I love working with self-striping yarns, and actually have a whole chapter in my colorwork book on the subject (and my favorite sweater ever, which is in that book, is made with self-striping yarn). But I’ll admit it’s … Read More ...
Easy DIY Knitting Spool
I have made knitting spools before for myself and to use in my fiber arts classes with kids. This is another version, from Laurie Carlson Crafts, which might be better for people who don’t have kids and therefore don’t … Read More ...
Get Ready for Christmas Knitting: Your Battle Plan
It’s just about six months — 21 weeks — until Christmas, and it might seem crazy to start thinking about holiday knitting just because yarn companies (like Red Heart and Yarnspirations) are putting out Christmas in July knitting patterns.… Read More ...
Do You Know How to Knit Backwards?
Knitting backwards sounds like a cool trick, but it’s more than that. It can actually be quite useful when working entrelac or short rows or even just narrow rows of knitting where you don’t want to have to take the … Read More ...
How to Control Tension with Arm Knitting
Last week I taught a fiber arts class at my daughter’s school, and one of the students was really taken with arm knitting. She made five or six little scarves (which was great for me, because part of my reason … Read More ...
An Easy Way to Make Your Bind Off Neater
I’m sure you’ve noticed how the very last stitch of binding off can look a little messy. It’s usually bigger than the others and you can easily tell which end is the end of the bind off for that very … Read More ...
Review: A First Book of Knitting for Children
Because I’ve been planning fiber arts classes for children, and I don’t have a whole lot of experience teaching kids to knit beyond the basics, I’ve been looking into some books specifically about knitting for kids lately.
Duplicate Stitch: A Clever Solution for Kilt Hose
This is not exactly a knitting tutorial, but it may come in handy for knitters who make kilt hose or other tartan or argyle designs.
Nina at Nina Makes recently bought some kilt hose for her daughter, who has taken … Read More ...
Review: Make Your Own Idea Book with Arne & Carlos
One of the things I love about the Arne & Carlos books is the way they are designed. There are so many fun pictures displaying some of their collections and the things that inspired the designs.
Arne & Carlos develop … Read More ...
Review: Customize Your Knitting
Most knitting patterns for garments assume that most knitters are the same shape, and that shape is relatively rectangular.
The fact that knitting has standards for sizing makes it easier to write knitting patterns, but it doesn’t make it easy … Read More ...
Make Your Cast On Looser for Knitting Success
Do you have trouble with your cast on edge being a lot tighter than the rest of your knitting? I still do sometimes (usually when I’m doing a long-tail cast on and I’m in a hurry so I fly through … Read More ...
Review: Magical Shetland Lace Shawls to Knit
Sometimes books fall through the cracks for me a little bit and it takes me longer than it should to review them. I might lose the book somewhere in my office (happens more than I’d like to admit) or I … Read More ...
Why You Should Wet Block Your Swatches
I’m guessing by now you know that you should knit swatches before embarking on large projects, especially garments that need to fit a particular person.
Not only is it important to know if you’re getting the same number of stitches … Read More ...
Book Review: More Lovely Knitted Lace
Brooke Nico is skilled at taking simple shapes and reinterpreting them in the framework of lace knitting projects. Her books Lovely Knitted Lace and More Lovely Knitted Lace
start with basic geometric shapes, add lace and turn them into shawls, … Read More ...
Book Review: The Knitter’s Book of Knowledge
Debbie Bliss knows a lot about knitting. She’s been a renowned designer for decades, has published more than 40 books and has her own line of yarn.
So you might guess that a book filled with her knitting knowledge … Read More ...