Category Archives: How To

How to Best Use Patterns and Have More Fun Knitting

As a knitter, you will likely be using knitting patterns a lot. There are those that don’t, but most beginners stick to them. They are a great way of learning how to knit a particular item or garment. But what if you still don’t get a satisfactory finished project? What if the sweater doesn’t fit or has a weird shape?… Read more »

4 Quick & Easy Tubular Cast Ons to Improve Your Knitting Skill

so many swatches

Some cast ons are pretty. Others are merely functional but not especially decorative. But what do you do if you want the cast on of (for example) a cuff to be invisible? There are two options. Option 1: A folded hem. That may work, but it is usually lacking a bit in elasticity and therefore better suited for the bottom of… Read more »

How to Steek for the Absolute Beginner

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How to steek - Cutting the steek - it's not as scary as you might think!

If you’re following me on Twitter you know I’ve recently cut my first steek. I had been knitting on the cardigan for a while and was both excited and afraid at the prospect of cutting the steek. It turns out: Cutting into your knitting is a lot less scary and much more fun than I thought. And steeking really isn’t… Read more »

6 Quick & Easy Stretchy Bind Offs You Need to Know

Stretchy bind offs - The pretty edge of Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off

It’s important how you begin something. We’ve covered that. It is equally important how you end it. How often did I have the bind off edge of a toe up sock turn out just a bit too snug to easily pull them over my heels? How often did the hem of a top down sweater turn out a bit too… Read more »

7 Beautiful & Stretchy Cast Ons You Need to Know

Stretched Jenny's Stretchy Slip Knot Cast On

I think we’ve all been there. You’ve knit a beautiful pair of socks, a hat or sweater only to find out that the cast on ended up too tight. Even though you had swatched and everything seemed to match the needed gauge. Some projects need a cast on with more stretch to it than your usual cast on might offer…. Read more »

Knitting Fundamentals: 4 Basic Cast Ons You Need to Know

Long Tail Cast On (on a kid's cardigan I need to repair)

How you begin something is always important. It’s important to relationships, to writing and to buildings. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s important to knitting as well. Maybe not as important as it is to buildings – lives are seldom lost to a bad cast on. But a knitters sanity might get fried. Today I want to introduce… Read more »

How to Avoid Problems With Your Vacation Knitting

This was the view from the lawn behind our apartment - beautiful Baltic Sea

Are you planning a nice summer getaway? Maybe a little trip to a beach or a lake? And of course you are planning on knitting there but you don’t really know what would make a good vacation knitting project? Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a project (or two or three) and some patterns for… Read more »

How to Avoid Problems with Your Travel Knitting

While traveling you likely won't have much space, so your project should be sized accordingly

So, you are going on vacation and you want to take some travel knitting? But you don’t know what to take? Or what you should consider when choosing a project? In this first part of my two part series on vacationing as a knitter, I’ll tell you about what you may have to think about and add a little bit… Read more »

4 different ways to make knitting charts – Part 3: Chart editor software

4 different way to make knitting charts p3

And now in the third and last part of this series, I’ll give you the fourth way to make knitting charts and introduce a couple of chart editor or designer programs to you. None of these programs is for free but most of them have demos you can try out. I’ve randomly picked four programs that seemed interesting to me…. Read more »

4 different ways to make knitting charts – Part 2: Browser tools

4 different ways to make knitting charts p2

Last week I told you all about how to make charts on your computer with office software and the like. This week I will show you two more ways to make knitting charts all from within your browser without having to install anything. There are two different types of software: chart generators and chart editors. Chart generators If you want… Read more »