Are you ready for a nifty technique to add horizontal interest to your knitted fabric? Vikkel braids are this month’s technique for Confident Knitting, and they are a great way to frame other stitch patterns, or to give a horizontal detail to your fabric.
Read moreTricked Out Trinket Mittens
Okay, so I know it’s June. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, mittens are probably the last thing on your mind. Especially when those mittens are knitted with that woolliest of woolly wools, Lettlopi. But let me make the case for knitting the Trinket Mittens in summer to you. They’re small. They’re fast. They’re fun. They’ll get your creative juices flowing. And, come autumn, you can pull them out with the satisfaction of the Very Prepared. And of course, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, High Mitten Season is fast approaching! I’ve knitted two pairs of Mary Jane Mucklestone’s Trinket Mittens (so far), so today, I’m bringing you some of the tips and tricks I’ve garnered over four fabulous mittens!
Read moreA Trio of Stitches for Standout Embroidered Knits!
When was the last time your tapestry needle got some love? It’s an essential bit of kit, for sure, but a humble one, most often consigned to the drudgery of weaving in ends. Well, now is your tapestry needle’s moment to shine, as it takes on a starring role in this month’s headline Confident Knitting technique, Embroidering on Knitting!
Read moreTutorial Round-up: Stranded Colourwork
It’s been so exciting to see some really stunning versions of Janette Budge’s triumph of a toque, the Variance Hat, coming off the needles. Quite a few folks have tackled this as a first colourwork project, which is brilliant to see! Even though Janette’s design features eight shades of J&S 2ply Jumper Weight, you never use more than two colours on any given row, making it a very approachable introduction to colourwork (and one that is sure to wow your knitting and non-knitting friends alike).
Read moreKnitting Know-How: Understanding a Pattern With Multiple Sizes
When you think about it, knitting patterns are really an impressive bit of technology, in the broadest sense of the word. The best patterns manage to succinctly convey all the information you need to successfully turn a bit of yarn into a fully realised knitted object. And, very often, they include instructions for making that item in various sizes. Today, we’ve got a quick crash course in reading knitting patterns written for multiple sizes.
Read moreThere's more than one way to start a toe-up sock! (Crochet Provisional Cast On and Grafting Video Tutorials)
I love that my day job focusses on helping knitters learn new techniques. And I find it particularly fun when I can suggest using techniques in a way that might not be immediately obvious. Today, I’ve got a pair of video tutorials for the crochet provisional cast on and grafting, skills that you’ll use individually time and again over the course of a knitting career. But they’re also a pair that work together particularly well. I’ll dive into some of their more common uses in today’s post, but I also want to highlight a perhaps less obvious application: they make a great way to start toe-up socks if Judy’s Magic Cast on isn’t your cup of tea.
Read moreCatching Floats in Stranded Colourwork Knitting (Two Video Tutorials)
For this month’s Confident Knitting project, we’re focussed on floats! If you’ve ever knitted colourwork that’s turned out a bit lumpy and bumpy, or that looks a bit loose and sloppy, it was probably down to the floats being too tight, in the first instance, or too loose, in the second. Even floats equal even, beautiful stranded colourwork! Today, we’ve got two tutorials to help you catch your floats for even colourwork!
Read moreHow to Block Using a Hap Stretcher, Part 2: Triangle Hap (Photo Tutorial)
Last week, we brought you a tutorial showing how to block a square or rectangular hap, or everyday shawl, using a blocking frame. Today, we bring you part two of this tutorial, using a frame to block a triangular hap or shawl.
Read moreHow to Block Using a Hap Stretcher, Part 1: Square or Rectangular Hap (Photo Tutorial)
We’re all about the blocking at the moment — Excellent Blocking is this month’s featured Confident Knitting technique. This month’s pair of video tutorials creatively use household objects (with the option to use flexible blocking wires) to achieve some really stellar blocking results. Today though, we thought it’d be fun to share a blocking tutorial of a different type from our archives: how to block a square hap!
Read moreGetting Going with Magic Loop (Two Video Tutorials!)
Chances are, if you’ve read this blog before, you’ve heard of magic loop knitting. It’s a nifty way of using a long-ish circular needle to knit a small-ish circumference item. Now before we go any further, I’m going to level with you. I used to hate the magic loop. Many years ago, I was a knitter who found The Way I liked doing things and stuck with it, and The Way I Liked To Knit Small Circumferences was with two circular needles. I’d given magic loop a cursory try, but it felt awkward and ungainly, with kinks of cable everywhere. So I happily stuck with my totally serviceable but rather expensive habit of knitting small circumferences on two circular needles until one day, I was commuting to work on the bus, and the bamboo tip of one of my circular needles broke. I was faced with two choices: sit the rest of the bus ride without knitting or face my magic loop demons. I’m sure you can guess which one I chose.
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