Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Book Review – Easy How-to Techniques for Simply Stylish 18″ Dolls

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Learn how to make 18″ doll clothes using 7 quick-knit patterns found in Easy How-To Techniques for Simply Stylish 18″ Dolls by Andra Knight-Bowman.

Make adorable 18″ doll clothes using this step-by-step guide. Each knitting lesson builds upon the last, so they can stand alone or be used as part of a series of skill-building knitting projects. As soon as you learn a new knitting technique, you can immediately put it to use. Whether you’re just learning how to knit or you’re an expert, these fun patterns for doll clothing will inspire you to pick up those needles and get to work! 48 all-color pages.  You can purchase this book here.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Work with cables
  • Knit in the round on double-point needles
  • Work a jogless join for perfect stripes every time
  • Use the 3-Needle Bind-Off to create neat and solid seams.
  • Add embroidery accents, pompoms and I-cords.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Make Your Knitting Machine Scarves Better

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve shared any patterns for our circular knitting machine users. I know these devices aren’t for everyone but even though I much prefer knitting by hand, it is kind of fun to crank things out on these machines.

One of the most common early projects for a circular knitting machine is a scarf. Which makes sense, because it’s just one long tube and you can make it as long as you like.

One problem that comes from knitting scarves on the circular knitting machine, though, is that it can be hard to know how to finish the ends of the tube so that it looks like a finished scarf and not a tube of knitting.

If you’re not a knitter or crocheter, the most basic way to finish a circular knitting machine scarf is just by cinching up the ends and maybe adding a pompom to each end to cover up any hole that might still be visible at the end.

But if you have a little knitting or crochet skill or are willing to learn, there are a lot of different options for closing up the ends of a scarf. And this would also be true if you hand knit a tube scarf!

I recently wrote a post over at Our Daily Craft that includes five different ways to close up the ends of a tube scarf:

  • the simple cinching method mentioned above
  • sewing the stitches together
  • three needle bind off
  • grafting
  • crochet bind off

Grafting is my favorite because I feel like it gives the cleanest, closest to a seamless look. If you’re a knitter you may already know how to do it but even if you don’t it’s not that hard to learn.

Do you knit tube scarves by hand or machine? I’d love to know how you like to finish them!