Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Join Bernat and Vickie Howell for a Chat About Baby Crafting

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bernat baby monthThis month is Baby Month at Bernat, and they’re celebrating with a lot of events on their website and Facebook page. They’re also planning a Twitter party tomorrow (that’s Wednesday, Aug. 8) from 2-4 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) time that will include Vickie Howell.

Participants can ask knitting and crochet questions, meet other crafters, learn more about crafting for little ones and even maybe win a prize.

All you have to do to take part is have a Twitter account, show up at the appointed time and search for the hashtag #bernatbaby. Twitter parties are always a lot of fun, and when they’re craft-related, too, what could be better.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for more Baby Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

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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!