Have I mentioned recently how much I absolutely love enabling knitters to learn new techniques? That feeling of breaking it down into achievable chunks, leading people through the process, and watching them achieve more than they thought possible is almost as intoxicating as the thrill of learning something new. I can’t wait to help you to Boost Your Knitting!

As former teachers Jim and I are well aware that people learn in different ways, so our publications aim to be as inclusive of different learning styles as possible. Our photo tutorials are shot by Jesse Wild, who is an amazing photographer, and he works hard to ensure that you can see every detail necessary to understand what’s happening. I write the tutorial text so that it is broken down into steps that are as clear and concise as possible, and then we film video tutorials as well, so that people who prefer a more auditory or active approach can also follow along. You can find all of our video tutorials for free on our YouTube channel: JenACKnitwear

But the resources we publish are actually only part of the story, since lots of people learn best when they learn with others. This is where the knitalongs come into their own. It’s all too easy to find something tricky and just quietly assume that it’s too hard for you. But when you work on a project alongside others, you have the reassurance of hearing that you aren’t alone, as well as a wide range of hints and tips – more than we could ever reasonably fit into a book! You will find all of our knitalongs over in our Ravelry group: Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on Ravelry

So which techniques are we going to boost? That’s what you really want to know, isn’t it?! Here is the master list…

• Brioche knitting, including increases and decreases

• Choosing colours for stranded colourwork

• Correcting mistakes in lace knitting

• Tubular cast-on method in the round

• Dip stitches

• Double knitting, including decreases

• Finishing techniques for toy knitting (sewing together, stuffing and embroidering faces)

• Gusset short row heel for toe-up socks

• Intarsia in the round

• Joining in yarns for colourwork

• Marlisle

• Tuck stitches

And as well as those main, “headline” techniques, there will also be a number of bonus techniques along the way, including the sewn cast-off method, two-colour long-tail cast-on method (both standard and alternating versions), two-colour Italian cast-on method and the tubular cast off.

Each time I read through that list I get a frisson of excitement. I know I’ve said this more than once, but when I first learned how to do a tubular cast on, it made me feel SO excited that I couldn’t sleep, and had to wake Jim up to tell him about this amazing new thing I had learned. It really changed how I looked at my knitting, and if you’ve not tried it, you really are in for a treat. And that’s just one of the techniques in the list!

Whether you dip in and out, just working on the techniques that interest you most, or you decide to work through all twelve techniques in order, I hope that you will enjoy the process of learning something new. I think it’s fair to say that not everyone will love every technique – we are after all, all gloriously different – but I hope that you will enjoy the process of learning something new. In itself, the process of learning something new and practising it is worthwhile. We do it so much as children, but it’s a skill that can be under-exercised as we get older, as the fear of getting things wrong or making a mistake takes over. We are here to clear away those cobwebs and assist you on the path of trying new things, and learning something new. Get ready to Boost Your Knitting!

For all the best offers, and to ensure that you don’t miss out on the Boost Your Knitting on sale announcement, do sign up for our newsletter (you can also get blog posts delivered to your email inbox by subscribing and then choosing that option)!

Boost Your Knitting goes on sale this Thursday (7th February 2019), when we will also be announcing the awesome list of designers that have contributed patterns to our collection. You can find out more about the programme and each of the options available over in our online shop: Boost Your Knitting

We have added an audio description to this blog post, which you can find below. If you are reading this by email, you will need to visit the blog post on the website.