Happy release day! April showers were in short supply in our neck of the woods. If you too are still waiting for May flowers, never fear, today’s Confident Knitting pattern is bloomin’ marvellous. Take a gander at this spring-y beauty, the Variance Hat by Shetland designer extraordinaire, Janette Budge!
Read moreWe love you, Hunter Hammersen!
Have you knitted this month’s Confident Knitting pattern, Hunter Hammersen’s Evolve Cowl, yet? I cast off and blocked mine last week. Finishing it was bittersweet: while I am thrilled to have a new beautiful cowl to thrown on on a brisk day, I’m missing having it on the needles. The pattern was engaging without being hard, meditative without being mindless. Which I think is actually a good characterisation of much of Hunter’s portfolio and perhaps part of her enormous popularity! They’re always fun, often surprising and very achievable!
Read moreLet's block, excellently! Two video tutorials to boost your lace blocking confidence
Blocking can be a really magical, transformative process, but its’s something that (and you can correct me if I’m wrong) knitters rarely get excited about. It’s consigned, along with swatching, to the list of things one should do when knitting something, much like eating your vegetables or drinking more water.
Read moreEvolve Cowl + Excellent Blocking
No fooling, it’s Confident Knitting pattern release day! I’m so pleased to introduce you to April’s pattern, the Evolve Cowl, designed by the incomparable Hunter Hammersen! Hunter’s showstopper of a cowl provides us with the perfect chance to practise this month’s featured technique, excellent blocking!
Read moreWaiting for April
It’s not long at all now to wait now for the next Confident Knitting pattern release, and, with my Flux Hand Warmers finished, I’ve been keeping my needles busy with a few other projects that all feel a bit Confident Knitting-adjacent … there’s lots of learning new things happening! Like Jen, I tend, er, not to be a monogamous knitter. But I have been trying to keep focussed on fewer WIPs and, I’ve got to say, my three current ones are bringing me lots of joy!
Read moreThe Magic of Martina Behm
Whether or not you’ve been working on this month’s Confident Knitting pattern, the Flux Hand Warmers, chances are, if you’ve been knitting any length of time, you’ve knitted one of Martina Behm’s patterns. She is able to dream up patterns that constantly have me asking “how did your brain come up with that?!” But that complexity doesn’t translate to a tricky knitting experience – quite the opposite. Her patterns are clear and really relaxing to knit and often friendly for beginner knitters! Blending those two elements — of clever surprise and easeful knitting — is, in my humble opinion, a very rare skill!
Read moreFinishing with a Folded Hem
Chances are, if you start adding folded hems to enough things, you’re going to happen on a situation where you’d like to finish off with a folded hem, not just begin with one. So today I thought it’d be fun to throw around some ideas for doing just that.
Read moreSpring Sets! Patterns to Pair with the Flux Hand Warmers
It’s hard to believe we’re nearly halfway through March and the first of our Confident Knitting knitalongs! Perhaps you’ve finished your Flux Hand Warmers and are searching for a cast on to keep you occupied until April’s pattern release? Or maybe you’re just making a start on this month’s project, but enjoy a bit of knitting day dreaming! Today, we’ve rounded up a few patterns for heads and necks that we think would pair wonderfully well with Flux Hand Warmers to make a cheery spring set!
Read moreFlux Hand Warmers Bonus Video Tutorials: Purlwise Lifted Increases + a Stretchy Cast Off
This month, we’re celebrating the folded hem, the first technique from Confident Knitting, shown off in all its tidy glory in Martina Behm’s versatile Flux Hand Warmers. And while the folded hem is, of course, our “official” focus this month, we’ll never pass up an opportunity to help you wring every last drop of learning out of a project! So today, we have two bonus video tutorials to accompany Martina’s spring-y hand warmers!
Read moreFour Reasons to Love the Folded Hem + A Video Tutorial
We’re kicking off our year-long Confident Knitting journey this month with folded hems, a really fun and achievable technique that gives a lovely polish to your finished knits.
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