Knitwear designers do the best they can to make garments that work for everyone, but sometimes the neckline of a sweater just doesn’t work out when knit as the pattern states. It could be that your cast on or bind … Read More...
Is Providing Yarn Substitutions the Designer’s Job?
There’s been a lot of talk in the knitting community on Instagram and elsewhere about how using hand-dyed yarn in projects can feel like it excludes knitters who aren’t able to afford that yarn and suggesting that designers should provide … Read More...
How to Handle a Messy Last Stitch When You Bind Off
First off, thank you to everyone who offered suggestions for things they want to learn about knitting that I can help with (if you didn’t see that post last week, you can weigh in here). I’ll be getting to … Read More...
Hey Knitters, What Do You Want to Learn?
It’s been a long time since I was a beginning knitter. And while there is always more to learn I feel pretty comfortable offering advice and knitting tips for people.
I’ve decided I want to start (probably restart, if I’m … Read More...
Helpful Tips for Substituting Yarns
It seems like a lot of people are looking to use more of their yarn stashes this year, which often means using a yarn other than the one called for in a pattern.
Substituting yarns is not always as easy … Read More...
How to Count How Many Stitches You’ve Bound Off
I always seem to have a bit of anxiety whenever I have to bind off a certain number of stitches at a particular point in a pattern. If it’s more than one or two at a time, I get the … Read More...
Tips for Sewing Together a Sweater
The Brown Sheep blog has a great post about how to sew a sweater together that will be helpful if you haven’t pieced a sweater before.
It shows a toddler-sized sweater worked as a front, back and sleeves, and recommends … Read More...
Everything You Need to Know about Blocking Knits
Blocking your knitting is an important last step to ensuring that your knit projects looks as good as they should. It’s essential for lace knitting projects to open up the eyelets, but it’s great for a lot of other knitting … Read More...
Patty’s Helpful Hints for Combining Yarns
There comes a time in every stasher’s life when they have a hankering to combine a couple of yarns to make a yarn of a different weight.
Patty Lyons, writing on the Mason-Dixon Knitting website, offers some general advice on … Read More...
Another Lesson in the Importance of Swatching
Most professional knitters — and many other dedicated stitchers — will tell you how important it is to swatch beofre starting a project if you actually want it to fit the body for which it is intended.
Ball bands offer … Read More...
Options and Tips for Weaving in Ends Like a Pro
I have a somewhat dark secret: sometimes I never weave in my ends on knitting projects. Or at least not very well.
I have sweaters that have basically felted ends on the inside because I never bothered to weave them … Read More...
Handy Tips for Choosing the Right Sock to Knit
Sock knitting is so fun. They’re great travel projects and I like to have one on the needles all the time to work on wherever I am.
But one thing that can be tricky for people who are new to … Read More...
Sewing Tools that are Also Great for Knitters
There are lots of times when different crafts cross over, or when tools that might be used for one craft (say, a crochet hook) can be useful for other crafts as well (such as picking up stitches or weaving in … Read More...
Tips for Knitting Your Perfect Sweater
Knitting a sweater for yourself can be a fraught activity. You put so much time and effort (and money) into it, and you want it to be perfect, but often it just isn’t.
Sometimes the sleeves come out way too … Read More...
Hate Kitchener Stitch? Here’s a Way to Avoid it
The other day I shared a post with a mnemonic device to help you remember how to work the Kitchener stitch.
But even when you know how to do it, it is, admittedly, not a lot of fun.
What … Read More...
A Funny Way to Remember How to Kitchener
Kitchener stitch is a classic way to close up the toes of socks, and is sometimes used in other knitting projects as well.
But it’s one of those things that we don’t use often enough to always be able to … Read More...
How to Knit the Warmest Mittens Ever
I’m really a knit glove kind of person. Once I discovered that fingers are not as hard as I’d imagined, I kind of stopped knitting mittens.
But I definitely see their appeal for times like walking outside when you don’t … Read More...
Another Way to Perfect Your Gauge
I know, I know, knitting gauge swatches and getting gauge is a drag, but it’s totally worth it for projects that you really want to fit.
There are lots of tips and tricks you can try to get the right … Read More...
Why Alternate Skeins When Knitting with Hand-Dyed Yarn?
Hand-dyed yarn is so beautiful and unique, so much so that every skein is a little bit different.
That doesn’t mean we have to confine ourselves to single-skein projects. It does mean we need to do a little extra work … Read More...
Great Tips for Knitting Faster Socks
Sock knitting is a lot of fun, but the sad truth of the matter is that knitting a pair of socks takes a long time. So many little stitches, so many knitting needles (often) and you have to knit two … Read More...