Have you seen Emily K. Williams October Confident Knitting design yet? It’s the stunning Findhorn Wrap, an Anni Albers-inspired stole that makes use of textured rectangles of different colours to achieve it’s dramatic effect. And it’s all made possible by modular knitting!
Read moreThere's More Than One Way To Knit A Sweater
A few years ago, I came across an article suggesting some kinder replacements for common sayings that are, when you think about them, pretty violent. Things like killing two birds with one stone, or there being more than one way to skin a cat. The article proposed vegetable-based alternatives (“more than one way to peel a potato” is the one that stuck in my head). At the time I think I had a chuckle and moved on, but it obviously stuck with me, and I occasionally find myself almost drawing on one of those well-worn phrases then deciding that actually, it’s not quite fit for my purposes. Read on to see where this is going…
Read moreThere's A Garter Stitch Short-Row Heel Over The Rainbow
Do you ever find that there’s a, well, slight gap between your knitting expectations and reality?
That’s certainly been the case for me over the past few months. Back in August, I had some big plans to knit all the socks. I cast on with some precious Fab Funky Fibres Neverending Rainbow yarn (I’d been treasuring it for over a year) for our #UseEveryScrapKAL. And I also had plans to knit one, or even two pairs of Jen’s Moorland Socks, September’s Confident Knitting pattern, in our custom FFF Confident Knitting colourways … and had another pair in mind to knit besides! My sock drawer was in need of a refresh, and I had lots of good intentions to restock it.
Read moreSeaming Diagonal Mitts Video Tutorial + Let's Dive Into Pretty Yarn
How do you feel about seaming? Do you approach it with gusto? Avoid it like the plague? Or perhaps you used to seam everything, but haven’t done any sewing up in quite some time? While there’s lots of fun to be had knitting things seamlessly, seaming is a really good skill to have in your back pocket. And today, I’m showing off the perfect project to dip your toes in the water if you want to give seaming a go … we’ve even got a video tutorial to show you how it’s done!
Read moreThe Magic of Mosaic Knitting (Video Tutorial)
Earlier this week, we shared the alternating cable cast on that provides the perfect start for Marceline Smith’s Terrain Mitts! Once you’ve knitted that ribbed cuff, it’s time for the main event … ever-so-clever mosaic knitting that gives the mitt’s body its distinctive pattern!
Read moreStart Ribbing Off Right! (Alternating Cable Cast On Tutorial)
Sometimes, it’s the little details that can really take your knitted projects to the next level. The baggy final stitch of a cable, tightened up. Long floats neatly trapped. Ends perfectly secured. Or, as we’re talking about today, a cast on that melts seamlessly into the stitches that follow!
Read moreDebut Pullover + A Bottom-Up Sweater Knitting Video Tutorial
What did you knit over your summer holidays? When I wasn’t rejoicing in rainbow stripes, my needles were occupied with Karida Collins Debut Pullover, which I’m knitting up in Fyberspates Vivacious DK … + a video tutorial for joining sleeves and body.
Read moreA Garter-Variety Heel (Confident Knitting Video Tutorial)
Have you ever tried a short-row heel? It’s a very useful one to have in your sock knitting tool box! It shares a lot of handy properties with the afterthought heel: it’s worked the same no matter what direction you’re working your sock; it doesn’t require you to pick up stitches along a gusset (there isn’t one!); and, particularly pertinent for this month’s Confident Knitting pattern, you can work it without interrupting the sequence or width of a self-patterning yarn. Unlike the afterthought heel though, there’s no waste yarn (or snipping of stitches) required, and it’s shaped not with decreases, but with (as the name suggests!) two sets of short rows! It’s one of those really clever pieces of knitting that feels a bit magical the first time you do it!
Read moreQuick tech tip: Following a hashtag on Instagram
How to follow hashtags on Instagram so you don’t miss out on any of our knitalong fun.
Read moreKnitting Know-How: Join, Being Careful Not to Twist (Video Tutorials)
We’ve been thinking about beginning knitting more than usual here around Arnall-Culliford H-Q, as we’ve celebrated the arrival of Skill Set and Field Guide No. 18: Beginnings and watched our retail manager, Lou, start her own knitting journey. Knitting, like any hobby or specialised pursuit, has its own lingo. Phrases that, once we’ve been knitting awhile, we gloss over without a thought, and that would rarely be explained by a knitting pattern. Phrases like “join, being careful not to twist".
Read more