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| Featured Pattern of the Week: Strawberry Booties |
        Interested in crochet? Visit our sister site: Crochet Pattern Central  | Tips 'n TricksDo 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! Name: Hydee Subject: weaving in tail yarn Comment: I learned a trick from www.knittinghelp.com. After you have cast on your stitches and you begin to knit, knit the first 3 or 4 stitches including the tail yarn so you don't have to weave in ends after you are done with the project. You can just cut off the tail yarn! Try it! Name: Jennifer Watson Subject: circular needles Comment: I use those clear page protectors to put my circular needles in. Just label them, and keep them in a notebook, it keeps all your needles organized and all in one place! Name: Annie Subject: teaching left-handed knitters Comment: a suggestion for teaching left-handed people how to knit: when you teach them how to knit, teach them how to knit right- handed but teach them to pick instead of throw, because then they get to use their left hand domanately but they don't have to go through the hassle of trying to find left-handed patterns or trying to convert left-handed ones. Name: Anne Maurer Subject: How Much Yarn? Comment: When wondering how much yarn will make a scarf, keep in mind that appox. 100 yds. will make an average-length scarf, so if the yarn label says 100 yds. or more you need one skein, less than 100 yds., buy 2. To stretch your yarn, make the scarf narrower by casting on fewer stitches. Name: Anne Maurer Subject: Circular Needles Comment: Store your circs in those wonderful plastic zippered bags that cushions and bedding comes in. They are see-through and they keep the needles from getting lost. In fact, I use clear plastic zippered bags for storing my knitting notions and knickknacks. A cosmetic bag works well. Name: Anne Maurer Subject: Counting Stitches Comment: When casting on lots of stitches or counting stitches, count by fives, 5, 10, 15... This makes the counting easier. Five stitches are easy to see also. Place a marker every 50 stitches, and count from there. Name: Trees Subject: wool Comment: Hi from Australia: When starting a new ball take from the inside so the ball does not move while knitting Name: Sarah Subject: putting a project down Comment: Instead of actualy buying the end protectors for my needles, which are expencive I use a pink eraser with a hole drilled in the middle, only I break the eraser apart so that I use more of it than I would have making mistakes in math class. It makes it easy to put my work down no matter where I am in a row because I know I can always come back and not have lost anything. Name: Friedchickenonmyknitten Subject: Stitch Markers Comment: I have found that the extra long Pixie Stick straw is the best stich marker I hav used yet. I bought it because someone was selling it on the corner. After I finished eating it I cut the straw into thin stitch markers. Very flexible and if you accidentally misplace it you can cut it out and its so cheap you wont miss it. Also because of how long this straw is you have a never ending supply of stitch markers. If you don't have access to a pixie stick you can always use regular straws. Name: Nancy Subject: Stitch markers Comment: As a new knitter, I found myself without all the "toys" needed to work a project. On a whim I used a rubber band (that comes on your newspaper every day) as a stitch marker and it works great. It also helps hold the needles and work together when I have to put the project down. Name: Mary Ann Subject: keeping track Comment: When I need to keep track of my place in a pattern repeat, instead of marking up the original pattern book I use post-it pads. They stick right on the pattern page and I can cross off my rows on them. Name: Diane Subject: Needles Comment: I make many of my own needles by purchasing dowels of any size I want, cut the length desired and sharpen the end in a pencil sharpener, and smooth with sandpaper, emeryboard, and/or fine steel wool. Then put a rubber band on the other end to keep yarn from slipping off, and bingo a needle is born. I buy packs already cut to 12 inch legnth for $1.49 at HL and have an endless source for teaching grands to knit. Name: Libby Subject: Labels Comment: I use the clear plastic sleeves in a notebook to keep my patterns in and I also have a different notebook for each item, like socks, or mittens if I have enough patterns if not, I have a notebook just for odd patterns. It is lighter and easier to find a pattern when you have a lot of them. I also put my yarn label down in the sleeve between the patterns and that lets me know what yarn I used to make the pattern. Name: Annie Subject: keeping track of your placee in your pattern Comment: when you are working on a pattern with multiple rows, take a pencil and place a check-mark or an X at the begining of the row you have just completed. When you have finished the pattern repeat, you can just erase your marks and start again, but make sure that you don't make your marks too hard or else they won't erase too well. Enjoy! Name: Annie Subject: stitch markers Comment: An easy and inexpensive way to make stitch markers is to take contrasting yarn and to tie into loops and place the loops whereever you need to place stitch markers. A word of caution though, you kinda need to have a idea (or keep track) of where your yarn markers are, due to the fact that they are soft and if you are not paying close attention, you could accidently knit them into your project (I know from experience), but other then that, they're great. Enjoy! Select a Page << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Next >> Share your own hints by filling in the form below... |
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