Knitting

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To Knit or Not to Knit; Is that a Question?

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to knit or not to knit

I’m sending this one to Mary!

This week’s giveaway is a fun take on a knitting essay collection. To Knit or Not to Knit: Helpful and Humorous Hints for the Passionate Knitter by Elvira Woodruff is composed of a series of advice-column-style questions about the knitting life posed to a fictional Mrs. Wicks.

She answers questions by looking to history (for instance, a question about buying too much yarn is paired with the Oscar Wilde quote “the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it”) and offering stories from her own knitting life and sharing patterns along the way. (Find them here.)

The book covers subjects such as how to pack your knitting bag, what to do when you’re in the depths of a seemingly interminable project, knitting as stress relief, knitting for charity, what to make for babies and more.

It’s a cute idea for a book of essays, and they are quick and funny reads. This is a good one to remind you how cool knitters are or to gift to a fun knitting friend.

If you’d like a chance to win this book, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, Sept. 3. I’d love to know a good piece of knitting advice you’ve received. One of my favorites: as long as you’re happy with the results, it doesn’t matter how you got there, which is the long way of saying there’s no right way to knit.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

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Comments

  1. My fave is when in doubt, knit it out. It applies to figuring out patterns but also dealing with life in general.

  2. Not really advice, but years ago I created the word Yarnsulin – as in “I’d better take a shot of Yarnsulin before I walk into that LYS or I’ll go into fiber-shock and buy everything in the store!” The patterns are a wonderful collection of stashbusters, and I bet the writing is wonderful. Thanks for the giveaway.

  3. I agree with there are no right or wrong ways to knit. Don’t be afraid to change and adapt patterns to knit the item you want!

  4. A friend of mine always carries tons of stitch markers and a mini skein of yarn and a plastic needle along with her project. She says that you could need to put a lifeline or use your stitch markers to divide your knitting work in sections and you should have all that you need with you.

  5. When your knitting mojo leaves do a small project like a dishcloth or a hat to give you the satisfaction of finishing an item

  6. I had avoided blocking for decades! When I finally caved in to taking that advice I was so pleased with the results. Cannot believe the difference. Viva la “blocking!

  7. “Only god doesn’t make mistakes”. Remember that when knitting a complicated (usually Aran/cabled) pattern. No one else will notice the ONE stitch you purled instead of knitting, or even the crossover you did the wrong way!! I remember finishing a wonderful sweater, all sewn up before I saw a crossover done in the wrong direction. I’ve had the sweater 10 years now and no-one has ever noticed, although I have had lots of praise for the “wonderful design”!

  8. I would love to get this book for my sister who is an avid knitter. Her birthday is coming up!

  9. Thanks for the give away. For a hint, I’ll rave about my newest tool, which is a slender piece of metal with a crochet hook on one end and a sharpish “picking point” on the other. I never knew they existed or that I needed one, but I bought it on impulse and now use it regularly.

  11. A zillion years ago, when the internet was young, a message thread on the KnitList involved what knitters carried with them. I paid attention and now I ALWAYS have a small zippered purse with a pen, pad, scissors, tape measure, crochet hook, stitch markers, fine nail file, a ten-dollar bill, stitch holder, cable needle, and yarn needle. (Thank you, Calypso; I’m going to add a small skein of embroidery cotton for use as a life line.) This purse goes with me everywhere. It even came in handy at a wedding when a bridesmaid needed a thread snipped.

  12. My favorite advice is when I am debating whether to rip back to fix something. My friend and I say “we like knitting so we don’t mind doing more of it!”

  15. If I find a tiny mistake in a finished project, I always tell pple that I did it on purpose to show the article was hand made, note machine made.

  16. The knitters in my group remind me that I’ll be the only one that will know the mistake is there ????

  17. Think of your knitting “mistakes” as a design element which makes the project uniquely your own.

  18. Lifelines! Especially for those of us who watch TV while knitting – so much easier to unravel those rows you purled instead of knitted during the chase scene.

  19. “Just finish the project.” The best advice I’ve received that not only relates to knitting but to sewing, painting g, and life in general.

  21. My favorite quote is “never let your fear decide your fate” and it works for knitting projects, too! Don’t be afraid to try new stitches or techniques. They’re usually not too complicated and end up looking great.

Have you read?

Knit a Glasses Holder for Your Bedside Table

knit glasses holder

Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]