brownberryyarns.co.uk

Hiya Hiya knitting needles are made from stainless steel and the points are not too sharp, I have not had to do anything to the points of the needles I have bought, I work with them ex factory.

Unfortunately their smallest needle is a  .07mm, which is the size I find myself using more and more.

I get my smaller size needles from Lacis these come in packs of 5  

                                  http://www.lacis.com

It is very important to have a pair of needles a size smaller than the ones used for knitting the garment, ready for any unpicking...."frogging" as it is known..... from the sound "rip it, rip it" of a frog, more importantly for picking up a dropped stitch.

Should you drop a stitch immediately pinch the dropped stitch between the thumb and index finger of your left hand. 

This prevents the stitch running down your work.

Pick up the dropped stitch with the smaller size needle then using a crochet hook "knit" the stitch back up to the last row worked.

I find it virtually impossible to unpick rows using the same size needle that I am knitting the garment with, cotton threads do not have much stretch at all. Once a stitch is dropped it seems to shrink and poking your needle into it only makes matters worse in that your knitting becomes distorted. 

One also needs a double pointed knitting needle for the technique I call B & T, this is a way of gathering the stitches of the last row together instead of casting off the stitches individually.

B and T tightly technique - mainly used on bonnets.   

For this technique the last row is always knitted onto a double pointed needle. Break off thread leaving a tail of at least 30cm, longer if you plan to crochet a decorative edge around the bonnet

Move the stitches to the opposite end of the needle.

Thread your working yarn onto a sewing needle then weave the yarn through the stitches on the needle, you are actually starting from the opposit edge from where the thread is.

Pull together gently and firmly, then fasten off.  

Weaving the thread from the opposite end is so much better as the stitches "sit' into place  perfectly. Use this thread to sew up the row ends and crochet a decorative edge.

Miniature Knitting Tips

I have been designing miniature garments for the last 10 years, a question that often crops up is how to change the size of a pattern so that it will fit a smaller doll.

        

   Enlarging and Reducing Miniature Knitting Patterns

I know many of us have reduced patterns by changing the thread and or needles we use.

The easiest way for a beginner to reduce a pattern and keeping the proportion of the original design is changing "both thread and needles" and not the stitch count...

If the smallest needles and finest thread is already used in the pattern the only way is to reduce the size of the pattern is to reduce the number of stitches.

Though experience and also looking at my designs knitted by other people who have not used the recommended thread and or needles for the design....I find often the garment begins to take on a shape all of its own...

When using the same thread as recommended and working the pattern exactly only changing going to a smaller size needle.....this is what happens.

The garment is shorter but the width stays the same, out of proportion.

A lace pattern in the garment (is made up holes which form the lace pattern) these holes become almost invisible (exaggeration on my part) and the lace produced is not very pretty.

The fabric produced tends to be stiff as well.

When using the same needles as recommended but thicker thread (say Venne

34/2 instead of Venne 70/2 Colcotton)

The garment becomes wider and a fraction longer...and the fabric produced is also stiff in comparison to the finer thread.

When you have to reduce a pattern, using the original thread and needles it is essential that the number of stitches are changed.

Take into account commercial patterns for humans....

If you are a beginner may I recommend the following?

If you have a pattern for a 3 inch doll knit the pattern as per instructions using the needles and thread as  recommended....before sewing the dress together fit it onto your 2 inch doll take it in where necessary,(pinning the darts or tucks formed) count the stitches on those sections and reduce the number of stitches accordingly.

You will find that is works out to a certain percentage over the whole garment......then working on percentages change the pattern. It is all a

matter of maths.  

When designing I always start on the larger size doll I am working with.

                                      The large doll was 41mm tall

                                      The medium doll was 35mm tall
                                      The smallest doll was 32mm tall

The little bodies were totally different, (even though the height only differed by 3mm)....and necessitated changing number of stitches for each doll.... as I was already using the finest thread and needles I was prepared to use. 

(If I go any smaller I think my eyes would say goodnight nurse.)

Happy knitting

Sharon Chrystal