Knitting

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You (Probably) Already Know All You Need to Knit a Sweater

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Yes you can knit a sweater now!Welcome back to Sweater Month! I wanted to get started with a little pep talk and a reminder that you probably already know everything you need to know in order to successfully knit a sweater.

Yes, an adult-sized sweater is a big project, and it can, indeed, be quite complex. But if you’re looking at a stockinette sweater with minimal shaping, you’ve probably got all the skills you need to get it done right.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the skills you are likely to need to knit a basic, pieced sweater.

  • Casting on
  • Knitting
  • Purling
  • Basic increasing or decreasing, depending on the direction of the sweater
  • The ability to measure a piece of knitting
  • Binding off
  • Making pieces the same length (front and back and sleeves)
  • Seaming

Nothing too difficult there. The one I have the most trouble with is making pieces that are supposed to be the same length actually the same length (and that’s not a problem so long as you can count rows).

I know seaming can be scary, but again, if you’re just working with stockinette, mattress stitch is actually really easy to learn.

Check out my article from About on How to Knit a Sweater to get another look at the skills needed for sweater knitting, as well as links to some easy patterns you might want to try.

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Comments

  1. I so far behind with the knit along scarf it may be ready for winter 2016!!! But I do so want to knit a sweater. One day…

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]