Tips 'n Tricks

Do you have a helpful hint or handy trick that will make any aspect of knitting easier? Share it! Post ideas on scrap yarn usages, stitch markers, color changing, maintaining your sanity while following a difficult pattern, etc. There is most probably someone out there that will benefit from your help. Need ideas yourself? Read others' comments--we all live and learn!

Saturday, November 10, 2012Name: Kathy

Subject: Using scrap yarn

Comment: A friend in my prayer shawl knitting group had a bunch of scraps. She just starting knitting with a color and changed when she got tired of it. The result was a lovely striped shawl that could go to a man or a woman. I bet a "Knit for Kid" group would take striped sweaters, and that pattern is easy enough for me. You'd just have to be sure you had the same number of rows of a color front and back.

Saturday, November 10, 2012Name: Cynthia

Subject: knitting with multiple patterns

Comment: Knitting an afghan or item with several different patterns side by side; copy the patterns onto graph paper. One square per instruction row 1 of each pattern. Aran patterns side by side pieces are rather complicated going from one pattern to another. Say one pattern has 12 rows another 4 rows and another 6 rows. Copy row 1 of each side by side and continue until you reach the 12th row. pattern 2 will have been repeated 3 times and pattern 3 two times. An additional 2 stitches can be allowed between each pattern just do a right twist and it will look like it has been stitched together with a uniform stitch. Also patterns that already exist made in panels can be knited all in one by connecting them with two additional stitches doing a right twist

Friday, November 02, 2012Name: Mary Lowe

Subject: multiple color knitting

Comment: When I am knitting with multiple colors, I go to the kitchen, get out the stack of mixing bowls, and get one bowl for each color. I put the bowls on the floor around my chair, drop one color of yarn in each, and never have a problem! Sometimes I knit with 8 or even 12 colors of yarn, so I have a lot of mixing bowls!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012Name: Lillian

Subject: knitting with several different colors at same time

Comment: when knitting or crocheting a item with several colors, i bought a dipper pail for one and a bucket from the paint section, both have lids, my husband drilled several holes around the lid and filed the roughness off. i now have two buckets i can put from 6 to 8 skeins of yarn in with a tail sticking out of the lid holes, and it doesn't get all tangled either. i love it

Tuesday, October 30, 2012Name: Pam Raley

Subject: Make following complex pattern easier

Comment: When a textured pattern involves 6 or 8 different rows and the pattern is written in a continuous "paragraph" style, I simplify it for use.
Use squares/oblongs of stiff paper or cardboard Write the sequence for one row on one piece. An 8 row pattern will have 8 pieces of paper. Stack them from 1 to 8 (or 5 or 6, etc.)
When row 1 is completed, put the paper at the back of the stack. Do row 2 and put paper at back. If all wrong side rows are P, I simply remember that so my stack actually has Row 1, Row 3, Row 5, etc. I keep them rounded up with paper clip or rubber band.
I can also write in larger print than the pattern may have.
This has made knitting textures so much easier, and so much less likely to have to rip it back!

Thursday, October 18, 2012Name: Glenda

Subject: Circular needle storage

Comment: I love my circular needles now that I've learned to put them in a skirt/pants holder, the snap kind, and hang them in my craft closet. They stay straight and are out of the way. Am I the last knitter in the world to discover this???

Wednesday, October 17, 2012Name: Gail

Subject: Storing Knitting Needles

Comment: I had some spare felt. I cut a rectangle not quite twice the length of standard length needles. I folded the rectangle in half with the fold at the bottom. I sewed the side seams and then sewed lines of stitching parallel to the side seams about one inch apart from each other. Each section stores one pair of needles with the sizes sticking out of the top. The whole thing can be rolled up and tied with string or ribbon.

Saturday, October 13, 2012Name: Deborah

Subject: Using Up Scrap Yarn

Comment: ok, so I didn't head on back through the 64+ pages to see if anyone else has/had the same idea...take all those scraps of yarn and needlepoint a 4" x " plastic canvas square (ideal square size is 6 stitches/inch) with them. Attach a 4" felt square to the back and whipstitch around the edges with yarn - instant drink coaster. Be creative in your designs! I have sport team logos, NASCAR Driver Numbers, coloured ones matching furniture or accents. Really easy and quick to do, and they protect my tables at the same time.
Deborah, The Homesteading Realtor

Saturday, October 13, 2012Name: gill

Subject: sleeves

Comment: I always cast on for both sleeves as I knit the back of item always pick up and knit a few rows of sleeves, try it, the chore of sleeves no longer exists

Friday, October 12, 2012Name: janice schermerhorn

Subject: knitting bags

Comment: I get the sandwich bags from Sub-Way an put my yarn in them an use them as sleeves for my yarn. This makes a good way to use two different color of yarns at the same time without them gettng tangled up an twisted. They don't get messed up while in storage box.

Monday, October 08, 2012Name: Margaret

Subject: lots of different colours

Comment: When I was left with lots of different coloured balls of yarn I wondered what to do with them. I do knit things for charities, but to use up all the yarn I have been left I would still be knitting when I reached a hundred. So I decided to knit myself a cardigan and tried to get enough balls of the same colour to make it. No way was there ever going to be enough of one colour so I decided to use them all. Just a few rows of each colour and then change to the next random ball - result..... a rainbow coloured cardigan which is much admired by all who have seen it. I must admit that there was a lot of darning in of ends to do, but the result is lovely. I also put on buttons of different colours too. I hope this helps someone else to use up their odd stock, happy crafting.

Saturday, October 06, 2012Name: Katie

Subject: Easy Ripping

Comment: When ripping out a piece, roll it up with the open stitches on one side of the roll. It will look almost like a pull-out skein the way you're ripping. This makes the stitches more centralized and provides much quicker ripping.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012Name: Karen

Subject: Sticky pins

Comment: You know how when you have been knitting all evening and your pins start to stick and dont slide so easy through the wool. well if you rub the pins through your hair it stops this, apparantly any natural grease in your hair goes onto the pins and makes them smooth again. My mom told me this trick, and it does work !

Sunday, September 16, 2012Name: Faith

Subject: save your scraps

Comment: I save all my yarn ends, no matter how big or small, into a butter tub. When i have a fair amount of scraps accumulated i use them for stuffing stuffed animals. :-)

Thursday, August 30, 2012Name: Jami

Subject: Using scraps

Comment: i used scraps to make a really cute sunglass bag. Here are the instructions. Just use scraps!
1) Cast on 30 stitches
2) Rib stitch for aproximately an inch
3) knit until your work measures 6 1/2 inches long
4) cast of and tie off
5) fold your bag in half and sew it together alng the bottom and side edge, stop right were the ribbing starts.
weave in everything
thats it!!

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