Category Archives: Essential Techniques

How to Wash Wool Without Dreading the Outcome

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wash wool - A bath for my cardigan. I'm using a laundry basket that I placed in my bath tub. I am only washing that one cardigan because this is the first time I'm washing it and it might release some excess dye. And because I don't have enough room to dry more than this one piece.

We love our hand knits and wear them often. And maybe we are even lucky and have loved ones around us that also like to wear what we knit just for them. With all that use sooner or later, we will have to wash an item. And we should wash every piece after we’re done knitting, to relax the yarn,… Read more »

How to Read Charts – It’s Easier Than You Think

How to read charts - my current project Joji Locatelli's Citadel

Charts. To many of us, they seem complex and difficult. Like a secret language or a code, you have to crack. A scientific formula, even. But they can actually make your knitting life easier and aren’t as scary as you may think. They can help you to learn how to read your knitting and can make it easier to memorize… Read more »

How to Repair Holes in Your Knits like an Expert

You sock knitters out there know this: Sooner or later you’ll wear right through even your most robust socks. Sometimes it can happen quite suddenly because you snagged on something. Other times it’s a more gradual process; this often happens to your most beloved pairs first because you wear them so much. Other culprits are of course the dreaded moths…. Read more »

5 Easy & Beautiful Bind-Offs for Your Knitted Edge

A while back I showed you a couple of decorative cast ons and what else you can do to decorate a knitted edge. But there is still more to this subject that I haven’t talked about yet. There are also a number of beautiful bind-offs you can decorate your knitting with. And some of these may seem familiar to you because they… Read more »

How to Make Gauge Swatches Work for You, Part 2: Possible Problems

gauge swatches -Soaking gauge swatches

Last week, we talked a lot about how to knit gauge swatches and how to measure them. This week it’s all about possible pitfalls and problems. As a reminder and navigational help, here is the table of contents for this two-part part series again. How to Knit a Swatch (in part 1) When Designing (in part 1) How to Measure a Gauge Swatch … Read more »

How to Make Gauge Swatches Work for You, Part 1: The Basics

gauge swatches - teaser

Most of us have knit them before. We know we are supposed to. But many of us don’t like it. It’s boring and tedious, and we just want to get to the main part. Gauge swatches. Besides, they tend to lie to us, don’t they? It all depends on how you’re doing it and on what you are trying to… Read more »

How to Weave in Ends like a Pro

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Weaving in ends with duplicate stitch - my new favorite method

There isn’t just one way to weave in ends. There are many ways. And as long as you can’t make out well where you’ve woven them in or have ends poking through to the front, you don’t really have to change the way you are doing it. But different projects create different fabrics with other circumstances. And those might require… Read more »

5 More Ways to Make Your Knit Edge Stand Out

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decorate your knitting - knit edge

We’ve talked a lot about decorative cast ons. Worked with either a single color or with multiple strands in different shades. But are there other ways to spice up your cast on edge? There are a couple of things you can do to decorate your knitting further. All of these methods will not only work on your cast on edge… Read more »

6 Breathtaking, Colorful Cast Ons That Will Pep up Your Project

colorful cast ons - featured image

Now you already know some decorative cast ons. But what if you are knitting mosaic stitch pattern? Or a beautiful fair isle sweater? Or any other kind of colorful project? One of those decorative edges may seem a bit too much and a plain cast on too dull. Instead, you can use a cast on that is quite simple in… Read more »

7 Striking, Decorative Cast Ons That Will Make Your Projects Special

decorative cast ons with some artificial flowers for a splash of color

If you’ve been following this blog, you know quite a few different cast-ons already. Most of them are kind of simple and plain, supposed to blend in and not distract from the rest of the design. But what if you want the cast on itself to be decorative? There are plenty of those to choose from as well. Some worked… Read more »